A review by alisarae
You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld
5.0
The best way I know how to describe this collection of short stories is: Miranda July’s quirky charm meets Murakami’s sense of the ordinary.
The problem with Miranda July stories is that the characters are so... icky. Like, they are charming and then you discover they are deeply disturbed people and then they are just icky. You want to help them become healthy again, but you can’t because they are fake. And the problem with Murakami’s characters is that the majority of them are simply boring. Beautifully composed, but boring people.
So this book is like the best of both: quirky people living ordinary lives, but their quirkiness is actually pretty normal as far as internal monologues go (I found them relatable, I hope that doesn’t make you think I am a weirdo), and all the stories end on a nice note.
The problem with Miranda July stories is that the characters are so... icky. Like, they are charming and then you discover they are deeply disturbed people and then they are just icky. You want to help them become healthy again, but you can’t because they are fake. And the problem with Murakami’s characters is that the majority of them are simply boring. Beautifully composed, but boring people.
So this book is like the best of both: quirky people living ordinary lives, but their quirkiness is actually pretty normal as far as internal monologues go (I found them relatable, I hope that doesn’t make you think I am a weirdo), and all the stories end on a nice note.