She’s so confused she’s falling for the hot, fratty tech guy.

(from My Life In Heavy Metal)

Amazing. Just. Amazing. Yesterday I read some pretentious, needy Burroughs bullshit so thick and empty I actually considered giving up reading for awhile. I mean, this whole story-a-day thing was just a whim anyway, right? Then this story. The writing was truthful and cinematic, the pace was somehow contemplative and swift, and the world looked sorta sensible for a second there. Not because Almond gives a damn about creating a linear, organized, understandable reality, but because he told a kind of truth about people. Does that make sense? It spoke to me.
Let’s talk about chick lit just for a second. I don’t believe I’ve ever read any — are there chick lit short stories? — but from what I gather, this story qualifies. The smart, witty female narrator admits human weakness while maintaining friendships, working a cool job, making shrewd social commentary and looking almost-hopelessly for love. I know Steve Almond is a man and all.
I’ve read some Almond before. I was inclined to pick up this book again because I I’ve been checking out the Jonathan Safran Foer Literary Review Snowball Fight for a week or so now, and I thought Almond’s explanation of his negative review (look how weird that snowball fight has gotten) was decisive without disregarding Foer’s dignity or reducing him, and I was reminded of how much I enjoy the humanity with which Almond treats his characters. And suddenly, after Burroughs left me frustrated and speechless, I was in the mood for something not so much kind as real. You can read that Almond piece here.
Boy did I ramble. But. I feel no obligation to make sense on my own web site.