Comments on: Maile Meloy: Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It

By: He was doomed to ambivalence and desire. | Pechorin’s Journal

He was doomed to ambivalence and desire. | Pechorin’s Journal — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 21:45:12 +0000

[...] review is here. Trevor’s is here. I strongly recommend [...]

By: Trevor

Trevor — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 17:07:46 +0000

“Lovely Rita” is one of the stories I think about most, Max, the other being “Travis, B.” I’m glad you are enjoying them so much — I knew it!

By: Max Cairnduff

Max Cairnduff — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:18:51 +0000

I’ve been pacing these out. I usually struggle to do that with short story collections, but they’re so good I’ve made the effort. The first two I almost gulped down after which I let a couple of weeks pass.

Today I read Lovely Rita. These really are just excellent aren’t they? An absolute pleasure.

By: Trevor

Trevor — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 19:36:15 +0000

Here's an interview with Maile Meloy that was sent to me today. (click here). Made me excited just thinking about these stories again. And, we hear she just finished her new novel, The Apothecary, and it will be for kids. I will read it anyway.

By: “What kind of fool only wanted it one way?” — Struck by Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy | Sasha & The Silverfish

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:58:57 +0000

[...] a winning endorsement from Trevor: “This is one of the best short story collections I’ve ever [...]

By: Whispering Gums

Whispering Gums — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 04:54:04 +0000

Sounds great. I reviewed the online version of Liliana last year, just a few months into my blogging life. I liked it a lot. As I wrote in the review, it seemed simple at first but as I thought about it, I realised there was a lot going on there. I had never heard of Meloy before.

By: Trevor

Trevor — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:26:11 +0000

This won’t be underwhelming, Selena. Meloy is a fine writer thoughout, and she knows her genre.

I wonder if the reason so many short story collections are underwhelming is that they often are apprentice pieces, something a novelist wrote in some MFA program somewhere. This, I think, tends to give short stories a bad reputation.

There are treasures out there, though. Some writers are short story writers, they know what they’re doing, and they create stories better than most novels. In my review of Tobias Wolff’s Our Story Begins a few of us spoke about our favorite short story writers. I certainly recommend checking them out!

But, if nothing else, definitely look up Meloy!

By: Selena

Selena — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:58:52 +0000

Oh, this sounds lovely. I have a hard time with short story collections, most of the time they tend to be underwhelming.

I’ll have to look up Meloy next time I’m in a bookstore :)

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:22:57 +0000

And I meant to note earlier, that it was Tony S’s review of Meloy that convinced me I should pick up the book. Another example that the blogging world is the best place to track down “new” writers (and they often come with an attractive backlist, as Meloy illustrates).

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:20:52 +0000

Tony: It has been eight years since Guy’s The Last Crossing and some of us scan the catalogues every spring and fall looking for the next work. As I am sure you know, he isn’t prolific, but was averaging a book every five years or so. I’ll see if my contacts can produce any data.