It’s hard to believe that the girl from Cruel Intentions and Sweet Home Alabama* would grow into a feminist, taste making mogul but here were are and Reese Witherspoon is one of my favorite people to watch for their next move. She has optioned countless books into film and television projects, many I’ve already read & loved, and I seek out a lot of her recommendations. All of this is to say I was thrilled to discover Reese has an Instagram book club!
May’s book club selection was Curtis Sittenfeld’s You Think It, I’ll Say It. While short story collections are usually not my cup of tea I decided to trust Reese’s gut. I’ve read most of Sittenfeld’s work and enjoyed most of it. I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy this collection of stories, with the only notable exception being “Do-Over,” and found my biggest criticism to be that many of the characters felt like they had so much more in them and would have been better suited in long form.
The title comes from the second story, “The World Has Many Butterflies.” Julie, who is married, plays a gossipy game with her friend’s husband, Graham, but misreads the situation when he leaves his wife. I also enjoyed “A Regular Couple” which is about a pair of newlyweds who run into the wife’s high school nemesis but, thanks to her recent fame in a high profile case, the former teen queen spends the next few days fawning over the protagonist.
“It’s not that you’re wrong. But when you say stuff like this, it makes life a lot less enjoyable.”
Sittenfeld to upper middle class angst well so it is no surprise most of her stories focus on that particular segment of the population. This isn’t a slight. I would much rather read well written stories about wealthy people than poorly written stories about the lower middle class but be forewarned if whiny rich people aren’t your thing.
*That’s not to say that I dislike these movies but it is a bit unexpected