She gets a shout out this week in a
highly entertaining Nicholson Baker essay on Kindle (her work, along with a slew of others, is
not available on Kindle). So, people have stopped me on the street to ask: What's the essential Moore reading list?
That depends, my friends, on you. But if you, like myself and a few others, enjoy the short story form, you've simply got to read these:
[caption id="attachment_682" align="alignleft" width="144" caption="Her most recent collection"]
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Birds of America got the cover review from the
New York Times Book Review, which said: "[
Birds of America] will stand by itself as one of our funniest, most telling anatomies of human love and vulnerability.”
[caption id="attachment_683" align="alignleft" width="144" caption="Another collection, one that made her name as queen of wry humor"]
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Like Life put Lorrie Moore on the map, or at least on my map, but likely she was already on everyone else's map. The
Washington Post claimed when it came out that it was "Moore's BEST BOOK ... displays an impressive range of voice and tone and a punning, exuberant humor."
Or do you prefer to spend time in longer works, sinking your teeth into the world of a novel? She's written novels before, including Anagrams and Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?, but I got my hands on an advanced copy of this new one, and it's a total winner:
[caption id="attachment_681" align="alignleft" width="144" caption="Her new novel, available in September"]
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This is the novel that made Roddy Doyle exclaim: “
A Gate at the Stairs is hilarious and distressing, entertaining and wise, and further proof that Lorrie Moore is one of the very best American writers working today. I wish she was Irish.”
Of course, feel free to amend the list: there are many diehard fans out there. Have at it!
