Anagrams

I have read three Lorrie Moore books, but missed this one so it was a treat to delve into her writing again. I enjoyed the story and laughed at the turns of phrase. It is fun to have a book that it is best to read slowly so you don't miss the unexpected anagram or wry comment about life. Then there is the incredible loneliness and sadness threaded throughout the book. Very strong and so real. This book has a punch. I am going to quote a paragraph that caught my attention as I read. "You cannot be grateful without possessing a past. That is why children are incapable of gratitude and why night prayers and dinner graces are lost on them. "Gobbles Mommy, Gobbles Grandpa..." George races through it. She has no reference points. As I get older the past widens and accumulates, all sloppy landlessness like a river, and as a result I have more clearly demarcated areas of gratitude. Things like ice cream or scenery or one good kiss become objects of a huge soulful thanks. Nothing is gobbled. This is a sign of getting old."

I laughed out loud numerous times, little suspecting that I would put the book down upon completion and sob for about twenty minutes. I've never had this intense a reaction to a book, with the possible exception of Catcher in the Rye. Lorrie Moore is not only clever and funny as hell; she also has a spectacular dark side. The reader is at first a bit confused -- is this a collection of short stories? If not, why is this character's back story different in this chapter? What the hell's going on here? By the last chapter, you think you've settled into an acceptable reality, only to have the rug pulled out from under you again. For readers who take a perverse pleasure in this kind of experience, I highly recommend "Anagrams".

There are a lot of people like Benna in the world-- I'm one of them-- always wondering "what if," and building my world over in my head, using old events and people in different ways. The first time I read Anagrams, I didn't really recognize these tendencies in myself, and I was so depressed, I couldn't pick it up again for a year. After I got over the ending, (no spoilers here, read it yourself!) I came back to the book and truly enjoyed it. I found out about Lorrie Moore at a poetry reading in college, which I went to on a whim, and I'm very, very glad I did.

I have given three people this book as a gift. It is full of clever quips and some bitter, but dead-on observations. One of the best books I've read in a long time.

Anagrams is a book to keep you on your toes, laughing and crying at the same time. Benna is a character I will never forget, too clever to see the truth in front of her nose. Long may she live with her daughter Georgina. If you are lucky, she will imagine you.