Boys Keep Being Born

I tend to read story collections in bits and pieces, but I couldn't put this one down. I read it as though it were going to save my life. It's that good--lyrical and funny and wise.

Writing that makes you stop every so often to sigh or to marvel -- stories that are always surprising. You know what the characters ought to do, you know what they want to do, but you don't know what they're going to do. You may think these are only stories about particular women trying to find their place in life, but as in the stories of Raymond Carver, you immediately care about these people, even when they're not "your kind" of people. Easy reading, fun reading, but most of all good reading.

I like boys as much as the next woman, and I found nothing bilious or bitter about this story collection. In fact, I was impressed by the author's ability to write wittily without veering into meanness. Although Ms. Frank writes coolly about her characters' predicaments, she clearly feels rueful affection for them. This is a good book.