This brilliant collection of twelve short stories from Curtis Sittenfeld has made me a fan! Her insight into human nature and the depth of character development in around 20 pages per story is incredible. You can enjoy one story at a time or you can binge read the entire collection. It is a funny, intelligent, and poignant look at marriage, friendship, and community. Sittenfeld has high emotional intelligence in her writing as she causes you to look at opposing views and feel empathy for both. I loved this fun expose of human nature. Show Don't Tell is a masterful work of art by a unique voice. Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing, and Curtis Sittenfeld for the advance reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

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I LOVE short stories. I love how you get right to the point of the story and things move rather quickly. This collection of stories was a highlight of my week. I found most of the stories to be really interesting and well written. I connected to so many of the characters in the stories. I definitely recommend that other readers pick this book up once it’s published.

Thank you to NetGalley and also Random House for the electronic advanced copy.

A good collection of short stories. They were well-written, enjoyable to read and left me thinking about them throughout the week!

Curtis Sittenfield has always been a bit of a "hit or miss" writer for me. Coincidentally, short stories? Also hit or miss for me. That is why I was surprised by how much I liked this collection. There was only one story that did not land for me.
One caveat (and it is a minor one)-
Ms. Sittenfeld has a distinct voice; I happen to like it, and therefore did not mind that all of the stories, (despite being about different women at different stages of their lives) seemed to be about the same person.
Different professions, lived in different places, were different ages, but spoke in the same voice. If you know and like Curtis Sittenfeld's work already, you will recognize these characters and enjoy these stories.
The stories were all well crafted and interesting enough to keep me reading until the end. Recommend, but maybe do not read in one go- I think you will enjoy the experience more if you dip in and out of the collection.

I rarely read short story collections like this and I didn’t love Romantic Comedy as much as everyone else but I’m so glad I gave Curtis Sittenfeld another chance. I really enjoyed this collection. The stories were all interesting, funny and different. I would definitely recommend this to my friends and family when it comes out and I will be going back and reading more of Sittenfeld’s work after this. Thank you NetGalley and random house for an arc for an honest review.

While I think this was well done, I’m just not sure I’m a huge fan of short stories. It’s hard for me to connect with the characters in such a short brief time. Many interesting thought provoking moments in many of these stories. Love the cover too!

I've been a fan of Curtis Sittenfeld since Prep. This collection of short stories is no different. There are a few that I couldn't find myself getting into, but the good news is that these stories were always followed by another that I did love. I'm not a huge fan of short stories in general. but these were really well thought out and interesting.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published February 25, 2025.

This is the third book I read by this author, who wrote the very popular book “Romantic Comedy”.

The short stories were each very different and kinda quirky. I felt like many had very abrupt endings.

My only complaint about Show Don't Tell is that I wish I could read a whole book about almost every single one of these short stories. The characters were so rich and I was sad when each of them ended. If you are a fan of Curtis Sittenfield, I highly recommend picking this collection up.

I chose to read this book because I have loved all of Curtis Sittenfeld’s books and this collection of stories does not disappoint. Each story is about a woman -each in interesting growth experiences that we get to observe. My favorite story, “Show For Alone", is about the Mike Pence rule, which is seemingly a sexist rule where married men should never spend time with women (who are not their wives) alone. The character in this story tests that role through an art project, where she invites men in her life to lunch, befuddling them and her. At the end of the lunch, where many of her subjects can’t understand why they were even invited, they are handed a survey to fill out. The results are funny, odd, and unexpected, but reveal many things about the main character. Each of the stories does this, and each story has an unusual and interesting flair.
Thank you NetGalley for a ARC.

I am not typically a fan of short stories, but I will read anything by Curtis Sittenfeld, and I really enjoyed this collection. Ms. Sittenfeld's writing is so compelling and her characters engaging, smart and well-developed. The stories deal with women of varying ages and occupations. In the title story, My favorites: "Show Don't Tell," an aspiring novelist is on pins and needles hoping to get a fellowship to fund her career path. "The Marriage Clock features a highly stressed film company executive and mother of a young daughter whose marriage could use some help -- and why not from a marital self-help book that she just happens to be assigned to get produced as a movie? "White Women LOL" starts off as a lost dog story, but ends up tackling unintentioned racism. "Follow-Up" literally follows a woman's journey after a scary mammogram report, while dealing with job, parenting and marital issues, but she at least has a best friend to help her sort her life out. "A For Alone" deals with a textile artist who decides to do an exhibit focusing on something called the Modesto Manifesto (aka the Billy Graham Rule or the Mike Pense Rule) that basically says that married men should never spend time along with another woman (even for just lunch or drinks). My most favorite story, "Lost But Not Forgotten," revisits Lee Fiora from Ms. Sittenfeld's novel, "Prep," as she returns to Ault School for her 3oth reunion.

Some of the stories were perfect as just that -- stories, but I could see a few others having potential to expand to at least novella length, but I was interested in all of them. It took me a bit longer than usual to finish the book, because since it is the short-story format, I wanted to savor and think about each story after I finished reading it.

Highly recommend. Thanks to NetGally, Curtis Sttenfeld and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

This book was a bit slow. While I have enjoyed Curtis Sittenfeld’s work in the past I feel like this one was slow and was hard to get through.

I enjoyed reading these short stories. I’ve read Sittenfeld before so I was looking forward to see what she wrote this time around. Sittenfeld’s short stories in Show Don’t Tell showcase the simplicity and complexity of everyday life in its raw form. Sometimes it’s uneventful but still constantly thought provoking and realistic. Most of her stories are about older women but I don’t think that should detour younger audiences. The stories feel reflective.

As a teenager I always felt this longing to know how adults felt when they were my age. I felt this need to find out that what I felt was solely mine or a shared experience. That longing is still there. When appropriate (most of the time) I still ask others how they felt at those ages and my current one. There’s a quote from one of the last short stories in the book that feels fitting to that feeling. “This may have been the single biggest difference between my teenage self and my middle-aged self: that I’d once been roiling with thoughts and opinions and yearnings that I suspected were strange or shameful or simply inexpressible, and therefore didn’t express them. As I got older, it wasn’t the thoughts and opinions and yearnings that went away; only, over time, their suppression.”

Thank you to Curtis Sittenfeld, Random House Publishing, and NetGalley.

I have enjoyed Curtis Sittenfeld since my sister got me to read Eligible a few years ago. I have loved everything she was written, however I had problems getting into her short stories. Overall they were okay but I kept putting the book down, which is a sign to me that it wouldn't matter to me if I did or did not finish the book. Hopefully her next full novel will be back to her regular writing that I enjoy.

I had never read a Curtis Sittenfeld book until I got a copy of Romantic Comedy which was a favorite that year. So I was pleasantly surprised by this book of short stories. Very impressed by the breath of storytelling prowess Sittenfeld exhibits with these tales. Thoroughly enjoyed!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Random House and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

Short stories can be hard for me to sink into because by the time I’m accustomed to the author’s voice they’re over! I’d put this one off for that reason, but by the second story I was hooked and remembered what I love about Curtis Sittenfeld’s writing, the depth of her character’s personalities and the flawless way she incorporates backstories. I really enjoyed this book and many of the current events felt really relevant given what’s going on in the US right now.

3.5 ⭐️

I’ve read a couple of Curtis Sittenfeld’s other books, so I was excited to have the opportunity to read this one.

Show Don’t Tell is well written, but I felt like some stories stayed with me more than others. Like other reviewers have said, some story themes and characters felt repetitive. I also felt like a couple of stories ended too abruptly for me to feel satisfied.

Overall, I enjoyed most stories and liked the writing enough to recommend this to others.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an advanced copy of this book.

I have been a fan of Curtis Sittenfeld's writing since I first read Prep in middle school. Her realistic portrayal of people and characters has always resonated deeply with me, and the subjects of other short stories in Show Don't Tell are no different. The exploration of relationships and complex emotions are believable and realistic, and I feel like I've met most of these people at some point (or I am one myself). Her reflections on privilege, fame, whiteness, performative feminism, and love were masterful and I could not put it down—another absolute love from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced copy.

Show Don't Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld is a collection of short stories that left me baffled. I picked it up expecting more of the sharp wit and insight I loved in Romantic Comedy, but instead, I found a series of fragmented ideas—like rough drafts or half-finished thoughts. The stories often felt disjointed, as if written to provoke rather than engage, with themes designed more to upset than resonate. And the sentences... some were so long they ran from the top to the bottom of my Kindle, with no period in sight. My brain was gasping for air after struggling through those endless stretches of thought. Definitely not what I expected from such a talented author.

I keep giving Curtis Sittenfeld a try because PREP was one of my first favorite literary fiction novels, but her latest few books have been such disappointments. I enjoyed this collection of short stories a bit better, but some of the middle aged white women characters started bleeding into one another too much and I could easily lose interest in the story. I dunno, maybe she’s just not for me! There were def some highlights, especially the first story, and if you’re a fan this is a must-read, but perhaps I need a Sittenfeld break.