She’s back once again with a collection of masterful, engaging, charming short stories, the kind you get lost in reading. Each one, absorbing and satisfying. I will admit that I didn’t want to let go of a few of them. Through a variety of stories from a woman who digs herself into a hole so deep at a party she becomes the town pariah and wonders if she is a racist, a soon-to-be college graduate starts a babysitting job for a young couple so unlike the home she grew up in, to a Hollywood executive who flies to small town to meet with an author in an attempt to persuade him to make a change in his work. There is something beneath the surface or something that these characters can see yet don’t want to acknowledge, while as readers, we become observant bystanders.

Sittenfeld creates and examines strangers in their daily lives and with great detail orchestrates scenarios that draw us into regular lives that might otherwise seem mundane yet become relatable and thought-provoking. I enjoyed reading this collection so much.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Random House for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Lovely short story collection! Very of its time. Each grabs you in the middle and leaves you wishing it were its own novel.

Short stories are usually not my cup of tea, but I decided to make an exception for Curtis Sittenfeld, as she is one of my favorite authors. There were some I loved (like, "Show Don't Tell"), and some that weren't for me-- but again, that has more to do with my preferred medium than the mechanics/plot development of Sittenfeld's craft.

In a way that expertly shows off her craft, Sittenfeld knows how to write a short story that will make you think. The allegories and callbacks consistently made throughout will have you admiring her work once again, and recommending it to anyone who will listen with her newest short story anthology, “Show Don’t Tell”

Curtis Sittenfeld knows how to tell a story. She also has a gift for describing the inner lives of middle-aged women and the things that worry and thrill us. In "Show Don't Tell," Sittenfeld serves up a buffet of midlife challenges: disintegrating marriages, flirtations conducted via email, the flicker of jealousy that might steal over you as you hear about someone else's kitchen renovation. These stories, zoomed in on the small details that together make a life, seem designed to make you look at your own marriage/home/friendships with renewed attention.

This is a book of short stories that pull you in a few pages. Many of the stories are about women in mid life or growing into mid life. It's easy to find yourself in the pages. If you like short stories, give this one a try

I love Curtis Sittenfeld's work, especially her short stories - one of my favorite collections is You Think It, I'll Say It - and this lived up to my high expectations. Each story was distinctive and vivid - a little universe in and of itself, though the last one in particular has quite a backstory! (You can tell I love a short story collection when I have to pause between stories to really savor each one.) Looking forward to stocking at the store this February. Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC.

This collection is top notch. Insightful, hilarious, and suspenseful stories often involving characters questioning or revisiting their lives and relationships. Read them all in one sitting because the stories were too good to put down. Some made me smirk or giggle, in particularly I loved "Show Don't Tell" about graduate students/writers competing for a fellowship. "The Marriage Clock" involving a conservative author who writes a bestseller with a Doctrine based on a Doomsday Clock, and "The Tomorrow Box" in which the protagonist continues to refer to an old friend who made it big as "Anus." The stories are like truffles, bite size pleasures that leave you wanting more. Thanks to NetGalley & publisher for the ARC. Pub Date: February 25, 2025.

#Show Don't Tell

Curtis Sittenfeld is such an engrossing writer. I love the worlds and characters she creates in this book. Each story has well-devloped characters and such a good plot that I was left wanting more, wanting to follow the characters beyond the confines of the story. I think any one of these short stories could be fleshed out into a full-length novel I would happily read.

Curtis Sittenfeld’s second story collection is a brilliant showcase of her talent for crafting characters who feel strikingly real. Each story is layered with humor, insight, and emotional depth, making it impossible to put down. From revisiting beloved characters to tackling themes like friendship, divorce, and gender dynamics, Sittenfeld’s writing is both sharp and tender. Her distinctive voice shines, delivering thought-provoking, relatable moments in every story. An absolute must-read for short fiction fans!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC in exchange for an honest review. I've read all but one of Curtis Sittenfeld's books and I'm a fan. I'm not a big fan of short stories but since it was Ms. Sittenfeld, I really wanted to read Show Don't Tell and I was not disappointed. All of the stories in the book are very entertaining and true to life. Her characters are people you might work with, be friends with or want to avoid. The stories are fresh and funny and I'm so glad I requested the book and was approved.

I always like Sittenfeld's stories better than her novels. Her stories are sharp and awkward in a way I find grating and navel-gazing in a longer format. I detest PREP, so I found myself shocked to enjoy the final story, where we get to spend some time with a middle-aged Lee Fiora.

The title feels ironic: In true Sittenfeld fashion, most of these stories are characters telling us how they feel and how they view the world, looking back over their lives.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

As a woman this really hits home. If you are looking for short stories that make you giggle like Romantic Comedy did, this isn't going to do it. It will however resonate with you if you are a woman, ever been in a relationship of any kind, exist during the currently election cycle, or a human :)
Definitely recommend!

As a result of becoming a reviewer I am often asked to name my favorite book, and I inevitably fall back on one of my personal preferences: Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld. So I could not have been more excited to receive this advanced copy of her latest, Show, Don’t Tell.

Prep is the story of Lee Fiora and her experience at elite boarding school Ault. Lee is much like any other teenager: filled with angst and insecurity. The book follows her throughout her entire experience at the institution and charts her journey through normal and extraordinary adolescence experiences alike.

This collection of short stories runs the gamut from revisiting Lee years after her time at Ault has ended to pondering an intricate story on authorship and getting published. While I generally love Sittenfeld’s work, I greatly prefer it in long form. The short stories left me feeling unsatiated and empty. All in all an average showing from Curtis Sittenfeld. Three stars.

I received this advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for or an honest review and feedback.

SHOW DON’T TELL is a great collection of short stories full of the author’s sharp wit that focus on marriage, relationships and social issues. My favorite one was “Lost But Not Forgotten” which is a bonus story to her book PREP. Even though they are short, I still found myself curious and caring about the characters.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I thought I wouldn't like a collection of short stories, but Curtis Sittenfeld proved me wrong! Most of the stories are about marriage, relationships, and female friendships, which I find fascinating. I really enjoyed each of them and felt emotionality invested, yet they were all wrapped up nicely. I always appreciate central characters who are in middle age as well!

Curtis Sittenfeld’s "Show Don’t Tell" is a masterful collection of twelve short stories that dives deep into the intricate dynamics of marriage, friendship, ambition, middle age, pop culture, and the pandemic. Fans of Sittenfeld’s previous work will feel right at home with her sharply drawn characters and keen observational writing. The collection offers moments of wit, reflection, and sometimes brutal honesty that make her characters both deeply relatable and sometimes difficult to embrace.

One highlight is "Lost but Not Forgotten," where Sittenfeld revisits Lee Fiora from her first novel, "Prep." Lee’s return to her old boarding school for a reunion is both nostalgic and raw, offering a window into how time shapes and reshapes identity. For readers who loved "Prep," this story provides a satisfying follow-up that feels like catching up with an old friend—one who has grown wiser but still wrestles with the insecurities of her youth.

Other standout stories include "Show Don't Tell," which gives a window into the world of aspiring writers in the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop, and "White Women LOL," the story of a woman who stumbles into looking like a racist "Karen" in a viral video and has to reexamine her past actions and relationship to her community. These stories, like much of the collection, dive into personal relationships with a sharpness and tenderness that keep you reading.

Sittenfeld’s writing is often wry and cutting, and she doesn’t shy away from exploring the flawed, sometimes unsympathetic nature of her characters. Whether you’re a long-time fan or new to her work, this collection has something to offer for everyone.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Four stars for this collection of twelve stories, mostly about marriage and female friendships, including a story about Lee Fioravante, the main character in Sittenfeld’s PREP as she returns to Ault for a reunion.

My favorites were the title story about grad students waiting to hear about their fellowships and a neighbor, “Giraffe and Flamingo” in which a woman reflects back on her days in a co-Ed residence hall and “Lost But Not Forgotten,” the aforementioned story about Fiora.

If you are the biggest of all Sittenfeld fans and regularly seek out her work you may be a bit disappointed as most of these stories have been previously published elsewhere, but I had not read them, and the stories were generally all good. Very enjoyable.

I’m a huge fan of Curtis Sittenfeld, with the first book I read from them being another collection of short stories, You Think it I’ll say it. When I received this ebook ARC from NetGalley and Random House I immediately dove into it.

Show Don’t Tell is their next book of stories, each one being realistic fiction that make the main characters immediately relatable, they could be yourself or a close friend. The stories focus on so many topics we live with day to day from marriage, past friendships, previous jobs, and the danger of not thinking before you speak.

For sure a read I will recommend!

I’m a huge Curtis Sittenfeld fan—so much so as I was typing her name out, it autocorrected to all caps from my past texts gushing about Prep or Eligible. I find that her honest writing reveals new perspectives to thoughts I may have had but was too inarticulate—and probably slightly ashamed—to voice outside of my head.

Show Don’t Tell is a collection of 12 short stories, with some previously published, that circulate through unconnected narrators who mostly remain in a world of upper middle-class, middle-aged, married at least once, people. If the story chronicles a young person, the story is told from the perspective of that young person grown up; there are interjections that start like “Much later, after I myself became a mother...” or end like “because I was still then a person who believed that situations provided lesson, rather than just marking the passage of time.” (Sometimes when Sittenfeld does this, I feel like she, as the author, wants to make sure that us, as the reader, understand that she is purposefully writing the character to be ignorant and she is not the one who is ignorant.)

Because I was a fan of Prep, I was most excited to read “Lost But Not Forgotten.” It’s fun to read about Lee as she is in the last few epilogue-like passages of Prep, except now, there’s been 30 years worth of distance to have grace for her younger self. There’s a great line that older Dede says that gently roasts high school Lee: “Wait, you of all people are telling me not to hold on to my boarding school insecurities and grudges?”

“The Marriage Clock”and “The Patron Saints of Middle Age” are other standouts. In “The Marriage Clock,” a studio executive in a unsatisfying marriage tries to convince the author of a bestselling marriage self-help book to allow creative changes, and finds herself off-balance. In “The Patron Saints of Middle Age,” a divorced woman visits two friends while returning to her previous hometown.

I will say that short stories, in general, often leave me feeling like they end without being resolved. This somewhat applies to this collection as well, but there are clear overarching themes. The tension of love, of course, in both happy and unhappy marriages. (I feel like contemporary fiction has the possibility of an affair hovering at all times.) Lost potential, career or personal. Rumination with the consequence of missing out on life. Arbitrariness of life against meaningful life lessons. The goodness of youth!