We Love Anderson Cooper

I received a e-galley of this title from Netgalley and leave my honest thoughts about it below.


Humor and sadness combine in this slim but enlightening collection of 11 short stories by R.L. Maizes. Besides the title story, in which a young boy growing into his sexuality finds that fame and freedom aren’t all that you need, Maizes includes stories dealing with the magical power of couches, the role of a cat within family relationships, and in both the shortest and yet in my opinion, the most powerful of stories, L’Chaim, how tragedy and humor can mix together to devastating effect.

There is much here to find that is both interesting and delightful. Infidelity and secrets are dealt with both tragically and in “A Cat Called Grievous” humorously, albeit with a bitter blackened edge. “Better Homes and Gardens” talks of the divides that occur when financial circumstances turn and priorities amongst family members turn against each other. And “Yiddish Lessons” speaks of the eternal battle between traditional and modern priorities.

Some may look down at short stories collections as secondary works for authors, preferring to see the skill involved in weaving one longer tale as the better talent. But what keeps me coming back to strong collections like this is in getting to peak behind the mask of an author, where each story illuminates the priorities and concerns the author sees around them. In reading these stories, you get to see a more complete picture of what they have to say, and in the case of R.L. Maizes, she has a great deal to tell us. I for one, am looking forward to reading more of it.

This is one of the most delightful collections of short stories I've ever read. Although Ms. Maizes has her own, distinct, voice, her dry wit, clever character development, and sometimes peculiar situations remind me a lot of Jacob M. Appel and David Sedaris (two of my all-time favorite contemporary writers).

The book's title is also the title of the first story; in brief, the story of the angst of a boy preparing to "become a man" at his bar mitzvah.. While you don't have to be Jewish to appreciate it, I think the fact that I am Jewish made this story even more delicious for me. This boy is suffering more than the usual pre-bar mitzvah jitters; his bar mitzvah Torah portion just happens to be from the chapters in Leviticus that admonish that men should not lie with men. While only the Orthodox still believe this to be a prohibition against homosexuality (the Reform Movement has figured a way around this by dismissing this commandment as no longer relevant), it's a tricky subject nonetheless. made even more difficult for this young man because he is gay, and, in fact, has a boyfriend. He refuses to read the speech his mother wrote for him, choosing instead to use his own words, but when the moment arises, he's so flustered that he publicly comes out before the congregation, his friends and family, and all the other guests. By the time this happened, I was laughing so much that tears ran from my eyes and snot from my nose. Well, okay, that's an exaggeration. But it's darn funny. And it doesn't end the way the poor bar mitzvah boy fears.

Ms. Maizes is an absolute delight as a writer. She infuses all her characters (including a couple of cats) with humanity and makes them believable, then adds her twists of fate and wit to make them truly come alive.

All the other stories in this collection measure up to the high standard set by "We Love Anderson Cooper." Ms. Maizes has either published the other pieces in magazines or read them on NPR, but I'd not heard of her before receiving the book as an ARC from NetGalley. I think she is currently writing a book. I'll be first in line to get it.

What a strong, involving collection this is. And not a clinker in the bunch. Although I've checked my culture-Jewish and magic realism boxes, not all stories fall into those categories, but enough do to warrant notice. The author's ability to create characters at a crossroads and have their situation play out in ways that are truly original kept me reaching for "one more, just one more," until the book was done. I usually like to stretch collections of short stories out, but each story was so different from its predecessor, I just kept going. Maizes also has a true knack for portraying the affinity between animals and their humans, exhibiting a deep understanding of the heart.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.
This collection of short stories is striking in the evenness of quality combined with a wide variety of people and situations.
All of the characters are quirky and weird and out of the ordinary. While I am not a huge fan of short stories because they
often give you a taste but not enough to satisfy, each story in this book felt complete. My biggest problem was wanting
to hurry on to the next story without taking time to digest the one I just read.