Bark: Stories by Lorrie Moore

A book of short stories that were a bit odd. They were the style of short story I enjoy, the kind where you get dropped into the middle of the lives of the characters and you get a small glimpse of what is happening before you are then booted out. I like these brief moments with the shadow of the past and future playing around the edges but not fleshed out. You get to wonder why this is happening and what will happen later but focus on the moment. These stories are like that but they are also kind of strange. Not in a bad way but strange none the less. 

In one story you meet KC and her younger boyfriend as they are struggling to make ends meet as their music careers have fallen flat. KC meets and old man in the neighborhood and he takes to her and it changes her life. 

In another story you get to overhear a conversation between people at a dinner in DC after 9/11 and before the wars that followed. It is stilted and awkward which adds some realism to the moment.

There is story that gives guilt solid form after the death of a longtime friend. 

I didn't totally love this book, I'm not even sure I liked it all that much, I often felt uncomfortable while reading it. But maybe that is the point since these moments were painful and awkward. It was a real fly on the wall set of experiences. 

(finished May 4, 2014)