Books by author: Lorrie Moore

Lorrie Moore is amazing. Anagrams, as you might expect from the title, is jam-packed with wordplay. It's also hilariously funny and ultimately heartbreaking. In each of the novel's sections, we see a different version of Benna, the protagonist. I'm terrified of ruining any of the surprises this novel holds, so I'll just say that Benna is a lovingly drawn character with very real problems. There's not a whole lot of action in terms of plot advancement, but Moore's descriptive care is extremely enjoyable. If you are looking for a great contemporary writer to enjoy, Lorrie Moore is a good one to try. I enjoyed Like Life somewhat less, but probably because of the short story thing. I'm diving right into her other novel, Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? now.

Lorrie Moore is great. Anagrams is still the high water mark, however.

This one came with glowing reviews from DAn , whose opinion I generally value. The stories were excellent, reminding me somewhat of Raymond Carver, but with more wry humor and less of a dark side. Moore is an outstanding writer.

Frog Hospital is good novel by a great writer. I enjoyed Anagrams quite a lot more, but mainly because the voice of the protagonist was more mature and interesting to me. Frog Hospital tells the story of Berie Carr, who stands somewhat in the shadow of her best friend Sils both physically and psychologically. The plot here moves more quickly than the one in Anagrams, and we see more of Berie's life than we did of Benna's, at least chronologically. Moore maintains a high level of descriptive detail in her second novel, but the wordplay that sold Anagrams to me isn't present to the same degree.