Both ways is the only way I want it

English language

Published Jan. 1, 2009 by Riverhead Books.

ISBN:
978-1-59448-869-6
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OCLC Number:
262428488

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4 stars (1 review)

Award-winning writer Maile Meloy's return to short stories explores complex lives in an austere landscape with the clear-sightedness that first endeared her to readers.Meloy's first return to short stories since her critically acclaimed debut, Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It is an extraordinary new work from one of the most promising writers of the last decade.Eleven unforgettable new stories demonstrate the emotional power and the clean, assured style that have earned Meloy praise from critics and devotion from readers. Propelled by a terrific instinct for storytelling, and concerned with the convolutions of modern love and the importance of place, this collection is about the battlefields—and fields of victory—that exist in seemingly harmless spaces, in kitchens and living rooms and cars. Set mostly in the American West, the stories feature small-town lawyers, ranchers, doctors, parents, and children, and explore the moral quandaries of love, family, and friendship....

6 editions

Review of 'Both ways is the only way I want it' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

[guessing at the star rating / mining my old FB notes now that they are almost impossible to find]

i picked up this collections of short stories awhile back but it got lost in the holiday shuffle. finished it today and it was wonderful. each story so vivid and on the edge of your seat with dramas that play in your head. it was absolutely, utterly fantastic.

as an aside, i felt sure the author was a man (the name on the cover was maile meloy, so no clues there) - particulary in a few of the stories due to language choice & attitudes, but it's actually a woman! it's a credit to her writing ability that i felt 'male' channeled throughout those male pieces. other than that, it felt as good - if not better - than an alice munroe collection.

Subjects

  • Family -- Fiction
  • Relationships -- Fiction
  • Montana -- Fiction