One of the most critically acclaimed books of the year from a master of the short story.
One of the most celebrated new writers of the last de... read full description
One of the most celebrated new writers of the last de... read full description
reviews
Apr 20, 2011
Alan
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Meloy’s stories are flawless: the writing is clear and economic, the settings and ‘plot’ and characters conjured with minimum fuss. Altogether perfect pieces largely about adultery, and breaking marriages (or maybe not), but also about childhood incidents looming later, murder, rape, stalking and industrial accidents. The collection is aptly titled – the stories usually take the reader into a situation where a decision is about to be made, and often leave them with the outcome still in the balan
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Nov 08, 2010
Barbara
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Meloy captivated me immediately with her skill and finesse. She has certainly succeeded well in the art of the short story. Each tale captures the essence of her characters with mirth, sympathy or suspense.
I appreciate the recommendation by my good friends in Goodreads and anticipate reading more by this author.
I appreciate the recommendation by my good friends in Goodreads and anticipate reading more by this author.
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Nov 11, 2011
alana
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I usually don't go for collections of short stories -- usually the themes are so similar (immigrants have it hard, people cheat on their spouses, music is cool, that after the first few stories, I'm bored. Also, there's no plot egging you along, making it easy to put the book down. But I couldn't put this book down. The prose is gorgeous, the stories are simple and memorable. I read it in a day. If you're going to read one book of short stories, make it this one. Or Olive Kittredge. But this one
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Jan 22, 2012
M
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Malie Meloy offers darkly sugary tales of people who want it all in this collection of short stories. Each one offers its characters a glimpse at past, present, and future, as they decide which way to pursue their dreams. A drifter seek the attention of an out-of-town teacher in "Travis, B." Young co-ed Layton finds herself on a camping encounter at the behest of her lawyer father and his desired client in "Red and Green." The titular "Lovely Rita" is at the center
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Oct 15, 2011
Justin
rated it: 
This book is collection of eleven short stories. I would never pick up a collection of short stories of my own volition. This collection, however, came highly recommended so I felt compelled to give it a chance. I liked it, or I should say, them. I cannot say that I have changed my mind on short stories, only that I liked this collection - helped in no small part that many of the stories were set in Montana.
The title provides the unifying theme of the collection. And I guess it More...
The title provides the unifying theme of the collection. And I guess it More...
Aug 10, 2011
Jill
rated it:
To write short stories, you need to be a bit of a magician. You need to pull characters out of a hat, breathe life into them, and weave a spell around the willing reader. Maile Meloy has that gift. Her 11 transfixing short stories are the only way you’d want them – effortless, genuine, and sometimes unpredictable.
In all these stories, the characters are faced with a choice (not unlike Robert Frost’s “Two Roads Diverged”). One choice usually takes them in a stable direction; t More...
In all these stories, the characters are faced with a choice (not unlike Robert Frost’s “Two Roads Diverged”). One choice usually takes them in a stable direction; t More...
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Jul 27, 2011
Chana
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A friend of mine asked me to read this book as it had received good reviews but she wasn't impressed with it. She wondered what I would think. So here it is:
From the title, "Both Ways Is The Only Way I Want It" I made the assumption that it was a book about relationships, a non-fiction book. And even though my usual reaction to pop psychology self-help books is a gag reflex, it probably would have been better than what this book turned out to be.
It is a book of fictional More...
From the title, "Both Ways Is The Only Way I Want It" I made the assumption that it was a book about relationships, a non-fiction book. And even though my usual reaction to pop psychology self-help books is a gag reflex, it probably would have been better than what this book turned out to be.
It is a book of fictional More...
Jun 09, 2011
Jeruen
rated it:
I revisited the short story genre again. And once more, I found one that I liked.
Both Ways is a collection of stories that deal with emotional and psychological conflicts across several people centered around Montana. Every story features two or three people dealing with romantic relationships, and the cute thing about this collection is that I am impressed with the way the author paints a complicated picture about these people in just 20 pages per story.
All the tension occur More...
Both Ways is a collection of stories that deal with emotional and psychological conflicts across several people centered around Montana. Every story features two or three people dealing with romantic relationships, and the cute thing about this collection is that I am impressed with the way the author paints a complicated picture about these people in just 20 pages per story.
All the tension occur More...
Apr 24, 2011
Patrick
rated it: 
Meloy's is another collection of stories that is burdened by its reliance on formal constraints. The collection's title establishes the thrust of each piece--characters stuck between a rock and a hard place, forced to choose. This would be okay if not for the fact that short fiction as a genre rests of just such a convention. Short stories are constructs that dramatize the motivations and consequences of choices taken. It's a bit of letdown when Meloy brandishes the central convention of all goo
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Nov 29, 2010
Denise
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Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It is a collection of short stories mostly featuring men and women living in the fringes of the American West. They inhabit those small, western towns were people still have one foot in older, more simple ways and one foot edging into the fast-paced, more technological world. The stories are written in a plain, honest language that feels natural for the setting and characters.
In general I'm not a big fan of short stories. They either draw me in and then More...
In general I'm not a big fan of short stories. They either draw me in and then More...
Sep 10, 2010
Andrew
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This book was 2 stars most of the way, but got up to 3 in the latter stages, which makes me wish there were a 2.5 star out there in the Goodreads universe. I was looking forward to this, b/c I remember really liking her first collection. This, however, was just okay. I'm sure expectation affects my reading, but as with another acclaimed loved-by-every-critic collection, Wells Tower's "Everything Ravaged...", these stories (with the exception of "Lovely Rita," most of "Au
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Jul 22, 2010
Maggie
rated it:
To be honest, I expected BIG things from Maile Meloy's "Both Ways Is The Only Way I Want It" -- because before I got to know the author, I was exposed to all kinds of excellent reviews which appeared in a number of well-respected publications. So, when "Both Ways" was chosen to lead the 2009 list of "Best Books of The Year" in The New York Times -- I thought to myself: I have to HAVE it! Nevertheless, with me living halfway across the globe (Indonesia) -- purchasing
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Feb 06, 2010
Barry
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What a find! Maile Meloy, I suppose, is not newly found. It seems the heavyweights of the industry have heaped honours on her since her debut collection of stories in 2002. But she’s new to me and Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It is one of the best books of 2009.
This is an author with talent to burn but we get no writerly pyrotechnics. Meloy is confident enough to rely on her clear, unadorned prose to propel us along. Her stories flow, swiftly as a Montana stream, and g More...
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Jan 18, 2010
David
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It was short story time this weekend, as I hunkered down with this collection, Wells Tower's "Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned", and "On the Nature of Human Romantic Interaction" by Karl Iagnemma.
This was the winner of the bunch, though Wells Tower came in a close second. I liked almost all of the stories in this collection ("The Children" was the only exception, so that Meloy's batting average was 10 out of 11), and a few, "Lovely Rita", More...
This was the winner of the bunch, though Wells Tower came in a close second. I liked almost all of the stories in this collection ("The Children" was the only exception, so that Meloy's batting average was 10 out of 11), and a few, "Lovely Rita", More...
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Dec 31, 2009
Younkin
rated it:
I had never read a book by Maile Meloy, heck, I'd never even heard of Maile Meloy before I read this book. I'm not sure how I learn about "new"(to me) authors or how I decide whose books to read, it's not a very systematic process, but I'm glad it lead me to this book.
This is a collection of stories largely set in Montana, with a range of characters who speak in similar ways(as opposed to Nam Le, where each story could have been written by a different author, there is a cle More...
This is a collection of stories largely set in Montana, with a range of characters who speak in similar ways(as opposed to Nam Le, where each story could have been written by a different author, there is a cle More...
Dec 26, 2009
Erin
rated it:
I'm constantly bringing home short story collections in an attempt to read them. While I generally find the idea of doing so irresistible, I rarely get through the first story, let alone the first few pages. When I do I'm left feeling cold, as if I've missed something I was supposed to understand.
Having come across the New York Times' list of the best books of 2009 by chance while at the library, I decided that I -had- to bring home the book deemed the best of ten given my strange at More...
Having come across the New York Times' list of the best books of 2009 by chance while at the library, I decided that I -had- to bring home the book deemed the best of ten given my strange at More...
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Aug 25, 2009
Rose
rated it:
I should probably work on my bank of cliches, but both ways is exactly how Maile Meloy dishes it out: Her spare prose + that bull’s eye take on the human condition = Literature (yes, with a capital L).
As an undergrad I had an English professor tell me the short story genre was not a real one, that true Literature (literature with a capital L) could never call itself such under 250 pages. Needless to say (but in case it’s not), this professor’s specialties were 18th-century and Victor More...
As an undergrad I had an English professor tell me the short story genre was not a real one, that true Literature (literature with a capital L) could never call itself such under 250 pages. Needless to say (but in case it’s not), this professor’s specialties were 18th-century and Victor More...
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Jul 13, 2009
Lisa
rated it:
This one's as solidly stunning as her first collection, Half in Love. Few flashy plot points, zero flashy sentences, but a confidence in the telling so acute that the characters' lives stay with you for a long time. And Maile gets the West the way few writers do--the comfort and anxiety of slow open spaces, the barreling toward progress and development and peopled places not inconsistent with the ache for untouched land. Put down everything else you're reading and read this one.
Oct 21, 2009
Sherry
rated it:
"One can't have it both ways and both ways is the only way I want it." A. R. Ammons. So begins the introduction to Maile Meloy's second short story compilation "Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It". Eleven tales skillfully navigate the uncertainties people feel when they create tension between wanting something and having something: fidelity vs. desire; risk vs. stability; maintaining innocence while seeking experience. Meloy paints a portrait of the landscape of the hea
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May 13, 2011
Xiuqin
rated it:
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Jan 21, 2012
Peter
rated it:
What does one do when one is sick on a Saturday Night? Apparently, one drinks Yogi Digestion Tea (One was out of Throat Comfort) and writes Goodreads reviews at 9:40.
Part of me thinks that if I wasn't suffering from a bad cold with side effects of crabbiness I would have given this book a better review. As it stands, I think it's more in 3.5 territory. It's a good collection of stories, and there are some gems to be sure. But ultimately, for me, Meloy's greatest strength was also he More...
Part of me thinks that if I wasn't suffering from a bad cold with side effects of crabbiness I would have given this book a better review. As it stands, I think it's more in 3.5 territory. It's a good collection of stories, and there are some gems to be sure. But ultimately, for me, Meloy's greatest strength was also he More...
Sep 24, 2010
Eric
rated it:
This is an excellent collection of short stories. I found them very accessible, and gobbled this book down in short order.
Meloy's milieu, like Raymond Carver's, is the American Northwest, although there are some detours into other locales. The stories run the gamut from funny to poignant to downright creepy in tone, but are always compelling.
A lot of the stories have an undercurrent or a hint (sometimes more than a hint) of the danger that women and girls face from unpred More...
Meloy's milieu, like Raymond Carver's, is the American Northwest, although there are some detours into other locales. The stories run the gamut from funny to poignant to downright creepy in tone, but are always compelling.
A lot of the stories have an undercurrent or a hint (sometimes more than a hint) of the danger that women and girls face from unpred More...
Jul 25, 2010
Andy
rated it:
This is a nice collection of short stories. There is a variety to these stories, unlike some other collections, you don't feel that every story is about the same characters. Many take place in one of my favorite states, Montana, and those did seem to have an authienticity
The stories that I did not like as much were where she seemed to try to do too much the characters seem one dimensional and the plots are not probable . The stories I liked were when the characters surprised me More...
The stories that I did not like as much were where she seemed to try to do too much the characters seem one dimensional and the plots are not probable . The stories I liked were when the characters surprised me More...
Apr 10, 2010
Teresa
rated it:
I love the title of this book, and it fits each and every story. (Though, I wish, perversely perhaps, the phrase hadn't been used in one of the later stories ("The Children") -- it was better, I think, to have the poem it's from used just as the epigraph.)
In each story, there is the surface story, and then there is at least one other layer that causes you to reflect after you've finished the story, causing you to wonder what might have been, if only this one thing had no More...
In each story, there is the surface story, and then there is at least one other layer that causes you to reflect after you've finished the story, causing you to wonder what might have been, if only this one thing had no More...
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Jan 10, 2010
Lynh
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Dec 13, 2010
Katy
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This is my first short story collection in a while. I used to be crazy about short stories. When I started reading this I remembered why, then also immediately remembered why I stopped being so crazy about them -- I want more!!! It always feels like I'm gorging on desserts when I read a whole bunch of short stories at once. Even though these are beautifully written, I felt like I wanted to stop and keep going at the same time and that kind of cognitive stuff bugs me.
That said, " More...
That said, " More...
Aug 05, 2011
There once was a time when I didn't read short stories, much less short story collections, because I didn't want to get invested in characters only to have to give them up fairly quickly when the story ended. Boy, I'm glad I shook myself free of that quirk, otherwise I wouldn't have read a fantastic book like Maile Meloy's Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It. This collection is on both the New York Times' list of the year's notable books as well as Amazon's 100 best list, and as I discovered las
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May 14, 2011
Jordan
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I particularly liked the final two stories of this collection, "The Children" and "O Tannenbaum." Both center on male protagonists who have indulged in one marital indiscretion earlier in their lives (a kiss, a one-night stand), but who presently are considering embarking on affairs. They want it "both ways" in that they long for the "bathrobe-warm" security and stability of their families, their wife and kids, but they also long for the heady disorder an
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Sep 02, 2010
Zoë
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"He held his wife and felt himself anchored to everything that was safe and sure, and kept for himself the knowledge of how quickly he could let go and drift free."
Both Ways Is The Only Way I Want It is a collection of 11 short stories by Maile Meloy. The book reminds me strongly of another collection of short stories I read recently, Vanishing and Other Stories. Many of Meloy's take place in Montana and Idaho, just across the border from where Willis' occur in southern More...
Both Ways Is The Only Way I Want It is a collection of 11 short stories by Maile Meloy. The book reminds me strongly of another collection of short stories I read recently, Vanishing and Other Stories. Many of Meloy's take place in Montana and Idaho, just across the border from where Willis' occur in southern More...
Jul 29, 2009
Cynthia
rated it:
These stories will make you think as well as tug at your heartstrings. There is something in all of them that goes far beneath the surface of universal human truths. It's funny because the ages of the people range from just out of their teens to their 50's or so, though most are 30 or 40 something's, all of them are relatable however. You can feel for the 20 something farm hand falling for a slightly older woman just as much as you do for the middle aged couple contemplating the state of their m
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