Self-Help
by Lorrie Moore
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Years ago I read Lorrie Moore's excellent Who Will Run the Frog Hospital for a grad school class (on memoirs?) and I have been a fan ever since. Every so often I will run across one of her essays or stories and find myself in stitches, although her humor almost always comes with a healthy dose of irony or solemnity to keep it from being a pure laugh fest. This semester I began my Creative Writing course with an out loud, round-the-class, reading of an essay (which turns out to be from Self-Help...more
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Read in December, 2007
Haven fallen in love with Anagrams, I was quite eager to read this Self-Help. Many consider it to be Moore's best work - it's certainly her best-known - so I had pretty high expectations. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed - I found it neither as consistent nor as affecting as Anagrams.
The book is at it's best when it stuck close to what made Anagrams so fantastic - stories of people who find themselves stuck in lives very different from what they had orig...more
The book is at it's best when it stuck close to what made Anagrams so fantastic - stories of people who find themselves stuck in lives very different from what they had orig...more
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Read in January, 2008
You pick up Lorrie Moore’s collection of short stories called Self-Help because you’ve always admired her writing. Plus, your own writing is often compared to hers. Not because you are a master of the form, like Moore, but more because your short stories are peppered with a sort of sad and self-deprecating humor.
What you love about reading short story collections over short story anthologies is that you can pick up the threads that move throughout the stories. Moore has a thing for opera...more
What you love about reading short story collections over short story anthologies is that you can pick up the threads that move throughout the stories. Moore has a thing for opera...more
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Read in August, 2008
I have this laundry list of authors that I've been meaning to read because I know they will probably be awesome, and Moore was one of those authors and she is in fact most awesome. I haven't read a short story collection this good in a long time.
Self-Help was her debut story collection, way back in 1985, and since then, she has carved out a space for herself in contemporary fiction. And I am glad for that. Stories in this collection I found particulary awesome...How to Be an Other Woman,...more
Self-Help was her debut story collection, way back in 1985, and since then, she has carved out a space for herself in contemporary fiction. And I am glad for that. Stories in this collection I found particulary awesome...How to Be an Other Woman,...more
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Read in October, 2005
I found "Self-Help" to be an uneven collection, but the badn outweighed the good. I suggest sticking with the standout pieces and skipping the rest. The opening piece, "How to Be an Other Woman" is an exceptional short story. Moore is great at finding the perfect turn of phrase. Her humor is often sardonic but never completely cold. Her writing style is cool, detached - but there's enough warmth to strike a balance. The next story, "What Is Seized" has a very underg...more
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Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
everyone
Moore's first collection of stories introduced her as a writer capable of both heartbreaking sadness and quick wit. Rarely do these two qualities mesh so well in such a difficult medium, but Moore takes on the challenge with the sophistication of a writer much older than 26 (her age when it was published).
The six stories written in the second person imperative create a more serious tone than expected. Somehow the tasks of being a writer and being an other woman seem similar. Moore explain...more
The six stories written in the second person imperative create a more serious tone than expected. Somehow the tasks of being a writer and being an other woman seem similar. Moore explain...more
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Read in December, 2007
Self-Help is a collection of short stories. Moore's writing is very witty and bitter, a combination that I really enjoy. The book explores several lives: a cancer patient who has decided on suicide as an aesthetic choice, a woman who is learning how to be the other woman, notes on how to be a writer, and a woman who is ravenous for puns, stealing, and food finds herself in a situation that is driving her deeper into her obsessions. There are nine stories in all, each one interesting and funny in...more
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Read in May, 2008
I've been reading through this collection again with my 318 class, and, I have to say, I don't like it as much as I remember. There some incredible pieces and some incredible lines, but I can't help feeling that it's getting repetitive. It does provide for great class discussion, though, so it's serving it's purpose.
ADDED:
My students liked the collection, overall, though many, like me, felt a little overwhelmed by Moore by the end. It's a lot. I admire Lorrie Moore and many of my stu...more
ADDED:
My students liked the collection, overall, though many, like me, felt a little overwhelmed by Moore by the end. It's a lot. I admire Lorrie Moore and many of my stu...more
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Read in January, 1998
recommended to Kattie by:
Lorrie Moore (went to a reading for school)recommends it for: Lovers of short stories and well-chosen words
I absolutely love this book. Its one of my all time favorites. Lorrie Moore is a master of words and controls them with a flow like music. This collection of short stories was apparently her master's thesis, and the beginning of her high praise for literature.
I read in an interview once that Reese Witherspoon is a big fan of reading, and this is her favorite as well. Makes me believe she has good taste. Sample some of Moore's impeccible form and you will be amazed and one happy reader. ...more
I read in an interview once that Reese Witherspoon is a big fan of reading, and this is her favorite as well. Makes me believe she has good taste. Sample some of Moore's impeccible form and you will be amazed and one happy reader. ...more
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This collection still seems as innovative and inventive as it did when I first read it in ’85. Her “How to…” stories had such a spark of originality about them that stylistically they couldn’t be copied. Second person point of view feels fresh again. Of course it’s not just the POV. She combines that with a unique syntax that makes ordinary words fresh. And the ironic and sarcastic humor, a loose mask for an incredible bitterness, a bitterness that really only comes out in the humor....more
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lorrie moore said once that she is constantly blamed in writing classes for students '2nd person' story phases, most of which are terrible and cause massive headaches to the writing teacher community. i'm proud to say that my 2nd person phase happened way way before i read either moore or rebecca brown, both of whom, i think, write some amazing 2nd person stories (and i also think mine are pretty good sometimes). but yeah, i love these stories, individually and as a whole. and the 'how to be...more
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Read in June, 2008
This, Lorrie Moore's first collection of short stories, while not as broad and majestic as her endlessly wonderful Birds of America, is hilarious, heartbreaking and bitter, all of Moore's best qualities. Moore has an insight that is unrivaled ("When you were six you thought mistress meant to put your shoes on the wrong feet. Now you are older and know it can mean many things, but essentially it means to put your shoes on the wrong feet." -from "How to be an Other Woman"...more
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Read in June, 2008
Self Help was a book recomended by my english teacher Mr. Nourok, he had read a passage out in class, and asked teh class if anyone wanted to read the book that they may and see hi mafetr class. I was grasped by the books authentic attention to the details in every short story. As well all the short stories in the book do not connect at all with each other, different characters, different conflict, different time, palce, and setting, yet you feel as if they were a whole. I recomend this book to ...more
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Read in January, 2008
This isn't a book I probably would have picked up if one of Nick's friends (who'd read it for a lit class) hadn't loaned it to me.
Normally, I'm not a big fan of short stories, but I really enjoyed Moore's in this collection. She has a style of writing that is unique and there were lines that really stuck with me. Some of the stories I liked more than others (How to Be an Other Woman one of them).
There is a definite theme to the collection: Of loss, relationship heartache, parental heart...more
Normally, I'm not a big fan of short stories, but I really enjoyed Moore's in this collection. She has a style of writing that is unique and there were lines that really stuck with me. Some of the stories I liked more than others (How to Be an Other Woman one of them).
There is a definite theme to the collection: Of loss, relationship heartache, parental heart...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
Will, Amy
Lorrie Moore is one of my new favorite authors. I'm just sad it took me so long to hear about her. Her work reminds me of Jincy Willett, whom I also adore. Insightful, deadpan hilarious, and touching. This collection was written in the 80's, and the time period definitely comes through, but doesn't detract from the message or date the stories at all. In other words, these pieces stand the test of time well. Moore is also one of the only authors I've ever found to use the second person successful...more
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Read in October, 2003
recommended to Christin by:
Karl and Suerecommends it for: Sarah, Jenny, and Danielle
As a result of the sheer force and poignancy of Moore's prose, the inimitable quirks and striking turns of phrase, every so often when graduate school is devouring my soul, I imagine running away to Wisconsin to pick her brain and get my MFA, which is even more impractical than my current life plan. This collection, start to finish, is perfect. There's a story for everyone. My personal favorite is "Amahl and the Night Visiors: A Guide to the Tenor of Love" with a close second to &quo...more
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Read in March, 2008
i really liked this book at first. the stories were interesting and intriguing. but then they started to get somewhat monotonous, all reading like how-to manuals (how to be an other woman, how to talk to your mother, etc.). I realize that this book is called "self-help" and apparently that is what these stories hope to have you do. BUT the repetitive story structures and procedural writing style got old quickly. i liked lorrie moore's writing and am interested in checking out some of h...more
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recommended to Helen by:
I bought it at Jonathan Benton Booksellers!
I liked "How" and "How to be a writer" and the one where the woman stole money from Hats and Scarves and stabbed her husband. I love how Lorrie Moore takes parts of words and makes them into jokes or makes them mean something different from what they usually mean and it makes you understand something.
"In the elevator I touch my face, touch my eyes to see if they are behaving, if they are being, if they are having or misbehaving, miss being had. The words conflate an...more
"In the elevator I touch my face, touch my eyes to see if they are behaving, if they are being, if they are having or misbehaving, miss being had. The words conflate an...more
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I don't know what happened to my copy. I've lent it to so many people as my favorite book ever. A collection of short stories, mostly told in the 2nd person (which my 9th grade english teacher said did not exist: cannot believe they let her teach, at a decent school no less). So many emotions told in such short stories, so few words. She lets you get in her characters' heads, maybe it's the voice. Not a fan of her other books. Sigh... my copy was loved. worn all around. dog-eared. I hope ...more
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Read in June, 2008
Moore is kinda metaphor-happy, and the last story "To Fill" is heavy handed (pun, sorry). Otherwise, creative, funny, and often lyrical.
Stories I liked most:
"What Is Seized"
Good use of: filial favoritism, talented people deflecting and warping the goodness of others
"Amahl and the Night Visitors"
Good use of: don't assume you're being wronged, that your life is tragic, to escape a bored life of cat-loving
"How to Talk to Your Mother"
Goo...more
Stories I liked most:
"What Is Seized"
Good use of: filial favoritism, talented people deflecting and warping the goodness of others
"Amahl and the Night Visitors"
Good use of: don't assume you're being wronged, that your life is tragic, to escape a bored life of cat-loving
"How to Talk to Your Mother"
Goo...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 4.25 (981 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 4.24 (811 ratings) number of reviews: 118popular shelves
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"Love drains you, takes with it much of your blood sugar and water weight. You are like a house slowly losing its electricity, the fans slowing, the lights dimming and flickering; the clocks stop and go and stop."
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