A Gate at the Stairs, by Lorrie Moore [1]

The first couple of pages of this novel made me chuckle and look forward to a great read. However, round about page 50 I debated about giving up on the tedious plot. At page 100, terminally bored, I put the book down. I picked it up again a few days later only because it was my book club’s pick for the month.

I’ve learned that if a book’s cover trumpets that it is a National Bestseller and has pages of ecstatically rave reviews just inside, I won’t like it. Blame the raised expectations that...