Moon Over Minneapolis

by Fay Weldon

A collection of stories featuring women who must make difficult choices includes "Subject to Diary" and "Pumpkin Pie." By the author of The Life and Loves of a She-Devil. Original. 35,000 first printing. Tour.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Short Story Collection, Literary Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Fay Weldon CBE was an English author, essayist and playwright, whose work has been associated with feminism. In her fiction, Weldon typically portrayed contemporary women who find themselves trapped in oppressive situations caused by the patriarchal structure of British society.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fay_Weldon

Reviews

[Anisha Inkspill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across this collection of shorts by Fay Weldon when I was looking through my Kindle library for Christmas stories. This collection has two, calling them Christmas stories are a stretch. Yes, they are set around Christmas but there is no Christmas cheer here, these stories come with a punch. The first story is subtitled A Christmas Tale, it’s title, Who Goes There? hints at the big sacrifice Adrienne makes in learning a lesson. The other is about a mother, its title, The Search For Mother Christmas is misleading and poignant at the same time.

Enjoying these two I read the rest. They are all punctuated with the same irony and quirkiness that delves under the surface. The varying stories are linked by a casual tone that invites you to share an understanding of misunderstandings and prejudice that come with relationships between family, friends, siblings, lovers, employee and employer and the community. It delivers with quiet humour the imperfections of life and relationships. Reading these is reassuring in the warmth it resonates. It’s fitting I discovered Fay Weldon because I was looking for a Christmas story.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

what wildly wicked Weldon wit!

[Saskia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a pleasant surprise!
Found this in a box of books, and thought the cover page was enticing (different from this one). It's a collection of short stories about different women, with reoccurring themes of motherhood, careers, oppression, love and female sexuality. Having also recently read “The Bloody Chamber”, I’m realising how much I enjoy feminist, or female-centred short stories. Reading the title and beginning of each story they captured me right away, and I devoured the pages quickly to find with whom, I was sharing thoughts. The bittersweetness of the short-story genre is that it is over so quickly. And yet in those fleeting and few beautiful sentences, Weldon crafts characters that are lifelike and multidimensional, almost as if they were people she knew, or lives she had lived.
I found the stories which were told through a one-sided conversation particularly interesting, as I was unfamiliar with this style. And I also enjoyed the instances we’re she broke the 4th wall by directly making the reader aware of his position as a reader of a story she is telling.
Despite the brevity, the stories touch on difficult themes in a meaningful and thought-provoking way. The ending of the stories left me feeling punched in the stomach, rereading, wondering, astounded at what just happened, and returning to them in thoughts, days later. Here some quotes which I found particularly memorable/insightful thoughts.

“I have had rows with [my husband] been unfaithful to him and felt guilty, and he has left me and returned and had models for mistresses and mistresses for models and felt not at all guilty […] No women should marry an artist, because all artists are monsters” (p64).

“The moral of this Thanksgiving story is not that the poor are happier than the right. They’re not. But that the only point in being rich, if the palate of the rich gets jaded, lies in not being poor.” (p88)

“Some women are born mothers, some women become mothers and some have motherhood thrust upon them” (p117)

“Eternal lovers. The Children of lovers are orphans” (p162)

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half (Stories of Working Life, Four Tales From Abroad. and Tales of the New Age sections) is excellent. Second half (Stories for Christmas, Three Tales of Country Life and As Told To Miss Jacobs sections) is... a real poor way to follow the second half. So as for that first half, they may be the handiest gateway drug for anyone looking for a quick way to decide if her subject matter and style are for you. At her best, Weldon has a unique ability to cast very personal, human stories in a kind of tragic Homeric light. Regardless of their particular names of predicaments, Weldon's characters can occasionally feel doomed to an endlessly repeating struggle-cycle of misplaced love, trust and fidelity, but always a faint light glows. "There is some comfort to be gained from hardship, if you try, but not much," she observes. If the characters occasionally feel as if their lives are longer family nightmare-histories from which they are trying to awaken, there is also this idea of the Universe's tendency to self-correct that offers a little hope. "But a manner of living, once yours, tends to be yours forever. If the tide seems to stand still it is only illusion. It is on the turn, that's all. Back it comes. The crest of the wave becomes the trough, the trough the crest, in and in to shore."

[Jean Carlton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Divided into groupings, (ie.Tales of the New Age, Stories for Christmas, As Told to Miss Jacobs etc) kept my interest due to the varying styles and topics, interesting 'voice' of characters and brevity. I especially liked "Chew You Up and Spit You Out" in which a repeatedly renovated home gives its viewpoint and "How I Am is How You Are" which is food for thought on the influence of another person on how one 'is'.
I was attracted to it due to the title (I live in Minneapolis). I will seek out more by this author.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Fay Weldon collection of short stories, with some great tales in there. I particularly liked ‘The Day the World Came to Somerset’ and ‘A Pattern of Cats’. Classic Fay Weldon, what else can I say? Read it.

[Philippa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the author's writing about women and relationships. However, the themes of many of these stories were too similar (heterosexual adultery was ubiquitous). Variety is one of the things I like most about short story collections.

[Alejandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great finding; unusual stories with a quirky perspective. Will definitely read more by Weldon in the future.

[Anastasiia · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of these stories have very particular style of narrative.

[Daan2003 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the first stories a lot. Certainly not because they were the best of this collection, but because the writing style and the format were both really refreshing to me.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

some stories i really liked, others i fucking didn't, but i guess that's what you get with a short-story collection

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice selection of stories

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixture of short stories, well written, a little dark, thought-provoking,

[Sophia Eck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very very mid and skippable

[Moirad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very mixed bag of short stories.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

18 separate stories about women in our society. The themas going wide. From career, bearing - raising kids, mothers & over used wife's to student dream loves and personal failure in all those levels. Fay Weldon writes with a mean honesty using irony in short sentences.
What I learned from this book, I think about my life. I see some parallels and wonder where can i improve.

[Savannah Selph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only read Ind Aff but it counts. One of my favorite short stories.

[Ashley Kang · Rating 5 out of 5]

"inordinate affection is a sin"... I'd hate to love anyone inordinately