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Stuff I’m Reading

 I liked Laura Lippman's new book of stories--"Seasonal Work"--and I appreciated the many murders, false identities, affairs, acts of spying, and even allusions to the supernatural.


Lippman is often thinking about power--and specifically the link between power and gender. One story takes us back to the most-eventful days of the Cold War; a housewife makes a habit of studying her neighbors (the one with conspicuous makeup under her eye, the one who stores vodka in a water bottle, the one who seems to walk far, far from "the office" on an ostensible trip to work). Through a series of amusing twists, the housewife becomes aware of Kim Philby and Philby's colleagues--and, by the end of the story, she has opted to "donate" her eagle eye to the neighboring offices of the CIA.

A "bestie" invents a Match.com persona so that she can off her obnoxious girlfriend; she then plans to steal the girlfriend's spouse.

A smart little girl studies her stepfather, who has a con operation. This guy pretends--each Christmas--that a thug has robbed "the family stash" of Christmas gifts. Donations pour in--and the guy pawns the donations, then skips town. It's striking and alarming to see what the little girl learns from her stepfather--and what she envisions for the next five years.

My favorite story--"Cougar"--has a waitress in her forties overhearing a discussion at one table. ("I'd tap that. She's a cougar.") The waitress has been unmoored; she is supporting her grown son, who runs a meth lab in "the family basement." The waitress hates her son, who can't even pretend to show gratitude, but there doesn't seem to be a viable "exit" from the status quo. And yet hearing the word "Cougar" can be transformative. The waitress rediscovers her power, seduces a young stranger, then has the stranger kill the meth dealer in the basement. "Medea" for 2022!

All of this is fun and worth reading.
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