Onlookers - Ann Beattie

 Onlookers - Ann Beattie

Publication Date:  July 18, 2023

She read

I am not a big fan of short stories, but when I saw this collection by Ann Beattie, I couldn’t pass it up. Onlookers is a compilation  of linked stories that take place in Charlottesville, Virginia during the time of Covid and political distress when “any intelligent person has been driven half mad.” Readers may remember the white nationalist demonstration turned violent that occurred there in 2017. References to Charlottesville’s controversial statues and residents’ views permeate (but do not dominate) the stories.  Rather, these are tales of a time, a place, a community, and some of the characters who inhabit it. 

I loved Beattie’s  wickedly clever and astute observations of life. There were many gems, but one of my favorite was that misinformation on social media has become the modern Paul Revere.  It was a pleasure to read such literate pieces. 

As you read the stories, try to remember the characters from each story, as relationships to them may appear in later tales. 

Thanks to #netgalley and #scribner for the ARC.

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