A Girl Becomes a Comma Like That by Lisa Glatt.
I spotted the author at BEA last year giving away signed copies and I picked one up. I started reading it late one night months ago, and in my insomniac haze I had the idea that this was a collection of short stories.
The opening chapters are from the perspective of Rachel, a poet and college instructor in her thirties, who brings a succession of one-night stands home to her cancer-stricken mother’s apartment; subsequent sections are about other (related) characters. The first sixty or so pages were intense and concise enough for me to want to save the book for when I could focus, and when I got a plane the next day, I packed a couple of novels better suited for “lose yourself while on a long flight” reading instead. Now that I’ve finally gotten back to it I think I’m sorry I put it aside for so long.
Author and Professional Obsessive.
Recent Press and Links
- Essay: A Little House Adulthood For the American Masters documentary on Laura Ingalls Wilder, I contributed a piece to the PBS website about revisiting the Little House books.
- Essay: The Christmas Tape (At Longreads.com) How an old audio tape of holiday music became a record of family history, unspoken rituals, and grief.
- Q & A With Wendy McClure Publishers Weekly interview about editing, Wanderville and more.
Connect with me
Where else to find Wendy
- Candyboots Home of the Weight Watcher recipe cards
- Malcolm Jameson Site (in progress) about my great-grandfather, a Golden Age sci-fi writer.
- That Side of the Family My semi-secret family history blog
I picked this book up off a shelf in the library solely because of its title. I’m glad to hear it’s worth the time.
Oh yeah I like her book. Actually, I was a student of hers in two creative writing courses at CSULB. I think she’s a pretty cool person, so of course I had her sign my copy of the book.