by Ann Beattie
First published 2010
Ann Beattie's characters drift through relationships that never quite solidify. They want things they cannot name and settle for connections that leave them empty. A woman watches her marriage dissolve over small betrayals. A man realizes his ambitions have curdled into resentment. Friends gather for dinner parties that expose the gaps between who they were and who they became. These people move from youthful restlessness to middle age disappointment, navigating divorces, affairs, and the weight of choices that seemed so casual at the time. Beattie observes them with surgical precision, catching the exact moment when hope shifts to resignation or when a conversation reveals the distance between two people. Her dialogue crackles with the things people cannot say directly. Some characters find unexpected moments of clarity or connection. Others remain trapped in patterns they recognize but cannot break.
Genres: short-stories, literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, slice-of-life
Setting: New York
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
528 pages · Hardcover · Scribner