You Are Not the One : Stories

Rating:
Summary: The best debut collection I've ever read
Review: A couple months ago, I got ahold of an advanced reader's copy of this short story collection. And I devoured it in three days. It's brilliant, and I have been telling everyone I can that Vestal McIntyre is the next big thing. There are several debut collections that You Are Not the One reminded me of, including David Leavitt's Family Dancing, Michael Chabon's A Model World, and Robert Bingham's Pure Slaughter Value. But McIntyre's book is vastly superior to all three. Like those writers (and Lorrie Moore, his closest literary relative), his prose is gorgeous and funny and stylistically unique. But his immensely original characters are so sympathetic--even when they are behaving badly--that by the end of each story, they feel like close relatives or old friends. You love them, forgive, and mourn their absense. I honestly don't understand how anyone could not love, could not respect, could not enthuse about this book. It is best debut collection I've ever read.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully crafted short fiction . . .
Review: Vestal McIntire's world of characters is one well worth visiting. He has an astute vision of the human condition and manages a focus of modern living with clarity and humor that is biting and wise. ONJ.com, Dunford and Disability are my favorites.