Rating: 
Summary: Dull
Review: I'm no literary scholar, so the only test that I have for a book is this: does it captivate me? Do I WANT to read it? This book is so put-downable that I could only make myself read the first 3/4 of it before I moved on. It is now collecting dust and I have no desire to finish it. The characters in the story have no depth, and I find that I don't like or care about any of them. While a few lines here and there were catchy or beautiful, as a whole, these stories are incredibly forgettable. Reading this book started to feel like homework to me. At the end of each story, I felt like asking the author, "So what? What's the point?" The characters are all strange, unhappy people with tiny little lives and even tinier personalities. Maybe you need to be a professor of literature to appreciate this kind of work. But if you are just looking for a good book to capture your heart and mind, don't bother buying this book. I'll give you my copy. Just email me and I'll mail it to you.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I looked forward to reading Birds of America because it had gotten such praise, and because Ms. Moore is on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. I was disappointed with these stories of shallow, self-absorbed people leading meaningless lives. I struggled to finish this collection and when I did, all I could think of was, "So what?" For those of you who think I don't "get it" because I don't like these stories, I'd appreciate some valid reasons why Ms. Moore should be considered such a great writer. Is this the best that modern literature can do? All I can say is, ho-hum . . .
Rating: 
Summary: 3.49 stars -- liked LIKE LIFE better
Review: Lorrie Moore can turn some wonderful stories. In this collection I especially liked FOUR CALLING BIRDS, TERRIFIC MOTHER, and PEOPLE LIKE THAT ARE THE ONLY PEOPLE HERE. This latter story -- about a pediatric oncology ward and the transformation of a couple and their child hastened by the 'C' word...I had read once a year or so ago and it really didn't turn me on. This time around, I was wowed at Moore's ability to convey the exacerbation with the medical institution and at the same time the seeking of a comfort level within it. TERRIFIC MOTHER is about the power of regeneration. FOUR CALLING BIRDS is a very sweet, humerous story -- more in the LIKE LIFE tradition--in which a woman comes to terms with her cat's death in the eyes, and with the help of family strength. I even liked WILLING, which other reader panned. I agree with a former reviewer that the story about the mother/daughter trip in Ireland was not too good. I think Lorrie Moore is gifted, and should be read. She has great wit and humanity. I can almost figure her out (which is something I can't say for Alice Munro, whom I think is absolutely marvelous, but can't say why).
Rating: 
Summary: Emotionally stunning
Review: I'm a fan of short fiction, but few collections prepared me for the emotional intensity of these stories. Each one left me with the feeling I had just read an 800 page novel - the depth of each story and character is remarkable. In particular the final story, Terrific Mother, with it's skillful balance of hope and dispair, comedy and tragedy left me wondering why Moore is not better known here in England. This is a perfect collection for those who may not enjoy short stories and a revelation to those of us who do. This is my first introduction to Lorrie Moore and I will be quickly buying up her earlier work.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible -- Please read it!
Review: This is the most stunning short fiction I've ever read. I've been a Lorrie Moore fan for a long time, but she exceeded my expectations with this breathtaking collection. Anyone who loves short stories, or any sort of fiction needs to read this. She is a master at the form, and can make you laugh and break your heart in the same sentence.
Rating:
Summary: What a writer!
Review: Wow what a writer! This is how Martin Amis would write if only he was a woman. Lorrie Moore's short stories are modern, and relevant, humane and humorous all at once. I don't usually like short stories but these left me satisfied, and needing little break to process them just like I do with a good novel.
Rating:
Summary: Luminous, Thoughtful Prose
Review: Lorrie Moore is a master of the form--her characters ripple and ruffle with fragility and strength, guilt and honesty.
Rating:
Summary: An astonishing book
Review: Though at first I was upset by the dark landscape Moore writes within in this book, as I read I realized two things: that I could not stop reading it, even for a moment, and that Moore is more brilliant than ever. The final two stories were particularly and supremely powerful; in fact, I wept at the second-last, and I can tell you that I've never in my life cried over a short story. To read this book, the reader has to cast aside his or her 90's version of Pollyanna-ish optimism that I admit I share. It is dark country that Moore explores here. But she explores it with tremendous skill. My only criticism is that I found Moore's male main character stories far, far weaker than those with the main character a female. I'm sure she could care less, but if I were her friend, I'd tell her to stick to the stories of women. This was the most impactful, important and powerful book I've read in years.
Rating: 
Summary: Lorrie Moore overshadows her hack critics
Review: Unless you're either a pious sanddipper afraid of the slightest pessimism or an unknown hack writer, you're very likely to enjoy this book. Lorrie Moore is very funny and perceptive in a slightly world-weary but adorable way. She deserves her fame just as much as her critics deserve their obscurity.
Rating: 
Summary: If ever a book could give you a headache
Review: The overriding impression of this ghastly collection is one of hysterical shrillness. Each story features some paralysed woman who gets trapped in a labyrinthine circle that goes on FOR EVER until a final ejaculatory epiphany drenched in the smuggest prose imaginable. Each spurt becomes more contrived than the last until you can hear Moore's tap dripping. The story about going back to Ireland with her mother is so cliched and inaccurate it makes one doubt the verity of the rest. There are some good, bloody, tasteless, comic moments that scar the polite complacency (a street littered with sanitary towels; an accidental baby death), but mostly this is unreadable.
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