Anatomies Anndee Hochman

I recently attended a writing workshop weekend and Anndee was my instructor, for nonfiction/memoir. So of course I got her book and got her to sign it. I would have picked it up at the author sale anyway, since it was one of the snappiest designed books there and I'm a sucker for that. Look how exciting that cover is! Plus, I often prefer short stories over long fiction - less time commitment.

The stories are excellent, which surprised me ... I'm not sure why, I guess I was inherently subconsciously incredulous that a real live person I met could be a great writer. The characters are the best part, each distinct and memorable, and the dialogue is very good too. The language is vibrant and imaginative, filled with underlying, significant metaphors.

The only drawback I saw emerged at the end: some of the stories seemed repetitive by that point. Each central character seems like a different aspect of Anndee's personality, and there are definitely similarities between the smart young female characters. But on the other hand, this contributes to the unifying threads in the book and makes it more coherent than other, more sporadic short story collections.

My three favorite stories are Underneath, The Whole Truth and Nothing But, and Liability, the novella.

read February 2005

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