book review: Love in Infant Monkeys by Lydia Millet

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Love in Infant Monkeys: Stories
The backstory: I haven't read anything by Lydia Millet before, but Love in Infant Monkeys was one of the finalists for this year's Pulitzer Prize. It is not available on the Kindle, so I requested it from the library. Because it's only a seven-day check out, I read it first. I am not a person who loves short stories, although Elizabeth Crane convinces me I sometimes do. I vaguely knew of Lydia Millet, as I remember wanting to read her novel George Bush, Dark Prince of Love when it came out.

The basics & the verdict: Short story collections can be difficult to assess. There are always some stories more enjoyable than others. This collection works beautifully as a collection. All the stories deal with animals and celebrities, and each one is beautifully unique. Millet has taken tidbits and stories from the headlines and re-imagined them. The first story in the collection, "Sexing the Pheasant," is the story of Madonna hunting in England. It is absolutely brilliant. I read large portions of it out loud to Mr. Nomadreader, and I found myself constantly saying "this story is amazing" every few lines. Of course, the inevitable let down soon followed. I enjoyed all the stories in the collection, but "Sexing the Pheasant" was my favorite, so I felt a bit of disappointment as the book progressed. My second favorite was "Chomsky, Rodents" and took place at a trash dump. Overall: short story lovers will adore this collection, and so will the snarky intellectual crowd who adore Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert and may be reticent to admit they enjoy The New Yorker as much as US Weekly (yes, that describes me). Those in the know will love the jokes, and those not in the know won't realize they missed them.

Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5) - 5 stars to "Sexing the Pheasant" and "Chomsky, Rodents"
Length: 208 pages 
Publication date: September 22, 2009
Source: my local public library

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Comments

  1. Marie CloutierApril 25, 2010 at 6:48 PM

    Sounds like a fantastic collection. i'm always a sucker for great anthologies and I love hearing that the book works well as a collection.

    ReplyDelete
  2. KristenApril 27, 2010 at 11:31 AM

    I am a reluctant short story reader so I don't know if this is for me but you've definitely made me think about it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. bermudaonionApril 27, 2010 at 12:27 PM

    This must be outstanding since you generally don't read short stories. I don't either, by the way, but you've got me wanting to read this collection.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beth KephartApril 29, 2010 at 7:20 PM

    goodness, you read extraordinary books. Love that. And I did like Olive Kitteridge. Tinkers is not an easy book—one has to be willing to forgo (or not to hope for) many traditional storytelling devices (eg, dialogue).

    Can't wait to hear what you think.

    ReplyDelete
  5. VasillyMay 2, 2010 at 5:13 PM

    I've had this book on my list since I found out it was a finalist for the Pulitzer. I can't wait to read this!

    ReplyDelete
  6. S. KrishnaMay 5, 2010 at 5:43 PM

    Snarky? It's going on my wishlist after that review. :-) Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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