Critical Consensus for 7/15: Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy
Both Ways Is The Only Way I Want It
Maile Meloy, recipient of the PEN/Malamud Award and author of Liars and Saints, is back with Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It, a collection that the Los Angeles Times calls “superbly crafted” with stories that “wind through the ways people fail to relate to each other and even to themselves.” Praised for her concise, dead-on descriptions and observations, Meloy examines the flaws in her characters through a compassionate yet honest lens. Most of the collection’s stories focus on romantic relationships and missteps, with enough humor to ease the pain - according to Curtis Sittenfeld, “Only one story [...] really makes you want to slit your wrists.” So if you can survive that one, take a look at the rest of the stories - the critics can’t get enough, and we suspect you’ll feel the same.
“Thanks to Meloy’s spare, subdued style, the death and infidelity running through these tales don’t take on as grim a tone as you’d expect.” - Curtis Sittenfeld, New York Times
“In compressed, tightly wound prose, Meloy vividly renders each character’s yearning, making the half-grasped, fleeting moments of their connection all the more aching.”- Samantha Dunn, Los Angeles Times
“Meloy’s characters frequently leave each other or let each other down, and it is precisely that—their vulnerabilities, failures and flaws—that make them so wonderful to follow.” - Publishers Weekly
“These 11 stories are quick, powerful jabs, startling in their economy; you’re propelled toward each ending, certain she won’t be able to wrap it up in one more page, and you’re proved wrong every time.” - Mary Pols, Time
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