Nine Inches by Tom Perrotta

3 Stars

Let this be a lesson to all that you should probably actually read the book jacket if you want to know what a book is about.  I read the blurb “Tom Perrotta’s first true collection features ten stories” and was sold.  True stories by a famous author?  Yay!  I thought I would be diving in to something similar to Sedaris.  Maybe not funny stories, but essays that would let me in to Perrotta’s private life.  I should have kept reading.  The blurb that hooked me actually goes on to explain this is a collection of 10 fictional stories which cover everything from Little League to infidelity.  So there you have it – I’m a bibliophile who apparently doesn’t know how to read.  Whoops. 

I’m a gal to likes to read almost EVERYTHING.  The only things I really steer clear from are super-Christian-lit and short stories (the exceptions being the aforesaid Sedaris-ish authors and a handful of Stephen King collections – I mean, it’s King so the exception had to be made right?).  If you are a person who likes the short story, this might get a better rating from you.  Me????  I don’t like a taste of a character’s life.  Short stories are the hors d'oeuvre of literature.  I prefer a novel that lets me dive in like a seven course meal.  Still, the writing was solid, it was a quick read, the stories were all kind of dark and murky (which I was in the mood for) and, to give credit where credit is due, this book has the best title/cover art combo of the entire year. 

I’ve also neither read nor seen the movie versions of Election and Little Children, but after reading this collection have added them both to my never-ending TBR list.  I think I’m going to end up loving Perrotta’s work a little before it’s all said and done.