SHOW DON’T TELL: Stories, by Curtis Sittenfeld

There seems to be a largely held belief (one easily argued against, and yet, it persists) that at some point in our lives, perhaps around middle age, whenever that is, we’ll have figured it all out. We will have accrued the proper things to make ourselves at least reasonably content (relationships, jobs, homes, children; all the stuff that makes a life); we will have done the due diligence of coming to terms with who we are, and we will forge ahead, no more questions asked, for all has been settled. Done and dusted; there’s nothing to see here.

Luckily, we have Curtis Sittenfeld to disabuse us of that rather stupid notion. “Show Don’t Tell” — her ninth book and second story collection — proves that there is always something to see … or to be told, if you prefer.

In contradiction to the advice of its title, there’s lots of telling in this book. Sittenfeld frequently opens with a character who seems to speak directly to the reader, often recapping a critical event that occurred in the past before bringing us back to the present to see how it all makes sense (or purposefully doesn’t).

In this way, reading “Show Don’t Tell” is a bit like sitting down with a good friend who’s about to dish on some major life business. The stories are messy, delicious, spun through with bits of quotable wisdom (“If I’d still be me with Botox, why bother with the Botox?”) and complete with endings that will make you sit and think. Sittenfeld’s headline-adjacent musings don’t shy from addressing biases and assumptions of all stripes, nor does she fear a character who brings the cringe. And although you may see certain twists coming, most of them land with a satisfyingly unpredictable punch.