2011 Global Reading Challenge North America #2

Ann Beattie has been well known in literary circles for going on 35 years, but I'd heard of her only recently thanks to the placement of the latest collection of her short stories from the New Yorker being named as one of the NY Times best 10 books of the year. I opted not to read that book, but rather her first book, the book that garnered her many accolades in the 1970's from the likes of the NY Times and the late John Updike.

Chilly Scenes of Winter is an average to short length book, but because of the writing style Beattie employs it feels more shorter, much tighter, than its page number would suggest. Her character's are vivid, and the interactions they have, particularly the relationship between the main character Charlie and Sam, the friend he's had since elementary school. The story also feels true to life, something that is easy to aspire to as a writer but that is rarely seen to quite this degree, new people come and go, odd things happen, but life continues to roll on much the same as it always has.

There are only a hand-full of books that i've re-read more than once knowing that there are still more subtleties to be found, but I have all the confidence in the world that this will join that select group. The relationships are too sincere for there not to be. I LOVED this book.