A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I couldn't help comparing it to Freedom as I read--the white midwestern kids at college similarity, I guess.  Its lightness of touch, the wit that sometimes just shimmers off the page, the wistfulness--all in all, I have to say I enjoyed reading it more than I did Freedom.  It was more relevant, more immediate (less mediate?). It follows its own pattern; the things that happen have the random feel of life, yet somehow all fit together to stick into your gut like a knife.  The passivity of the main character was at times troubling, but after all that is the point.  Better to keep those bright young people distracted by their college courses in sufism, winetasting and soundtracks to war movies, so that you can get their kid brothers to enlist to fight in wars that they don't understand.


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