Self-Help (1985)

Moore, Lorrie. Self-Help. Vintage, 2007.

Playing on self-improvement literature, which is as pervasive in our culture as anti-depressants, Moore's collection consists primarily of, at the core, to-do lists. Four of the titles begin with the word "how" (one title is just "How"), and give instructions on exactly what thoughts and actions must one employ to be a mistress, to talk to one's mother, to be a writer, and more. Moore's imagination and eye for detail are as sharp as the prose, which is nothing short of lacerating. Ironically, the stories that comprise Self-Help can leave one with a sense of helplessness, despair at the folly of humanity. But, seen in a different light, the book can also serve to prove what happens when people try to live a life of helping only themselves. Moore isn't afraid to expose the selfishness of so many figures that people one's life. There is, however, a humor to the stories that is quick on the heels of depressing situations. The instructions are often as frank as they are playful and serious: The first sentence of "How to Become a Writer" states, "First, try to be something, anything, else." Perhaps Lorrie Moore's greatest strength is in her ability to capture an entire life—from birth to adolescence to dating to college to marriage to children to old age—in a few brief pages.