Book Review: Amy Bloom's Where the God of Love Hangs Out
Where the God of Love Hangs Out
by Amy Bloom
(Random House, 2010)
I so wanted to love, love , love this book, because I truly loved Away and A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You. But Where the God of Love Hangs Out just doesn't match Bloom's other work. Craft -wise (hate that phrase, but it fits here), Bloom works her usual magic; dialogue between characters and observations about their lives are a delight to read. But frankly, after an initial surprise sex scene between two old friends (each married) and mother and adult stepson (after the father's funeral) the surprises disappear and the reader will waste lots of energy waiting for such wild moment s to happen again. (They don't). And since 2/3 of this collection is related stories (not a novel, but sure reads like a novella), if you lose patience with those characters (like I did), there's little else to sustain you except for the loveliness of Bloom's writing. I can't help thinking that these stories feel like two novels that didn't go anywhere, so Bloom decided to call them stories and publish them anyway. Can't blame a woman for trying to make a buck, but it sure feels like her reputation will suffer because of this decision. (And to my friend who loves, loves, loves, Bloom -- I tried, I really did!)