Show Don’t Tell, Curtis Sittenfeld
We readers sometimes query the titles authors give their work but, in this instance, there is no mystery in Curtis Sittenfeld’s choice for her second collection of short fiction. Following, You Think It, I’ll Say It she establishes herself as an expert chronicler of everyday life with the apt ‘Show Don’t Tell’ published DoubleDay.
The motif ‘Show Don’t Tell’ recurs through each of the stories, as she explores the dissonance of our outward behaviour and the impulses behind it. Many of the characters don’t tell each other what they really want, instead acting in a way that is at odds with how they feel, or what they feel they can say. For long-term fans, the last and longest story in the book returns to the life of her debut protagonist in Prep, 20 years after it was published. Now an alumni of Ault, Lee Fiora has matured from her adolescent foibles as she reconnects with old classmates, meeting those who are stuck in their past and those who have perfectly enacted their futures.
There are gentle and witty observations of familial life, but there is pain too – sometimes sharp and acute, and muted in others, as Sittenfeld explores wearied resentment after years of domestic disappointment. These stories are as much about the self-consciousness of being newly single in middle age as navigating the insidious expectations of Hollywood and the personal toll these take.
Interestingly, she imbues characters with qualities not typically attributed to them. The ‘chubby’ young photographer in ‘Creative Differences’ whose indifference to a famous filmmaker is ‘offensive’ has a self-assurance we admire in the face of industry sycophancy. But by no means is anyone the perfect protagonist – many are dishonest and judgemental whilst acting to the contrary. Sittenfeld encapsulates a perfect sense of piety in ‘Giraffe and Flamingo’ as the narrator reflects, “John having ALS didn’t make me feel gleeful, but I became aware of a blooming internal admiration for myself for not feeling glee. I wasn’t sure this self-regard was any less reprehensible.” There is an intelligent analogy in ‘White Women Lol’ as Jill gains accidental internet fame. Uneasy with the microaggressions she exhibits, she tries desperately to rectify it by serving her local community.
The fact that success is a subjective notion is also a central theme. Janie in ‘Follow Up’ is reassured by the results of a health scare. In avoiding something frightening, she realises she could have been vastly happier had her life gone another way. Ultimately, each story reflects on misconceptions and the dismantling of expectations we have of ourselves and of others – a deeply human experience delivered in accessible and well-formed stories.
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