Lovely, dark, deep

The writing was undoubtedly great and I really enjoyed how all the short stories circulated the same themes, but in different ways: fame, artistry, death, aging, relationships, etc.

I did not like how many of the stories were exploring a character without purpose. It seemed like Oates spent too long on the skeleton of the story and not enough on the organs. The plots were really good, but I feel like I spent most of the time waiting for something (anything!) to happen.