‘Anagrams’ by Lorrie Moore
Last week I received a letter from my dentist which wrongly listed my date of birth as April 15th, 1974. While this is of course incorrect, for I am seventeen years younger and a Capricorn as opposed to an Aries, it would certainly explain how I was able to relate so readily to Lorrie Moore's colourful depictions of life after thirty. Anagrams, which was first published through Knopf in 1986, is the first honest-to-goodness novel written by Lorrie Moore, an American author who is perhaps best known for her rib-ticklingly witty short story collections. The book tells the story of Benna Carpenter, a lonely and somewhat bored community college teacher who, disappointed with where life has led her, finds herself dreaming up former lovers and best friends and children in order to lessen the sting of loneliness. The only seemingly real character in Anagrams, aside from Benna herself of course, is Gerard Maines, her on/off lover and old friend who also happens to be an aspiring opera singer. When Gerard passes away at the end of the novel (apologise for the spoiler), Benna is disbelieving and bereft, and she is left to deal with the inequities of life.
What I love most about Anagrams is the writing itself. I have only ever heard favourable things about Lorrie Moore and, now that I know just exactly how good she is, I cannot wait to read more of her work - I plan to purchase 2009's critically acclaimed A Gate at the Stairs ASAP, and I am eager to read her debut short story collection, Self-Help, also. Moore's prose reads like a formidable combination of Joan Didion's mordant lucidity and Armistead Maupin's sparkling, lifts-off-the-page humour. And yet her prose style is all her own; she has a real gift with language and effortlessly bends words to her will in a way that refers directly to the book's strikingly apt title. And yet, beneath all the effervescent wit and startling candour, Anagrams is a work of significant depth. It implores the reader to ask his or herself questions that apply not only to the book but to contemporary life itself, questions that may not be possible to answer but that must be considered nonetheless.
Unlike the last book I read (Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd), Anagrams is not overly 'plotty' if you will permit me to use such a term. As you may or may not be able to tell from reading past reviews, I tend to prefer character and idea-driven books with stylish prose to overly plot-driven books that rely on Curly Wurly-like twists to render them readable. Anagrams is most certainly an example of the former, which ought to explain why I enjoyed it so much. Although technically a novel it has more in common with a short story collection, though I believe that this makes for a far more interesting read. All in all this is a wonderful book, poignant and witty in equal measure, and if you value good quality prose over a tightly structured plot you will no doubt delight in it.
This piece was originally published on alisonlaurabell.tumblr.com in March 2012.