i don't know what curtis sittenfeld is going on about. wonder spot made me like my life a bit more. to her credit, sittenfeld writes a better plot. but sometimes you don't always need a story. sometimes you just need good company. ( )

Melissa Bank’s always witty, occasionally hilarious follow-up to her best-selling novel The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing finds Sophie Applebaum coming to maturity in east-coast urban America of the 1970s and 1980s. Sophie is the middle child of a well-to-do Jewish family from suburban Surrey, Pennsylvania: her even-keeled father a judge, her anxious mother a housewife. Older brother Jack is ambitious, full of ideas, but unreliable; younger brother Robert is ultra-smart and the family’s rule-follower. The eight stories in The Wonder Spot follow wise-cracking, insecure Sophie from childhood to her late thirties and chronicle her efforts to a) find a satisfying job, and b) find a satisfying man (not necessarily in that order). From the outset, we realize that Sophie is the kind of person who mostly does what she’s told, who second-guesses her clothes/makeup/behaviour, who often masks an almost debilitating lack of confidence with self-deprecating humour, who can’t help but envy (and feel inferior to) those around her who seem to know their place in the world and aren’t afraid to speak their mind. Her search for love dominates much of the action as she develops into a young woman who, if a desirable man makes eye contact, her imagination goes to work and in seconds has conjured a life together: children, grandchildren, companionable old age. A hopeless romantic, frequent disappointment leaves her cautious, but just short of overtly cynical. Sophie’s search for a fulfilling career follows a similar pattern (one many will recognize): falling into a position because it’s available, boss from hell, survival mode. Later, as she leaves her twenties behind, family returns to the spotlight. She remains close to her brothers and after her father’s death her relationship with her mother deepens, becoming mutually supportive and almost compassionate. The Wonder Spot was initially criticized for straddling the fence: reviewers couldn’t decide if it was serious literature or chick lit. Readers are advised to dismiss categories and simply read the book. Fiction this entertaining doesn’t come along very often. ( )

At first I didn’t think I was going to like The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank, because I didn’t like its protagonist, Sophie. Sandwiched between a cute and popular older brother, and a hardworking genius younger brother, Sophie is the middling middle child. The book begins with Sophie at about age twelve and follows her into adulthood. Each chapter could stand alone as a short story, which is in fact how I first encountered the title story, in the collection Speaking with the Angel, edited by Nick Hornby.

Sophie is not particularly good at anything, and doesn’t particularly want to be. She fails at school, at work, at friendships, at relationships. At times you want to shake her and say, “Just do something! Anything!” But what’s appealing about Sophie is her utter honesty. Not with others, but with herself. As she describes every pose she assumes, she shares her inner motivations, and we recognize ourselves. It’s a well written collection, funny and moving.
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The story isn't interesting enough to make up for the tiny print in the paperback. Discarded after 80 pages. ( )

I thought the story felt disjointed and I was disappointed in the ending. The only character to exhibit real change did so as a result of stroke. Too bad strokes aren't contagious, perhaps I would have liked the book better. Maybe I'll read it again after I have a stroke. ( )