While Richard Yates had an enthusiastic following among writers of his generation, his work never received much attention from the general public. His writing career, as a result, never brought him financial security, and his life (notwithstanding two marriages and some children) reportedly was not an easy one, in part due to his addictions to nicotine and alcohol, which eventually led to his death.

"Liars in Love" (1981) was his second collection of short stories, published two decades after his first novel "Revolutionary Road". I found it an admirable collection, though not as noteworthy as Yates' first collection, "Eleven Kinds of Loneliness". All portray loneliness and alienation among ordinary people. The stand-out story among them, in my view, is "Saying Goodbye to Sally", which portrays a relationship and its ending. Potential readers should note that the stories all are contained in the major "Collected Works of Richard Yates", published in 2002. Below are listed the seven stories that "Liars in Love" contains, along with my ratings (on a scale of 5 stars).

Oh, Joseph, I'm So Tired – 3*
A Natural Girl – 3*
Trying Out for The Race – 3*
Liars in Love – 3*
A Compassionate Leave – 3*
Regards at Home – 3*
Saying Goodbye to Sally – 5* ( )

Am I officially burned out on Yates? Perhaps. This couldn't get much more than a 'meh' out of me, mainly because the stories seem like re-runs of other stories/novels by Yates. Sculptress mother? Check. Cowardly soldier? Check. TB? Check. Middle class suburban life? Check. Alimony? Divorce? Creative writing? Soul crushing? Check by four. Also odd is how much these stories fly in the face of all advice given to short story writers. Most of them are basically 20 page novels, rather than short stories. I dislike writing-school short stories, and, since Yates is meant to be the greatest short story writer of his age, this book should really say something about that whole racket.
All of that said, the title story was great, as was Trying out for the Race. Saying Goodbye to Sally has its moments. And Yates' narrative voice - he only has one - is all time great. But overall, I think I would've been better off re-reading 11 Kinds... or one of the novels. ( )