Like Life Stories

I came back and re-read this more recently and I'm bumping up to a 4. Moore's stories can be depressing, but there's a poignancy to them I think I didn't appreciate the first time I read her. ORIGINAL: 3.5. Although I think Moore is a talented writer, these stories are just depressing. Sure, there's humor, but the omniscient narrator uses this humor in the same way the characters in the stories do: as a defense mechanism. We're hearing something a bit defeatist, so let's talk about this thing the character said once. It's not necessarily good or bad that Moore does this, it's just different. I will read more of her, but I just hope it's not as bleak.