The Age of Grief

The Age of Grief was written by Jane Smiley.  I've read other books she has written such as A Thousand Acres, Moo, and Ten Days In the Hills.  This book was a collection of short stories and one novella.  The novella was made into a movie in 2002 names "The Secret Lives of Dentists."  I think I'll have to put that on my netflix queue.   This was a good book to read during my week off work.  I could pick it up, read a story, and easily put it down again to start my next project.  Jane Smiley writes about the private thoughts of people.  In one story, a woman is fascinated by her new neighbors.  She becomes friends with the couple and spends all her free time with them.  She's pretty sure they like her a lot too.  Later she learns they appreciated her interest because she kept their minds off the fact that they were in the process of splitting up and going separate ways.  If I had to say there was a theme in the book, the theme would be misunderstanding.  What people thought wasn't how things really were.  The Age of Grief was a good book.