User:Klechac/sandbox

Works
Lauren Grodstein wrote 5 books to date. Four of her novels were written under her real name and one, Girls Dinner Club, under a pseudonym of Jesse Elliot.

The Best of Animals (2002)
Grodstein's debut is a short story collection, including ten stories. Each one about the main character and how they keep their feelings to themselves and rarely say what they mean. They seem to all have a social insecurity; that is how we relate to these stories. Critics generally responded well to The Best of Animals, calling it "lively" and praising Grodstein's "quirky voice and sassy, ironic humor" which "make these stories come alive".

Reproduction is the Flaw of Love(2004)
Her next book, Reproduction is the Flaw of Love is her first story told with a male view. The main Character was a man named Joe who while he waited on behalf of his girlfriends pregnancy test rethought his whole life, his relationships and his parents failed marriage. He thinks of the type of bond he would want to have with his kids in comparison to the ones he had with his parents. This novel was said to be an "insightful study of our search for meaningful connections” by critic Beth Leistensnider.

Girls Dinner Club(2005)
Girls Dinner Club, written under her pseudonym name, is about three 17 year old girls who are best friends and meet weekly: to eat, gossip about their lives and to lean on each other for their own personal problems. Booklist says this book is for young adults and that the girl’s experiences are predictable.

A Friend of the Family(2009)
A Friend of the Family, was intentionally written “About family and loving your kids. And both dads in the book do” according to Grodstein. It was a family novel in which there was a terrible tragedy of a young girl committing neoncide. The father of this girl trusted in his best friend, Pete to talk to. Later do we know the girl and Pete’s son, Alec, hit it off. To keep the them apart Pete does everything in his power; Alec ends up despising his own father for this in the end.

An Explanation for Everything(2013)
Grodsteins most recent book, An Explanation for Everything, is about loss of love and belief. She writes about a teacher, Andy, who loves teaching and mentors someone after his wife dies leaving him with kids. There is a lot going on in Andy’s world that he is trying to cope with it but at the same time trying to move past it. S. Krishna declares that Lauren Grodstein writes thought-provoking, ambitious novels, and though you don’t always like the characters she writes, you understand their motives and find them incredibly realistic.

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Marissa Ferdman Marissaferdman (talk) 13:13, 24 October 2013 (UTC)