Show Don’t Tell – Curtis Sittenfeld
In her second story collection, Curtis Sittenfeld gives flashes of her signature insight and wit, but “Show Don’t Tell” ultimately was an uneven, somewhat mediocre effort.
Across these thirteen stories, we see familiar Sittenfeld territory — women navigating the fault lines of relationships, ambition and self-perception, often in the quietly sharp Midwest settings she renders so well. But what might have worked more effectively in a slow-drip reading felt, in a binge-listen, like variations on a theme.
That theme: upper middle class, middle-age malaise.
Sittenfeld shows she is almost unmatched as an astute chronicler of interior lives. Her characters — overeducated, under-satisfied, often marooned somewhere between self-awareness and self-delusion — feel intimately familiar. When the stories click, the characters feel like your friends or neighbors, or at least someone you could easily spend 20-minutes chatting with at a cocktail party.
“The Richest Babysitter in the World” is the standout: a “what-if” tale of missed fortunes, sexual naivete and dot.com-era hindsight that is funny, poignant and perfectly paced. “A for Alone” is another solid entry, exploring power, gender and temptation with an unexpected zigzag of a plot that plays with the absurdity of the Mike Pence Rule to revealing ends.
Elsewhere, though, the collection falters. Many stories tread the same ground: discontented marriages, lapsed friendships, artistic compromise and suburban boredom. Most feature women reckoning with how their lives measure against the expectations set by their education, talent or youthful promise. Sittenfeld often leans on character details — being gay, overweight or physically unremarkable — as shorthand for depth or vulnerability. These are meant to invite empathy but begin to feel like lazy crutches.
A few stories come close to satire, but rarely risk enough to stick the landing. “White Women LOL” aims for social critique, with its viral scandal of “Vodka Vicky,” but ends up feeling a touch too didactic. “Creative Differences,” about a viral photographer facing off with a corporate-sponsored film crew, delivers a sharper edge but wraps up too neatly.
Too often, the ideas are more compelling than their execution. The title story is a good example: it follows Ruthie, a student in a prestigious writing program whose interactions with a tacky older neighbor are meant to anchor a reflection on ambition and literary success. But the narrative is scattered, never quite committing to Ruthie’s emotional arc or to any particular insight. It gestures at autobiography without fully embracing it.
The audiobook, with multiple narrators, offered some welcome variation that the text lacked. Performances by Emily Rankin, Michael Crouch and Nicole Lewis stood out, adding energy and dimension to the stories they voiced. Others were more forgettable.
Sittenfeld’s own narration in “Lost but Not Forgotten” — a follow-up to “Prep” — felt particularly flat, especially for readers unfamiliar with that earlier novel. Without that context, the story reads as muddled and inaccessible, filled with characters whose significance feels assumed.
Still, even the weaker stories carry flashes of what makes Sittenfeld compelling: the sly observation, the perfect turn of phrase, the ability to make a character feel ridiculous and real in equal measure.
This is objectively not a bad book, it’s just not Sittenfeld at her best.
Rating (story): 3/5 stars
Rating (narration): 3/5 stars
Format: Audiobook (library loan)
Dates read: April 12 – April 13, 2025
Multi-tasking: Not recommended. Sittenfeld is a master of detail, and if you aren’t paying close attention you’ll find this already uneven collection rather insufferable.
