Zolitude, by Paige Cooper

I'll be honest, I've been avoiding writing this entry because I hate writing about books that I've failed. I know I'm not the world's most literary reader, but I'm also not the least, and I just couldn't wrap my brain around some of these short stories. Some I really liked, especially the first one, the collection's namesake, and the story coiled around an earthquake-driven wave of destruction. Some others were...difficult. No discernible plot or chronology and strange syntax left me feeling like I was left out of an inside joke. One story, presumably inspired by the Theranos scandal, was just so odd and creepy that I couldn't get through it fast enough.

Reader, I gave up. I rarely leave a book unfinished, but I am just not smart enough to get most of Cooper's stories. I appreciate a challenge and I certainly don't believe all fiction should have to adhere to strict plots or timelines, but there is such a thing as too weird, too impenetrable - at least for me. I didn't get it, and that's okay. There are other readers who did, and there are other books for me.

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