‘Show Don’t Tell’ by Curtis Sittenfeld is a collection of short stories that reminds us just how talented the author is at weaving well-developed, relatable and vivid characters without wasting words. We are treated to a series of witty, taut and amusing vignettes starring upper-middle class middle-aged midwestern women who spring from the pages like old friends (even though even Sittenfeld’s will have only met one of them before - Lee Fiora from ‘Prep’ who returns to Ault for a reunion in ‘Lost But Not Forgotten)!

Particular gems for me were ‘White Women LOL’ which had me cringing, laughing and hoping for the return of Kiwi the Shih Tzu in equal measure, and ‘Follow-Up’ which had emotional heft, lightness and incredible characterisation. I also enjoyed the thought-provoking ‘The Richest Babysitter In The World’ which explores the motivations of billionaires and the early signs of exploitation at Amazon (*cough* “Pangaea”) while using the word “dinglehopper” endearingly often.

Of course, most of the characters were of uniform social class, age and voice - making the collection feel highly thematic if not diverse. This set of tales is perfect to consumer hungrily in one riveting helping or relish across twelve satisfying sittings! It’s the perfect gift for any female you know - and one you should treat yourself to as well.

This gets 4.5 stars (the aforementioned distinctive voice overriding variety in the leads being the reason for half a star off, but ultimately rounding up). You won’t regret picking this up (and if you loved ‘Prep’ - one of my absolute fave coming-of-age novels, you won’t be able to resist anyway!)

I received an advance Digital Review Copy of this book from the publisher Random House UK via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I'm not normally one for short story collections, but I'd never read from Curtis Sittenfeld before, and this seemed like a good way to sample their work.

And it was.

I really loved the writing style and will definitely be checking out the full-length novels.

I enjoyed every story in the collection to varying degrees.

Standouts would be A for Alone, White Women LOL, and Patron Saints for Middle Age.

Creative Differences was probably my least favourite.

Overall, I'd give this collection 4 stars.

Show Don't Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld

This is a brilliant collection of short stories which I thoroughly enjoyed. I feel as though I've been at a party and met lots of fabulous women who told me compelling, fascinating and above all entertaining stories! And the icing on the cake.... the final story revisits characters from Prep who are attending their 30th reunion... FABULOUS!!! I can't wait for the book to come out so I can buy it and savour all the phrases where I nodded vigorously and went "omg yessss"! Very VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

This is the first short story collection of Sittenfelds that I’ve read. If like me, the only other Sittenfeld you’ve read was Romantic Comedy and you found that really fun and so want to read the newest release, then just let me warn you this is completely different. Not bad different, but not as fun and lighthearted.

A collection of female focused stories, mostly Middle Ages, mostly “mundane” on the surface but each one covering deeper topics. Each story, if you look below the surface, is more nuanced than it appears, and raises great discussion topics for all who read. I think this would be brilliant as a book club pick and is currently very topical (lots of mentions of trump throughout).

I am a big Curtis Sittenfeld fan and I liked her last two collections of short stories (You Think It, I'll Say It and Help Yourself) so I was optimistic that I'd love this collection too. I didn't dislike it - her writing is too good for that - but I was disappointed.

Why was I disappointed? Well partly it's because she set the bar so high with her first collection. I didn't think these were as good. She can craft a sentence or capture a thought process with a precision that wows me and she can also write a first paragraph that completely hooks you in from the get go. None of that has changed. But again and again I felt like each story just...ended. It didn't leave me with a full and satisfied feeling, it just left me feeling mildly disappointed that what started so well and seemed so promising didn't quite deliver.

The other reason for disappointment was that three of the stories were the same three stories that made up Help Yourself. I didn't realise that going in and I did feel cheated as a result. If you didn't read that collection, they are good stories. But if you did, you're only getting 75% of a book with this one.

If you like Curtis's writing and if you're happy with stories that are more slices of life than fully rounded entities in their own right, there's plenty here to like. It's very engaging and easy to read. But I didn't feel like there was anything especially memorable or outstanding about the collection.

Curtis Sittenfeld is a precious resource for women – she writes sensibly and honestly about their lives.

She does not talk down to them, or automatically think women need to be portrayed as permanently harassed or teetering on the brink of collapse for them to be engaging. If she could completely repair the damage wrought by Bridget Jones, we should give her an honorary damehood.

Show Don’t Tell is a collection of 12 stories that will more than satisfy fans as they wait for her next novel. The stories feature women who are older – often with kids and husbands (or ex-husbands) – who have achieved but are often looking back to understand how they arrived where they currently are or trying to work out what the future could or should hold.

The themes here will be familiar, but they are dealt with lightly and comprehensively by Sittenfeld through her highly readable style. On the surface they may seem to be stories about middle-aged American women, but probe a little deeper and they are a close examination of Gen X females who have spent too many years just getting on with it and are now getting fed up.

Sittendfeld’s sensible head will be appreciated who could not understand the fuss about Miranda July’s All Fours.

As always, a pleasure and a privilege to read anything by this gifted author.

I am not normally a fan of short stories but I’m so glad I made an exception.

I was drawn in from the opening page and I loved these vignettes about contemporary life in America and I adored the characters and snippets of their lives.

I’m now working my way through her back catalogue and have another favourite author to savour.

Show Don't Tell
By Curtis Sittenfeld


Whenever I am asked who my favourite author is, the name Curtis Sittenfeld always leaps out before I have time to think about it. The truth is that there are probably 20 authors who jostle for the same place, but Curtis is my first love because discovering her changed the way I read and in many ways, the way I see myself.

The stories in this collection are very much in the style of her earlier work, but are more reflective, often dual timeline, with mostly midlife women who can acknowledge their growth. To say that I can relate to all these characters is the understatement of the year. It feels more like the author has mined me and my own experiences, thoughts, neuroses and revelations to create these humorous and satisfying stories that accurately portray how our angst and self consciousness morphs over the decades.

There are three stories that I would give 4 stars to, but the other nine made me so happy that they could only be 5 stars. When I realise that the final story is an extension to Prep, I wasn't sure if I even wanted to read it. Not because I didn't love Prep, I did. But I was a little afraid that it might ruin my memory of Prep from all those years back. Of course, it didn't. If anything, it makes complete sense of what I think she is trying to achieve with this collection, our grown-up selves taking pride and satisfaction at who we have become, and looking back with kindness and compassion at our younger selves.

I consider myself a confirmed non-rereader, however I know I will pick this book up again and again for the sheer comfort.

Publication date: 27th February 2025
Thanks to #Netgalley and #randomhouseuk for providing an eGalley for review purposes

'Show Don't Tell' is a story collection from Curtis Sittenfeld, whom I know primarily as a novelist. There's a good mix of stories here, although many have a link to education - characters who are students or teachers, or are reflecting on their school/college days. The characters are generally upper class, left leaning types with plenty of liberal guilt, often in their 40s or 50s. Perhaps similar to SIttenfeld herself. I found some of them annoying and found them quite hard to relate to, even though on paper I would have a number of similarities myself.

I should be honest that I'm generally not a fan of short stories, preferring novels, but it does depend on the story in question. Some of these suffered the problem I often have with short stories, that I'm left thinking 'what was the point of that'? But there were a couple that stood out as good reads and where the length felt just right. 'The Richest Babysitter in the World' was the best of the collection, and 'A for Alone' is thought provoking. I also admired the horrifyingly cringe-worthy 'White Women LOL' - any book that can make my toes curl that much has to be effectively written even if not comfortable to read.

I think this collection will be enjoyed by people who like Sittenfeld's novels and identify with the people in the stories - so probably a similar demographic to the one written about. For me the collection as a whole isn't strong enough to recommend more widely, although as I say, a couple do stand out as particularly good. If all of them were the same quality as 'The Richest Babysitter...' then I'd be more generous in my praise.

Curtis Sittenfeld is, of course, a superb writer so everything she puts out is going to be worth reading, this included. The overarching theme of the book is largely a difference between the things we say and the things we do, of letting how things look to others affect the choices we make and how that can play out over the years, and many of the stories handled that in a very interesting way.

However, it did feel a little samey in the end, with certain ideas coming up over and over, particularly in reference to long term marriages and relationships which all seemed to be massive disappointments! All her main characters all seem to come from the same demographic and be on the same wavelength too and that makes it feel repetitive.

I have loved most of Sittenfeld’s books and I’m certainly going to keep reading them, but this one won’t, unfortunately, rank as one of the best for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

You know you're going to get a good story with Curtis Sittenfeld and she does not disappoint with these short stories!

There's something really cosy about the way Curtis Sittenfeld writes, and I think part of this is the familiarity of the characters or settings, especially when she draws on real life figures, or cultural references. I also feel very assured that I'm in safe hands with her writing, knowing in a way what to expect, but also knowing that she will bring this somewhere unexpected, or render it so thoughtfully or truthfully that it may still catch me off guard.

This collection, like her previous You Think It I'll Say It, shows Sittenfeld's strength of capturing moments of feeling, or understanding, in characters that are familiar to us, and might resemble people in our own lives or ourselves. However, I think that the care and understanding that she gives each of these characters and situations help the reader to also put the same weight or importance on their own experiences and feelings, as well as people like them.

I enjoyed each of the stories as I was reading them, and I reached for this over another read several times as it was so easy to like, but I found the same problem with this as I have with her other short story collection, in that I find the stories individually forgettable, which is funny as her novels feel unforgettable to me. I think it's because her characters are often quiet or unassuming, even when they are famous people who live glamorous lives, you actually need an extended period of time to get to know them, even as a reader, and the real magic of her writing is how lived in the characters feel.

My favourite was of course the final story which revisits Lee Fiora from Prep, which I had recently reread ahead of this collection. Perhaps because no time at all had passed since I was last with Lee, I took extra delight in noticing what was the same and different about how Sittenfeld wrote her. I did find a flashback to her time at Ault hard to believe, if only because I truly believe Prep was a sort of definitive account and Lee wouldn't have left out anything impactful or juicy, but perhaps that speaks to how well drawn that character is.

I always feel really secure in the narratives of Curtis Sittenfeld. Everything is explained and paced so well there’s no doubt you’re being told a good story, and Show Don’t Tell has lots of them.

Show don't tell by Curtis Sittenfield

I only discovered Curtis Sittenfield last year and I adore her work. This collection of short stories did not disappoint. I rationed myself to one a day so I could savour them which was a good way to approach them I think. The characters were engaging and while the stories did feel complete I would have happily have read more of what happened in any of the stories! I particularly enjoyed the Patron Saints of Middle Age and Lost but not forgotten. I still have a couple of books in Curtis Sittenfield's back catalogue to read and this book has reminded me to prioritise them as I love her writing style.

Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Show don't tell is put on 27th February.

As far as short story collections go, there are always some that I don't connect with as much as others and that was also the case with Show Don't Tell. But I do really adore Sittenfeld's writing and how she writes people in particular, her personalization of people makes the stories feel so real. So this was thoroughly enjoyable

Some of the stories in this collection were excellent, but others I could not connect with at all. This gave it a bit of a disjointed feeling for me.

Somehow and probably also because this is her second collection of tales that are centered on white women who are currently in their 50s and belong to middle-class America, I felt like I had already read quite a few of these stories, with a few exceptions. A pity because it is from Prep that I appreciate this author (and no, I would have preferred to remember Lee Fiora without knowing anything else). But clearly this is my opinion as a white woman who is currently almost 52 years old and belongs to the middle class, European though, not American.

In qualche modo e probabilmente anche perché questa é la sua seconda raccolta di storie che sono centrate sulle donne bianche che hanno attualmente 50 anni ed appartengono alla borghesia americana, mi é sembrato di aver giá letto parecchie di questi racconti, tranne qualche eccezione. Un vero peccato perché é da Prep che apprezzo questa autrice (e no, avrei preferito ricordare Lee Fiora senza saperne altro). Ma chiaramente questa é la mia opinione di donna bianca che ha attualmente quasi 52 anni ed appartiene alla media borghesia, europea peró, non americana.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

“As you make your way through the world, you will feel bewildered, appalled, and charmed by other people.” Taken from her story 'Giraffe and Flamingo', this line could easily summarise the journey you’ll take through Curtis Sittenfeld’s latest satirical observations on modern life.

A new book by Sittenfeld is always an event. Like her contemporary Jhumpa Lahiri, she excels in both short and long-form fiction, crafting tales about people navigating their identities and mild prejudices and entitlements within rapidly changing worlds.

This timely collection of short stories offers an unnervingly perceptive glimpse into contemporary middle-class American lives. Many of the stories, particularly the mischievously dark comedy-of-manners 'White Women LOL', prompt readers to examine their own attitudes and the behaviors of those in their social circles. This particular story begs for expansion into a longer work, rich with compelling characters and untapped potential.

The collection's crown jewel, though not necessarily its strongest story, reunites readers with Lee Fiora, the protagonist of Sittenfeld's brilliant debut novel, Prep. We find Lee as a successful middle-aged divorced mother of two, attending her 30-year boarding school reunion. That Lee has remained such a vivid character since I first read Prep upon its release 15 years ago speaks volumes about Sittenfeld's talent. This 'Big Chill'-esque glimpse into Lee's adult life feels like an unexpected gift to longtime readers.

Each of the twelve stories leaves its own distinct impression, whether exploring marital ennui, the complexities of friendship, creative integrity, arrogant entitlement, or the search for meaning. Throughout, Sittenfeld's exceptionally witty ear for dialogue and keen eye for social observation shine through.

Highly recommended.

I was so happy to read the latest by Curtis. It is a wonderful collection of stories and fascinating characters. I think the author is a magician and I am always enthralled. Thankyou!!

A joy! Curtis Sittenfeld is one of my favourite authors and is absolutely my favourite writer of short stories. I am always blown away by the skill of good short story writing, to craft a complete story in so few words. I love reading them but often find in a collection, there are hits and misses or a general feeling of unevenness. Absolutely not the case with this collection, every on of the 12 hits the mark.

A brilliant collection full of realistic characters , predominantly women approaching or in middle age as they deal with all this stage of live can throw at a person. Marriage, divorce, career, parenting, I loved every character. A special treat was the last story which features Lee from Sittenfeld's book Prep, twenty years later, finding out how her life has gone and where she is now was magic.

Brilliantly written and a genuine joy to read, fans will adore this collection and undoubtedly it will bring the author a huge number of new fans, I am jealous they will get to experience her back catalogue of books for the first time.

Looking forward to buying a copy on publication date, thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

4.5- 5 stars.