There are some treasures here, particularly the first story. If a shrill voice was appropriate for telling any story, the rape of the US by DT's administration is that story which is repeated here in fugues and variations. These stories hardly go down at all, much less easily. ( )

I wanted to love this book if for no other reason than it further exposes the hideous damage of the trump administration. Some stories were thought-provoking and spot-on. Others were too bizarre to understand. I received an ARC so I'm sure some of the typos were caught, but there were so many at the end that I was marking them. I think (my personal opinion) that if the stories had been better connected, the book would have come together more as a whole. For instance, the final two stories were a nice pair, except for the fact that the last story is set before 2020 and is referencing things from the previous story set in the 2030s. And far too many characters accept that "the world doesn't work that way." They give up. They don't fight it. As sick as some of the situations make them feel, in the end, they go on with their "jobs." ( )

This is a really interesting collection of short stories inspired by current events that are at once familiar and strange. I enjoy the different approaches Murray takes in telling the stories and how I was never quite sure where they were going. The story from the point of view of the Zillow hive-mind downplaying the effects gentrification has on a neighborhood was a special favorite of mine and really nailed the uncanny valley that is brand social media treating corporate entities as people.

I'd recommend this for people who want darkly funny and really sharp takes on the current (and frankly disturbing) state of American life ( )

The World Doesn't Work that Way, But it Could is a powerful collection of short stories from Yxta Maya Murray.

Each short story is preceded by some form of official and actual statement. Sometimes a newspaper quote, testimony, summary of legal policy, whatever. Each sets up the surreal world we are currently living in with a TV reality star pretending to govern the country and the resulting chaos and empowering of all the worst this country has to offer. From this brief official type statement we move into a story that in some way reflects a personal aspect of the previous public policy or reaction.

Each story is well written and powerful simply as a story, but juxtaposed with the ugliness of governmental policy right now these stories take on even more meaning. Several moved me to tears while almost all made me angry about some aspect of what we have become. Yet even with this harsh framing and the chaotic real world in which they take place, our actual real world, there is a kind of hope. At the very least some light shines on avenues out of this darkness.

I highly recommend this for readers of short stories and especially those who value the ways that fiction can highlight many aspects of society that can get lost when we only look at the bigger picture. These stories, in this format, keep the big picture in mind while we watch what happens to everyday people impacted by these larger policies.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )