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Marriage, motherhood and money: Show Don’t Tell, by Curtis Sittenfeld, reviewed

Funny, smart stories explore the ‘stale’ married state, the anxieties of parenthood and the sweet-sour nature of female friendship. But do they go far enough?

Genevieve Gaunt
Curtis Sittenfeld.  Jenn Ackerman
EXPLORE THE ISSUE 12 April 2025
issue 12 April 2025

Show Don’t Tell, a collection of 12 short stories by the American writer Curtis Sittenfeld, explores marriage, sex, money, racism, literature and friendship from the 1990s to the present. There is a fine line here between memoir and fiction, with many of the female protagonists being Midwestern, bookish Democrats – quite like Sittenfeld herself.

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