It was a tough world out there, and you were a fool to reveal your weakness.

I am a fan of Leftovers but this is my first time reading anything from Tom Perrotta. Nine Inches: Stories was a recommendation and I'm glad for it because I may have overlooked it as the concept of short stories is less appealing to me than who wrote them. The stories are in easy to digest 10-20 minute lengths and because of that I made quick progress through it all.

"They have no idea how beautiful they are."
Oh, they know, Liz thought. The world only reminds them every day.

Some of the stories were better than others but they all shared a theme of sadness, from being alone or regretting choices made in your life. This connection made them all enjoyable as you went from one lost soul to another that made a regrettable decision. I like to think that these characters all live in the same neighbourhood. They go to the same Stop & Shop and know the kids on the football and soccer teams. All the while their sadness and regrets echo from one house to another.

These short stories were all immersive and most times they just ended. There was no satisfying conclusion or promise of redemption, the deed was done and the tale ended. I would typically go straight in to the next story and have to remind myself that these are new characters, in a new house.

As I read the stories I thought I could rank them with ease, but it was slightly challenging. I ranked based on how much of the story I could remember from reading the title and then tried to quantify how much of an emotional deflating I felt in the end. Here is how I would rate each story:

9. Backrub
7. Grade My Teacher
1. The Smile on Happy Chang's Face
2. Kiddie Pool
8. Nine Inches
3. Senior Season
4. One-Four-Five
8. The Chosen Girl
5. The Test-Taker
6. The All-Night Party

Regardless of a #1 or #9 ranking, the stories were all entertaining and this book has sold me as a fan of Perrotta's work and I will look in to reading more from him.