Wow! Two years ago, I tried to read this, thought it was average and ended up not finishing. For some reason, these stories really hit now.

I've been thinking a lot about whether characters have a change happen to them at the end of a story (what makes a good end, etc etc). Really struck by Saunders' stories where the characters don't change in their outlook, specifically Al Roosten, the Semplica Girl Diaries, and Home. I remember I got stuck on these in my first read. There is something very raw about how the narrators in these stories have these running dialogues in their heads about how much they want to change (Home not so much, but it seems to be implied), which then contributes to the inertia that causes them not to, and then they don't. You'd think this wouldn't make for a very good story, but Saunders exposes this process in such a complete way. It hits even harder when you hit the title story at the end, about two characters similarly bogged down with baggage and expecting not to change, and then...they do!

Also so impressed by how the absurdity of bureaucracy features in these, which I suppose hits harder now that I've been in the workforce longer.