Anthony’s Reviews > A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories > Status Update

Read “Grief,” one of the most affecting stories of the collection so far.

Read the evocative, bittersweet “Strays”

Read two more brief but distinctive glimpses into lost souls’ lives: “Teenage Punk” and “Steps”

Read the amusing “Electric Car, El Paso” and the disturbingly frank “Sex Appeal.”

Read “Friends” and “Unmangeable,” both excellent mini stories. The first was a touching portrait of an elderly couple, and the second was a harrowing glimpse into the life of a severely alcoholic mother of two.

Read “Melina,” a wonderfully compact tale of an intoxicating beauty.

Read “Good and Bad,” the sorrowful tale of a privileged girl’s complex relationship with her activist teacher.

Read “Toda Luna, Toda Año,” about a widow’s trip to Mexico.

Read two more fascinating, bittersweet stories: “Temps Perdu” and “Carpe Diem”

Read the sadly funny “Emergency Room Notebook, 1977