Where the God of Love Hangs Out

In another separate story, Bloom talks about an older man who is experiencing somewhat of a midlife crisis. He talks to his daughter-in-law on multiple occasions about intimate secrets that they haven't told their spaces. She tells him that she lied to her husband, his son, about some of her past that is hard to talk about, yet she has no problem peaking of it to her father-in-law. He tells her that he loves a woman that is half his age that works at a coffee shop and that she might be getting married to another man. In the end, the father-in-law, Ray, gives his daughter-in-law, Macy, advice to be honest with her husband because he truly adores her. He speaks from the heart and from experience because he knows that deep down, he and his wife don't love each other as much as they should or as much as when they first got married. At the end of the story, Ray watches his daughter-in-law go home to her husband happipily and pulls into the coffee shop woman's driveway, honks twice, and drives away.
Of all the stories I read from Bloom's collection, I'd have to say that this is my favorite. Unlike some of the other stories, I didn't feel like I was missing something when I read the last sentence, but I got everything I needed out of it. Even though I'm never going to find out if Ray ended up with the woman he wanted to be with or if Macy told her husband about her past, I don't think that was even necessary to make the story good. I was fascinated by the relationship between Ray and Macy and although I found it slightly inappropriate at times with the way they spoke with each other, it was great that they had someone to confide in, someone that was looking out for their best interest. I like that although Macy is married to Ray's son, she doesn't hold back from telling Ray that he has the right to be happy, no matter who it's with. I was also interested in the beginning because I though the story was supposed to be about Macy, but I later realized that it was focused on Ray. I liked that because it was a different perspective than some of the other stories I read in the collection.

Between Here and Here

This story is in a group different from the stories about William and Clare. Again, the stories seem pretty insignificant, end in strange places, and are nonchalant about issues that many would consider important. This story is about a woman and the relationship that she has with her father. Interestingly, the story starts with "I had always planned to kill my father." This catches the reader's attention immediately, and as you read through the story, trying to find a connection to this first sentence, you see that you never find a direct connection. The story goes through Alison's life in school as she talks to other people about their experiences with their own parents. She realizes that even though her dad is a pain to live with, her situation is not as bad as people around her. In her adult life, she hires a woman to look over her father and when she comes to visit for the week, she notices differences in his behavior. This is basically how the story ends.
Is it fair to say that a theme in this whole book is confusion? At first, it was extremely frustrating that I couldn't figure out what Bloom was trying to accomplish with her stories, but now that I am accustomed to her style, now I find myself starting to enjoy the simplicity of them. I can't say I understand the stories, but compared to my reading before, I learned that maybe she didn't want her stories to be 100% clear.