SOURCE: Lange, Alexandra. Review of Werewolves in Their Youth, by Michael Chabon. New York (15 February 1999): 59.

In the following review of Werewolves in Their Youth, Lange faults the volume for its weak characters, ineffective plots, and generally lifeless stories.

Werewolves in Their Youth, Michael Chabon's new story collection, reads as if he sat down and thought, What's the worst thing one could do? Betray a childhood friend, steal from an ex-wife's grandmother, sleep with the baby-sitter? He's got them all covered. But his weak-willed characters never go through with their emotional crimes, so the book is filled with almost-disasters. Only “That Was Me” comes to life. Its protagonists, a couple locked in an uneasy battle of wills, have an opaque complexity that passes for nature. “‘What's the story with Olivier?’” he asks her, of her proposed conquest. “‘I think I scared him off with my evident madness.’ ‘Do you...