Curtis Sittenfeld is fascinated by fame

Curtis Sittenfeld is a master at crafting characters that feel like real people, in all their messy, complicated glory. These characters are front-and-centre in her new short story collection, Show Don’t Tell. The book features stories about women, mostly in middle age, as they face life’s absurdities, joys and disappointments. Curtis and Mattea talk about the tricky boundaries of celebrity, the label of “women’s fiction” and how her characters are inspired by famous people. If you enjoyed this conversation, check out these episodes:Casey McQuiston: Celebrating queer love and joy and navigating the future of romance Daniel Aleman: Loneliness inspired a novel about a Grindr date gone fatally wrong