All Comments on 'Ask Amy'

Love the story. There's so much in it! Just the quote "you can execute Sacco and Vanzetti, but you can't Con Edison!" makes it worth the read. I hail originally from northern California, so it's harder to make a pun using PG&E, but maybe I'll try. It's a melancholy story about how complicated life is and oftentimes sad, too. By the way, I loved Amy's columns she wrote during her breakdown. Of course, high school and college reunions are for getting it on with old lovers, or old friends you always wanted to get to know "that way." Everything changes as we age, including our perspective on morality. Amy's just happened in the blur of a blizzard, poor girl. You left us hanging about why people from Connecticut are called Nutmeggers, but luckily God gave us Google so I researched it myself. It's kind of like the etymology for the term Hoosiers as regards people from Indiana. Hint: It's not because people were always asking "Hoosier mother?" Great story Mr. Cleveland! 5* from me.~~JB

I gave it a 5 - it’s well done; but I did not get the point. Or isn’t there one other than “life’s a bitch?”

Fantastic!!!! 5 stars, for sure!!! Best story I’ve read in a long time, you are the Master!!!!

A good, solid well written story. Five stars and thank you.

Sad, but interesting and well written. Humans are too complicated for our own good. You brought out that complexity in a masterly manner.

Amy was hunted to death as surely as women were stoned.

If she hadn't died I think they would have had a great relationship.

A bunch of unlikable people involved in reprehensible behavior. I feel no sympathy for Amy whatsoever..

Perhaps it would have been better to list it as a Burn the Bastard? I absolutely detest the misogynistic "she wronged me so she should burn" attitudes of those that love the BTB genre, so it's really nice to see that the "bastard" in this case got his dues paid. You were right on about the media paying attention to the philandering woman, accepted "his" statement that he'd filed for divorce without verifying, portraying "her" as the wronging party - and it wasn't until much later that someone finally asked the question.

Was it possible that her accident wasn't quite so much of an accident, but it really wasn't investigated as more? Could the Bastard have been responsible for 'taking her out?' Definitely a possibility.

I'm not sure that I liked the ending, particularly setting up the possibility of the "other woman" moving into a place, and the hints, that maybe he'd end up with her...

Entertaining for sure, melancholy and sad... for sure.

In the mindset of a Greek Tragedy - all stories don't have to end well to be a good story. 5 Stars from me!

Five stars despite the fact that I'm still sad that Amy died. To me, she deserved better. I wonder if anyone forwarded this to Amy Dickinson. I'd like to know what she thinks of the story. What's her advice?

Well that was sad, sad, sad. Even the strange hopeful end did little to mitigate the impact of her death. It would have been lovely had a crane fallen on Carl or something. Well written anyway.

This is an earthy, all too human story of multiple infidelities, revenge, death, and hope. Maybe even rebirth. The venal Carl is forever trapped in amber, the brass ring just beyond his grasp. He drove his wife to despair and death. He lost a pearl in the form of Freya. Can Freya be faithful to one man, to Alan? We can't know but we are left with a sense of hope. There is much to admire in this story. And like life, it's messy and we don't know the final answer.s We are left with hope. Five stars.

Thank you for not rolling in the BTB ending. The "I'm curious about you" ending was unexpected, but greatly appreciated. We all wonder how our decisions and actions will carry out over time, and throughout human relationships. It was like finishing a heavy meal with a Grand Mariner aperitif and an espresso.

A tale that cannot be skimmed in 8 minutes, it makes one pause, contemplate and frequently read a passage again. Well done.

Great story. Sad ending for Amy I guess it's a peak into the other side.

Did she commit suicide? I think I am missing something. Great story as it is complicated. Not great because Amy died.

A nice story; I enjoyed your writing. Next time, leave your political biases out of your story. It was ugly and glaring, taking a lot out of the nice flow you had going.

My stories are only ways to get off for the semi-literate. Your stories are fine enough to be published, although I’m sure some publishers would object to the frequent and very hot sex scenes. Just plain “wow.”

I love your work Peter. So well crafted, so easy to read and full of such interesting and colorful imagery. This is such a lovely story with a nasty twist. Excellent! Thank you.

This is an enjoyable vignette of a romantic dalliance between two middle-aged lovers, Amy and Alan which tragically ends in Amy’s accidental death as she struggles to cope with divorce and work trauma. The plot is well constructed and I liked following the locations in rural Connecticut on Google maps. On the downside, the introduction warns us that there are no dastardly villains in the story, yet that is how Amy’s cheating husband is presented. Maybe Carl has some redeeming features, but Amy doesn’t share them with Alan. Anyway, it was an enjoyable read. 5 stars and thanks for sharing.

Sad story though well written!

5

THe moral of thye story was nonsensical. Hardly sentient.

Beautifully composed.

I liked it very much. The narrators pondering leaves it to the reader to draw his (or her) own conclusions. Sexy realistic scenes as brain candy. But no happy end .. you won't sell the film rights ;-)

Very good, it was just bordering on being sweet, but I think you pulled it off well.

Although it was written well, to me it was very boring.

This is only the second of your stories that I've read. Very well written, and it gives the reader a good bit to think about. Forty years ago, I played the part of Alan. I was the "other man" in a triangle with a husband who was abusive. In my case I knew the husband, they were swingers, he was my boss. He pulled me in to be "the bull" with his young pretty wife. She enjoyed the sex with me, he was a lousy lover. He treated her horribly at work and home. He approved of me being her lover, but only under his supervision. She and I fell for each other of course. He figured that as my boss, he could keep me in check. I found a new job, she found me, and we continued to see each other without his watchful eye. Eventually she filed for divorce. Like in your story, her attorney recommended that we lay low until the divorce proceedings were complete. We did. We got back together after, but he had destroyed her in the meantime. She was but a shell of the wonderful, beautiful person that I had known. She had developed a significant drinking problem during the year that we were apart, I had no idea how to help her, although I tried. We broke up, I heard through friends that she met someone new at an AA meeting shortly after our relationship ended. They were married six weeks later. I always felt guilt for breaking up her marriage to her first husband, and the fact that I was not able to help her later when she was broken. A few years back I was talking to a mutual friend of ours who I had not talked to in many years. I found out that she had a son with her second husband and moved halfway across the country. I always wanted a chance to apologize for the things that I did and didn't do, I never got the chance. I heard that she passed away from cancer in 2013. Rest in peace Vicci.