Come to Me by Amy Bloom
Published 1993 · 196 pages · 48,000 words · about 3 hours at an average pace · Short Fiction
How hard is Come to Me to read?
Come to Me scores 41 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it moderately challenging. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 38 out of 100
- Bloom writes in clear, contemporary American English. Her vocabulary is precise and emotionally intelligent without being showy.
- Sentence structure: 40 out of 100
- Accessible sentences that move with the rhythms of thought and speech. The prose is warm and readable throughout.
- Abstraction: 45 out of 100
- Grounded in the particulars of family life, relationships, and desire. Abstract themes emerge through character and situation.
- Information density: 40 out of 100
- Each story creates its world efficiently. Bloom balances backstory with forward momentum skillfully.
- Narrative indirection: 45 out of 100
- Bloom writes with directness about emotional complexity. Her characters are observed clearly, though they may not understand themselves.
- Symbolic density: 40 out of 100
- The stories work through character and event rather than heavy symbolism. Meaning resides in the relationships themselves.
- Ironic distance: 40 out of 100
- Bloom writes with wry affection for her characters. She sees their limitations while honoring their attempts at connection.
- Resolution withholding: 45 out of 100
- Stories end in moments of recognition or quiet shift rather than dramatic resolution. Life continues, changed or unchanged.
- Structural complexity: 35 out of 100
- Individual stories follow straightforward structures. The collection is varied in setting and character type.
How Come to Me is regarded
Come to Me holds a literary regard score of 57 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.