I've never seen such a comprehensive guide to help with the writing of endings. We talk about our endings all the time, usually with expressions of grief and annoyance at our inability to end a story satisfactorily, but it's hard to actually categorize what we're doing wrong, making it difficult to troubleshoot. Endings does just that, it is an effective troubleshooting guide for endings. I like that it is a guide for stories that are already finished, but have unsatisfactory endings. It makes categorization and troubleshooting an ending actually a practical endeavor. I find myself regularly writing endings that are either "epiphany" type endings or "Doogie Howser" endings, and I often realize I need to drop the final couple paragraphs.
The Lahiri story is an exceptional example of a story ending itself. The writing is interesting and meandering, and written like a confession. The subtle hints and clues as to the ending are never obvious, and its like the ending ends up writing itself.
I like the idea of Lahiri's story as a confession . . . It's amazing that it seems like no other ending was possible; I imagine she figured out the ending and went back to rewrite the beginning.
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