“The Last Time I Saw You”
By Elizabeth Berg
Random House, 224 pages, $25
High school reunions call for humor, and Elizabeth Berg infuses that spirit into her latest novel. On the eve of their 40th reunion, Berg’s middle-age, middle-class and lumpy-middled characters intersect in a way not unlike those populating Sherwood Anderson’s magical “Winesburg, Ohio.” In the hands of a less deft and generous writer than Berg, these characters, who would be annoying or dull, become real, transcending their high school selves and connecting with one another in ways that feel real. These are characters so familiar that it seems they live down the street. For the delightful hours it takes to read this novel, it seems that the characters jumped right off the page and joined the crowd for a casual family supper, but without the bickering.
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