Not Grafton's best work. The Kinsey stories demonstrate a good beginning to future work, as these stories are her beginning. The Kit stories were depressing, somewhat obvious and more cathartic for the writter than enjoyable for the reader. Grafton has done much better with her alphabet series.

I loved reading the Kinsey short stories. The “and Me” part of the book was just depressing.

I'm not sure Kinsey translates well into short stories, not enough words to develop an interesting story.I didn't even finish it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Kinsey Millhone stories, though they are definitely short stories and I really prefer her novels. The Kit Blue stories are much more serious and are definitely more autobiographical. They feel as if they were very therapeutic for Grafton to write, and certainly gave insight into what it would be like to live with an alcoholic. I liked the background they gave me, but didn't much enjoy reading them.

Enjoyed the first half of the book that contained the Kinsey short stories. The second half was not worth the read. Book is a very fast read, I read it from cover to cover in less than 1/2 day.

Rather boring and very self serving.... I think if she wanted to write an autobiography this was not the way to go about it.

Nine short stories with Kinsey Millhone as the detective appear in half of this book. Some of these stories have been previously published in magazines, but they are not satisfying like her detective novels. They reminded me of the 5 minute mystery stories written for pre-teens I had bought for my child years ago. In Grafton's short stories, the crime, the clues, and the solution occur in a few pages. The focus is on how the crime is solved so additional characters she uses for "comic relief" in her novels are absent. There other half of the book also contains short stories, but these are about Kinsey's childhood which mirrored Grafton's own. Just not my cup of tea. Not a satisfying read.

Surprisingly good. Almost all the Kinsey stories seem perfunctory to some extent, but voice is there, and there is some sharp social observation and characterization. I was dubious about the Kit Blue stories, but they seem heartfelt and somewhat revealing. one of the attractive things about Kinsey for me has always been her oddness. in spite of the energy and charm she is clearly a somewhat marginal loner. These stories help show where that comes from.

Having read one of the stories in this book in a collection, I was eager to read further short stories by Grafton. I was rewarded not only by the stories, but by a short essay on writing types of detective fiction and short stories from Grafton's point of view. I also enjoyed the semi-biographical Kit Blue stories. I find that author autobiographies give me insight into their fiction. I am eagerly awaiting the 'W' novel, but I appreciated this appetizer while I'm waiting.

I'm always a "save the best for last" type of woman, so I started at the end--with the Kit Blue stories--and then read the Introduction and Afterward. Only then did I dive into the Kinsey tales. I was shocked to find I could identify quite a bit with parts of the Kit Blue tales, which might have made it harder for me to be truly objective. I found them possibly even more well-written than the Kinsey ones. If you like Kinsey, you'll like this book. If you like succint, well-written emotional gems, you'll like this book. And if you're new to Sue Grafton, this is a good place to start.