... brief, loosely related descriptions.

... void of emotion and meaning, focusing instead on the physical world—things, people, and their actions.

Little of what Elkin writes is unto itself that interesting: she sees women in red hats, a pair of awful glittery sandals, a mom with kids who kick and squirm. The observations are hurried and unedited. Some moments are inconsequential, some affecting, and all merit her attention.

Exteriors is perhaps best enjoyed when leafed through at random. Many of Ernaux’s quotidian observations on the train and in the supermarket probe and amuse, while giving pause for thought.

French novelist/memoirist Ernaux...turns conversations overheard and people and places observed into a disturbingly effective documentary record of modern life.

... Ernaux's keenest insights are into the uncomfortable relationships between those who live on society's fringes and those more securely in its center.