I am a bad reader. I like short stories.

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Permalink Reply by Spring Griffin on December 16, 2007 at 10:05am

I'm reading 'No One Belongs Here More Than You' by Miranda July. Incredibly uncomfortable little peeks into characters' lonliness and the connections that they make. July did the movie 'You and Me and Everyone We Know' and this collection of short stories has a similar feel. Good luck with the Hemmingway!

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Permalink Reply by neal copperman on December 16, 2007 at 11:39am

I find that most books of short stories by a single author get stuck. They revisit the same themes, ideas or general plot concepts, so that something that worked well for me once loses impact and interest on repetition. Oddly, I haven't read many compilations, which shouldn't have that problem.

Anyway, here are two that didn't fall into that trap for me:

I'm reading "Ship Fever" by Andrea Barrett. I love the way her books are surfacely about science but really about people. (See also "Voyage of the Narwhal".) She has a remarkable way of humanizing topics that don't immediately interest me.

One of my favorite short story collections is "Exotic Pleasures" by Peter Carey. It was an Australian import, but I think he has short story collections that are readily available.

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Permalink Reply by hettie on December 16, 2007 at 10:58pm

I love a good short story, but I'm frequently disappointed by the short fiction I encounter in anthologies and magazines (I guess I'm picky, too.) however, I really like the monthly mag "the sun" for fiction and non-fiction. I've read some great shorts there over the last couple of years. and I also really like the short stories of richard ford, although I'm not as much a fan of his longer fiction.

I haven't read any dorothy parker, but after reading about her on wikipedia, I think I need to check her out. have you ever read any edna st. vincent millay?

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Permalink Reply by neal copperman on December 16, 2007 at 11:10pm

I just finished Lay of the Land (Richard Ford) a few days ago and loved it. Oddly, I read The Sportswriter but not Independence Day. Always meant to but never got around to it. Still mean to one day! I've never read any of his short stories, though I'd expect a lot from them, given the novels. I'll have to add them to my list too (as if I'll ever read everything on it!).

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Permalink Reply by Jana on December 17, 2007 at 6:46am

I have not read any E.S.V.Millay yet! I have been meaning to check her out. Reading Hemingway and how he traveled in the circles of Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound and all those "Lost Generation" folks makes me want to seek them all out, if only for a sample. (Of course I've read Gatsby...but that was high school. That doesn't count).

Making a list, thanks folks :)

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Permalink Reply by vashti on December 17, 2007 at 8:59am

Jana - I recommend Women of the Left Bank: Paris, 1900-1940 by Shari Benstock as a great resource for exploring the Paris expatriates (Stein and Toklas, Djuna Barnes, Colette, H.D., Anais Nin, etc.) . What a time and place in history, I'd go there if only! Anyway, it's not an breezy read necessarily, but is a great resource for exploring the artists and writers (particularly the women) of that time and movement if interested.

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Permalink Reply by QGal on December 21, 2007 at 2:38pm

The Sun Magazine... a no-ad publication worth every subscription penny. The online version's not bad, but get the magazine, and you'll savor every page - fiction, editorial, poetry, photography, and the ever fascinating Readers Write. I've been a fan for many years and find it very difficult to part with past issues. They should never see a landfill; pass them on. http://www.thesunmagazine.org/ [Done gushing now.]

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Permalink Reply by cathyray on January 27, 2009 at 7:44pm

I'm a big "Sun" fan also & can not part with them either except to pass them to friends. I practically make them sign out for them! I like to hold them while I read so online doesn't really do it for me. One question QGal, do you read the reader's write first? I bet you do. I do.

How about Flannery O'Connor?

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Permalink Reply by hettie on December 17, 2007 at 11:38am

jana,
if you like the millay, you might also enjoy an biography of her called savage beauty. it's a long read, but can easily be done in bits and pieces. she was an interesting woman and I really liked the perspective it gave me on some of her verse.

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Permalink Reply by Jana on December 17, 2007 at 2:15pm

Vashti - that sounds amazing. I will definitely be seeking "Left Bank" out!

Hettie - - also a yes! :) Love biographies...I've read some about Sylvia Plath and she is a fascinating character...I imagine Millay would be in the same vein? So much turmoiled art from these women. There are a few bios on Parker, none of which I remember well enough to recommend, though her life was interesting as well.

Hope I get a Borders giftcard for Christmas, haha. Thanks, all!

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Permalink Reply by sophie on December 17, 2007 at 1:06pm

Two suggestions, both obscure:

We Find Ourselves in Moontown by Jay Gummerman (I don't think it's still in print, but you can get it used on Amazon)
Dark Water - a compilation of short fantasy, also out of print, see above

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Permalink Reply by sophie on December 17, 2007 at 1:08pm

The fiction in the New Yorker is also often really amazing:

http://www.newyorker.com/fiction

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