But what's out there? I hear you ask. Here are some of my favorite short story picks, with links to reviews where applicable.
The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye, by A.S. Byatt. Literary fantasy your thing? Look no further.
New Stories from the South 2009, edited by Madison Smartt Bell. Out in August. Great collection of recent fiction from top writers.
The Last Chicken in America: A Novel in Stories, by Ellen Litman. My personal favorite book of short stories from last year, about the Russian-Jewish immigrant experience.
The Idol Lover and Other Short Stories of Pakistan, by pal and fellow librarian Moazzam Sheikh. Literary armchair travel, sexually and politically charged and skillfully crafted.
Jesus' Son, by Denis Johnson. Read it in college; loved it. Rough-around-the-edges fiction from the celebrated author.
The New York Stories of Edith Wharton, by Edith Wharton. By the author of classics like Ethan Frome and The Age of Innocence.
The Best American Non-Required Reading, any year, various editors. A series of anthologies of off-the-beaten-path fiction, journalism, comics and more.
And of course, Love Begins in Winter, by Simon Van Booy. Literary, beautifully written stories. The title story made one librarian tear up and call his husband to say "I love you" in the middle of the day. What better endorsement is there than that?
I keep a stack of short story anthologies on my nightstand and sometimes it's just the thing. Anthologies are also a great way to sample lots of new-to-you writers and collections allow you to get to know a writer's style in depth. Lots of writers use short stories as a run-up to writing a novel, but for some, it's an art form in and of itself. I hope you find something great this summer- and I hope you'll come back and tell me!
9 comments:
Thanks for the list. A lot of these authors I haven't heard of. I plan on reading Kelly Link's Pretty Monsters this summer along with a few other collections. Hopefully I can get my hands on Van Booy's Love Begins in Winter.
And Ishiguro's stories. I just ordered used copies of two story collections by Julian Barnes, Cross Channel and The History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters.
Candy, you might like The Lemon Tree by Barnes if you haven't read it already. Very good stuff. it was hard for me to choose just a few books for this post! :-)
I really like these "Public Service Announcements". They're so fairly ridiculous it's impossible not to want to read some short stories. I haven't heard of most of these anthologies but I am, as Harper Perennial would like me to, interested in reading some short stories this summer.
The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye is one of my favourite collections ever :) Also, I got a copy of Magic for Beginners recently and can't wait to get to it! And Simon Van Booy sounds like an author I should be reading.
More short stores--Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth and How to Fall, by Brookline author Edith Pearlman.
I loved the video! Some of the collections you mentioned I have heard of and wanted to try, but others are new to me. Kelly Link's collection has been on my radar for awhile, but I think I will also be reading Byatt's book as well. Thanks for the list!
Thanks for the list! I don't read many short stories, but I think I will start to. Your list is a great resource.
thanks!
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