James Daley

Although short stories are not my usual choice of reading now, I read quite a number of them in school. I even taught a few once upon a time. So when I remembered that this collection was sitting on my shelves, I decided to see if it was indeed a collection of the world's greatest. My conclusion is that while many of these (or at least their authors) might have been influential, the stories themselves are not necessarily the greatest despite the title's assertion.

I had in fact encountered many of the included stories before in my schooling. They are, by and large, fairly accessible and they do make it easy for students to discuss theme, character, setting, plot, and other elements of fiction. The stories are from a hundred year or so span of time (1853-1962) and are heavily US and Eurocentric. There is only one story from a Japanese author and one story from a Nigerian author. Hard to make the case then, that this is a collection of the "world's" greatest, isn't it? Additionally, out of the 20 stories, a mere 3 are written by women. The stories are almost exclusively canon and not particularly representative of the varied world we live in. In short, there are no surprising stories here.

Personally I loathe Herman Melville and the only thing he contributes to for me is an insomnia cure so starting the collection off with Bartleby the Scrivener made me wary from the outset. (And in the spirit of full disclosure, I skipped reading it again because it almost killed me with boredom the last time I read it). I did enjoy revisiting some of the other stories: The Death of Ivan Ilyich, The Yellow Wallpaper, The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket. I did come across stories I hadn't read but only two stories from authors I was unfamiliar with. This isn't terribly surprising though since the majority of the stories are staples of English classes and available for free in the public domain with only the shortest of stories toward the end of the time period covered here still in copyright. I think that this is an okay introduction to short stories (although I'd still supplement it with a broader range and more diverse authors) but for those who did anything much with English in school, you probably have all of these stories in anthologies already on your shelves. And know that the big claim made in the title (world's greatest) is just that: a big claim for a collection with such a narrow focus.… (mehr)

Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders:

Carl Sandburg


"There are eight million stories in the naked city" is how New York is described in the Naked City. Los Angeles is the city that reinvents itself every two days. People live there, but no one is from there. In the middle lies a city the City of Big Shoulders, the Windy City, and taken as a sign of disrespect, the "Second City." Chicago is often overlooked in favor the coastal cities when it comes to culture, trends, and styles. Even in television, New York has Mike Hammer. LA has Joe Friday. Chicago has Al Bundy. Chicago, however, has stories that reflect the same hope as LA and the same grittiness of New York.

Chicago was and is an important city as the short stories in this collection tell. There are stories about politics and big dreams. Publishing and baseball. There is the sense of the LA optimism mixed with a harsh New York reality. The stories range through the entire twentieth century and the reader will see the city evolve and grow, not always for the better.

Zane Grey writes of baseball and a rising star. Nelson Algren tells the story of a young Polish gang member and his interrogation by the police who are out for a conviction instead of truth or justice. Richard Wright writes about a black man searching for upward mobility moving from dead end job to dead end job. Conversely, Saul Bellow writes of an educated white man working to hand out relief checks in mostly black neighborhoods. He is met with distrust. Chicago is a mix of people, races, and ethnic backgrounds all bringing something to the city.

Dover Thrift Editions brings together fourteen Chicago stories chosen by editor James Daley. This collection works well even for those, like myself, who are not fans of short stories. I read the collection for the Chicago aspect. Being from another often ignored Rust Belt city I read for the commonalities between my experience and that of Chicago. The common background of Chicago and the chronological order of the stories ties everything together nicely. The reader is taken out of the short story theme and put into more of a historical setting. Dover Thrift excels at giving the read a bigger bang for the buck. This collection sells for $4.50 (about a dollar less in ebook format) and is well worth the price. A fine collection of short stories about a strong and proud city.
… (mehr)

More than a collection of speeches, this solemn and profound book is a window into the history (or should I say plight?) of African Americans. Of many sagacious passages, here are a few highlights:

Fellow citizens, I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies. The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretence, and your Christianity as a lie. It destroys your moral power abroad; it corrupts your politicians at home. It saps the foundation of religion; it makes your name a hissing and a by word to a mocking earth. It is the antagonistic force in your government, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers your union. It fetters your progress; it is the enemy of improvement; the deadly foe of education; it fosters pride; it breeds insolence; it promotes vice; it shelters crime; it is a curse to the earth that supports it; and yet your cling to it as if it were the sheet anchor of all your hopes. Oh, be warned! Be warned! A horrible reptile is coiled up in your nation’s bosom; the venomous creature is nursing at the tender breast of your youthful republic; for the love of God, tear way, and fling from you the hideous monster, and let the weight of twenty millions crush and destroy it forever!

Frederick Douglas
July 5, 1852

No, I’m not an American. I’m one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy. So, I’m not standing here speaking to you as an American, or a patriot, or a flag-saluter, or a flag-waver – no, not I. I’m speaking as a victim of this American system. And I see America through the eyes of the victim. I don’t see any American dream; I see an American nightmare.

Malcolm X
April 3, 1964

What will be [your] place in history?
In other eras, across distant lands, this is a question that could be answered with relative ease and certainty. As a servant of Rome, you knew you would spend your life forced to build somebody else’s Empire. As a peasant in 11th century China, you knew that no matter how hard you worked, the local warlord might take everything you had – and that famine might come knocking on your door any day. As a subject of King George, you knew that your freedom to worship and speak and build your own life would be ultimately limited by the throne.
And then America happened.
A place where destiny was not a destination, but a journey to be shared and shaped and remade by people who had the gall, the temerity to believe that, against all odds, they could form “a more perfect union” on this new frontier.
And as people around the world began to hear the tale of the lowly colonists who overthrew an Empire for the sake of an idea, they came. Across the oceans and the ages, they settled in Boston and Charleston, Chicago and St. Louis, Kalamazoo and Galesburg, to try and build their own American Dream. This collective dream moved forward imperfectly – it was scarred by our treatment of native peoples, betrayed by slavery, clouded by the subjugation of women, shaken by war and depression. And yet, brick by brick, rail by rail, calloused hand by calloused hand, people kept dreaming, and building, and working, and marching, and petitioning their government, until they made America a land where the question of our place in history is not answered for us, but by us.

Barack Obama
June 4, 2005

None of this will come easy. Every one of us will have to work more, read more, train more, think more. We will have to slough off bad habits – like driving gas guzzlers that weaken our economy and feed our enemies abroad. Our kids will have to turn off the TV sets and put away the video games and start hitting the books.

Barack Obama
June 4, 2005… (mehr)