Short Story Challenge 2012

I know, I know, we don't need another thread to follow. Our literary plates are brimming and our online time is an incredible time-drain, but we are obsessive readers after all, so I'm doing it anyway.

Personally, I'm going to attempt to read at least one SS a month. Please set your own challenge, we are perfectly flexible here.

The titles at the top, are just a few I hope to get to this year. I have at least 3 or 4 more in the wings. I'm currently reading You Are Not a Stranger Here and it's been excellent. The next one, will probably be What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank: Stories, which also holds much promise.

Oh wow, I get firsties?!?

Knockemstiff is my number one.

You are first, my friend! So you've read Knockemstiff? Excellent choice. As dark & gritty as they come. I have his novel around here too, which I heard is fantastic.

I'm in, but I have no idea what I will start with. I'm open to suggestions. I would prefer to start with a collection, not an anthology. Recently finished Binocular Vision and absolutely loved that.

Mark - Thanks for starting the thread.

Richard - Glad to see you because you always make me laugh, and I LOVE reading your reviews!

Great! I have this starred, but probably won't get to a short story collection until next month. I look forward to reading everyone's comments.

BTW, I've put a link to this thread on the wiki in the Group Reads section, for lack of a better idea. Let me know if there's a more useful place to put it.

Mamie & Kerri- Glad to have tagging along. I'm sure there will be a flood of recommendations, so be prepared.

Jim- I wonder if it would be better under the What Are You Reading Now list. Just a thought, thanks!

I'm in. I had planned at the start of the year to always have a short story collection or anthology on the go, but it hasn't quite worked out that way. Maybe this will help me focus...

Ones I've been wanting to get to for a while:

Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock
Binocular Vision by Edith Pearlman
The Empty Family by Colm Toibin
How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer
All Aunt Hagar's Children by Edward P. Jones

I have a bunch more and expect everyone here will be adding even more to the list!

I'm in too. I actually love short stories and therefore have alot of them on my shelves but, as with many other books, they don't get read often enough.

Here's what I'd like to read from my shelves:

The Shell Collector by Anthony Doerr
Ship Fever by Andrea Barrett
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Sanchez Across the Street by Barbara Mujica
Moral Disorder and Other Stories by Margaret Atwood
It's Beginning to Hurt: Stories by James Lasdun
A River Runs Through It and Other Stories by Norman Maclean

Mostly, however, I want to read Binocular Vision by Edith Pearlman which I just bought because of rave LT reviews (Bonnie's and Mamie's immediately come to mind) so I'm planning to start with that.

Thanks for setting this up Mark.

I'm with Kerri on this Mark - I love short stories but (since you've roped me into Murder and Mayhem) it will be next month before I'm up and running. Munro and Trevor probably.

I'll put the link in both places.

I've written my review of the completely amazing, absolutely stunning Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock. Hillbilly noir at its finest. See the review in my thread...post #188.

Oh boy ..another challenge ...hmmm..... I would love to try and aim for 1 SS a month.

#10 : Pat - I loved Interpreter of Maladies .. you're in for a treat.

I'm probably not going to be able to get to one until the end of the month at the very earliest since I'll be away for 3 weeks.

Hillbilly Noir! How perfect is that? I'm with RD. If you can stomach the tough stuff, this is one to read.

Katie- Knockemstiff is terrific! (See the above). The Empty Family has it's moments and I also have How to Breathe Underwater in the TBR.

Pat- Ship Fever is excellent. Interpreter of Maladies is a MUST READ. I will say this many times, be prepared. I also want to read Binocular Vision.

Paul & Caro- Nice to have a couple LT royalty aboard.

Jim- Many thanks!

I need to rummage around for some mystery short story collections. Or even a collection of baseball short stories.

There's always The Angel Esmeralda.

Thanks for starting another wonderful challenge, Mark. I like the idea of it being somewhat open-ended time-wise. Club Read just finished up a month-long short story challenge and I gained many enticing ideas from that. I will definitely plan to participate and will be back with more once I finish my delinquent reviews, one of which is actually for Colum McCann's short story collection, Fishing the Sloe-Black River.

I put up my review of the short alternative history novella The Lucky Strike in my thread...post #230.

It explores the nature of conscience, personal responsibility, and the great man theory through alternative events on Tinian Island leading up to the atomic bombing of Japan in 1945. At fifty-seven pages, it's short enough to fit in this category.

#16 : Mystery short stories, Linda? Oh, I can't wait to see what you're going to post.

I may try to combine Murder & Mayhem with short fiction too. I have The Museum of Dr. Moses by Joyce Carol Oates hanging around. And for anyone else who might want to do the two challenges together, I heartily recommend Knight's Gambit by (who else?) William Faulkner.

How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer, now that sounded familiar so I checked my shelf, and yes, ive read it but didnt realise til now that it was short stories. Of course I must have realised at the time of reading, not like when I read Annie Proulx's Bad Dirt, I just thought these were very spaced out characters she kept introducing, and wondered when they were going to be linked! It took me far too long to figure out they were actually separate stories.

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri will probably be my first.

Now Mark, do you mean to say one short story a month, or one book of short stories?

I finished You Are Not a Stranger Here: Stories and posted a Mark Mini-Review. Check it out. It's a dark jagged beauty.

Linda- I admire your creativity and recommendations. Faulkner, huh?

Megan- A collection a month, my friend, nothing half-assed for me. But if it works for you, that is perfectly fine.
Interpreter of Maladies is breath-taking. Bad Dirt sounds like my kind of book. Did you read her close Range collection?

Why, Mr. Mark...whatevah do you mean? *innocent flutter of eyelids*

Faulkner was good at murder and mayhem---and mystery too, as it happens. And his short fiction is a great entrée to the rest of his work.

Linda- I did not know Faulkner did short stories too. See, you learn something on LT every day. And another one for the List.

>22 msf59: A collection a month, my friend, nothing half-assed for me
phew, I was going to say... :)

I got Close Range at the recent Rotary Bookarama sale....I hadn't realised til then that Brokeback Mountain was originally a short story.
It is certainly a good looking book (my cover is in ocher tones and has a cowboy boot and spur on the cover), I hope the contents are as good.

********



This is my current read...Im picking them out at will and reading what I feel like, it is great and there's hardly any other LTers who have it catalogued!?!#!
eta: woops! had image width at 1500, was somewhat.....large. Its called The new Penguin Book of American Short Stories

My challenge to myself in regard to short stories is to finish Sherlock Holmes: the Complete Novels and Stories Volume 1 this year. I've had this book sitting on my bedside table for a couple of years and only read two or three stories. If I can complete this one, then I get a start on Volume 2.

Currently I am working on Russian Fairy Tales by Aleksandr Afanas, and since this one is well over 600 pages and countless stories, I will probably be working on this one for the rest of May.

#24 Tons of short fiction, collected and uncollected.

QUESTION --- how do you know if something is a short story or just a short book?

Well, my unscientific criteria would be that usually a single short story is not published alone, but in a collection of other short stories. Not an infallible test, but a fairly useful one. And very often, the title (or subtitle) of the volume will tell you. Something like Breakfast at Tiffany's, which is usually referred to as a novella, may be subject to quibbling. And then, some collections of short stories are so interconnected that they almost constitute a novel when read consecutively.

I started What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank: Stories. The 1st story, the title story, was fantastic. Each tale seems to be based on the Jewish experience.

No one else currently reading an SS?

I am slowly making my way through Joyce's Dubliners and also picked up blue has no south by Alex Epstein from the library this week, which is a book of very, very short stories. I am interested in how an author can paint a picture and tell a story in only a few paragraphs. But I'm not yet far enough in to comment here.

Sometime this weekend I also hope to get to work on my very delayed review of Colum McCann's collection, Fishing the Sloe-Black River.

I completely forgot to mention here that I read a stand-alone story on the web, by SF author and creative monadnock China Miéville called Covehithe. It's exciting AND it's thought-provoking AND it's just flat wonderful to read his sentences.

I've posted my review of the forthcoming story collection, winner of the Tartt First Fiction Award, THE GALAXIE AND OTHER RIDES: Stories, in my thread...post #216.

It's bleak, but quite powerful.

I am reading Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman, which I didn't realize is really a collection of linked stories all of which are set on the same piece of land on Cape Cod. They are kind of dreamy and magical (very Hoffman) and her descriptions of the Cape landscape are beautiful, though I may be biased as it's one of my favorite places and I've spent a lot of time there. But she captures it perfectly.

RD & Katie- Wow, both of these story collections sound fantastic. On the SS WL they go. This thread is going to turn into quite a challenge with the heap of added titles.

I finished listening to Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace. This was read by the author himself and while some of the stories/interviews can make you uncomfortable, they really do take you into the mind of these men - whether you want to travel there will remain up to the individual reader.

I just finished What we talk about when we talk about Anne Frank and really enjoyed it. Of the eight stories there were, I think, only two that I didn't love.
I'm not usually a reader of shorts, I dont really know why, as only other collection I've read (Unaccustomed Earth) I also loved. I have Interpreter of Maladies and For the relief of Unbearable Urges and shouldn't wait so long to read them. Short stories are a nice change.

Katie - I might look into that Alice Hoffman collection, I just finished reading The Dovekeepers and found her writing beautiful.

Hi Susan- Thanks for chiming in! I also just finished What we talk about when we talk about Anne Frank and thought it was fantastic. I hope this is a start for you in story collections. You will find so many incredible ideas on this thread. If you have any questions regarding SS's, let us know. And please read Interpreter of Maladies. It's excellent.

57) What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank: Stories by Nathan Englander 4.5 stars

This is a collection of eight stories, with the Jewish experience being a major theme in nearly every tale. There are two couples having a cultural and religious showdown, a man trapped in a “peep show”, an aging author, making the rounds to various book signings, where no one attends, a group of boys trying to rally against an anti-Semite bully and, my favorite, a visit to a Jewish elder hostel, starts funny and becomes very dark. I’m not Jewish and I know little of Judaism but I was drawn into the lives of these richly-drawn characters. This was a fine introduction to an equally fine writer.

Mark, this group prompted me to finish a collection I started a while ago, Full Dark, No Stars. Although a little longer than most short stories, I would classify a couple of these as novellas, all did the job intended, of creeping me out. Stephen King, I love most of what he writes. And yes I have read 11/22/63 and loved it.

Susan- I haven't been overwhelmed by his last 2 story collections, including Full Dark. They are decent enough while reading them, but nothing sticks, for me anyway. Lately, I prefer his novels. 11/22/63 has been excellent.

I picked up another new story collection, Round Mountain. Sounds good and might be my next SS selection.

I started reading the first few stories in A knock on the door by Etgar Keret last night, now I can't wait to read the rest. So long since I last read him, this latest collection hasn't disappointed so far.

Kerry- I have never heard of Etgar Keret but it looks like this guy would be a perfect fit for me. Thanks. I have added this one and The Nimrod Flipout, (which also sounds good) to my WL.

Mark - there isn't anything quite like an Etgar Keret story. The shoe will fit, I guarantee.

This Summer I am reading short stories in In the Shadow of Dracula. This is a compilation of stories written from 1819-1914. No sparkly vampires here!

I have quit a few short story anthologies to read and I hope this thread will be an inspiration.

I have just started Venice Noir a collection of atmospheric crime stories set in (you guessed it) Venice.

I have finally completed a much delayed review of Colum McCann's Fishing the Sloe-Black River. I loved this collection by a writer that I think is simply masterful.

I'm glad this Thread is staying alive! Makes me happy. I won't be starting another SS for about 2 weeks.
I was listening to a podcast today and someone mentioned Roald Dahl story collections and said they were great. Anyone else read them before?

Linda- I've had this Mccann collection on my WL for awhile now. Good to know you loved it.

>48 msf59: - Mark, I've only read Roald Dahl's children stuff (all of which I LOVED as a kid) but my dad is a big fan of his short stories.

And seeing this thread reminds me I need to select a collection for this month...

ETA: Linda, your review of the McCann was wonderful. It went straight onto my WL.

Think I'll read My Father, Dancing by Bliss Broyard this month. It fits a TIOLI challenge this month and my "Re-Reads" category for the 12 in 12 challenge (I first read it in November 2001!).

I have already noted my review of Fishing the Sloe-Black River above, but Mark has requested that I also post the full review here. Since I always try to comply with Mark's requests, here it is.



Fishing the Sloe-Black River by Colum McCann

These are tales heavy with loss, grounded in life’s heartbreaking moments, yet buoyant in their inherent hopefulness. The twelve short stories in Colum McCann’s Fishing the Sloe-Black River are a true achievement of imagination and poignant effect. Ranging from harshly realistic to magical, the language and dialogue are deceptively simple, yet evocative. McCann is equally at home with settings in his native Ireland and his adopted United States, and creates characters that we know, ordinary and flawed, yet unfailingly dignified in the face of life events that are both familiar and unimaginable.

Some perform simple, personal acts of courage and remembrance. In A Basket Full of Wallpaper, a reclusive Japanese émigré to Ireland, imagined by his young employee to be a survivor of Hiroshima, finds peace in his obsession with hanging wallpaper. Breakfast for Enrique conveys a quietness of waiting, as a man employed as a fish-gutter prepares breakfast for his very ill lover. In Step We Gaily, On We Go an elderly boxer, slipping into senility, steals articles of women’s clothing, imagining them to be gifts for his wife. The small, daily acts undertaken for loved ones are portrayed in A Word in Edgewise, as a woman rambles on while helping her sister with her hair and make-up, one final time. And in the book’s title story, Fishing the Sloe-Black River, mothers fish in a futile effort to catch sons who have drifted away, while their aging husbands play football on a team in need of younger recruits.

Others struggle more outwardly. In Sisters, a woman bitter from years of promiscuity, illegally enters the United States to visit her dangerously ill sister, a nun who suffers from severe anorexia and self-abuse. In Along the Riverwall, a bicyclist who is confined to a wheelchair after being hit by a bread truck, disposes of an unwanted gift. And in From Many, One, a woman’s obsession with painting quarters leads to her husband’s discovery of a disturbing secret.

Employees and residents of institutional settings find solace in their commonalities. In Through the Field, a maintenance worker at a State School for juvenile delinquents reacts in an unusual and puzzling manner after learning that a resident who committed murder turned himself in because he was afraid of the dark. Stolen Child is narrated by an Irish immigrant, who while working as a counselor at a NYC children’s home, develops a surrogate-father relationship with a blind resident and must accept her plans to marry an older, disabled Vietnam veteran. And in Around the Bend and Back Again, a maintenance worker at a psychiatric facility becomes involved with a patient, unwittingly assisting in her final, destructive act of revenge and freedom.

The closing story, Cathal’s Lake, is simply heartrending. A farmer’s lake is overflowing with swans, as he is cursed to dig these stately birds out of the soil, one for each person dead from sectarian violence.

This is one of the most consistently excellent short story collections that I have read. What I loved the most was that each story, while complete in itself, leaves a space to be filled by the reader’s own imagination, interpretation and memories.

4 ½ Stars

Much appreciated, Linda! You da best!

*not even daring to show my face here as havent read one short story since the start of the thread*

Megan - what's up with that? Um... actually, I haven't either - we better get cracking!

Bad Girls! Didn't Donna Summer just past? This must be in tribute to her.

I read 2 last month and I have one lined up for this month, wish it could be more.

I just finished Mishima's excellent Death in Midsummer and Other Stories.

Okay, I am finally starting one - currently reading Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. Beautiful writing.

72) Round Mountain by Castle Freeman Jr. 4.5 stars

Homer Patch is a deputy sheriff. He is quiet, kind and the main focus of these twelve stories, set in a rural Vermont community. These are bittersweet snapshots, capturing Homer and an array of other small town characters. Each story touches down on a different period in their simple, sometimes difficult lives. We follow Homer, as he deals with an unfaithful wife, a special needs son and several childhood friends who have gone “off the rails”.
These are spare, beautiful tales, told with nuance and insight. Freeman understands and adores these people and it clearly shines through every word.

*This was a copy I received, at no charge, from the Concord Free Press. This is a very interesting website and I recommend that everyone take a gander:
http://www.concordfreepress.com/
BTW: They are still sending out copies! The point is passing these books on, so I'm sending my copy to Lucy (sibyx), who resides in Vermont.

That book sounds terrific, Mark. I love well done small town stories. And the Concord Free Press--what a concept! I zoomed right over there and requested a copy of Round Mountain. I have two of Freeman's novels, recommended to me by another LT'er, but haven't read them yet. I'm pushing him way up the stack now.

Linda- Thank you! I'm glad you raced over to CFP. It's is a nice concept, as long as they keep offering quality books, like RM. I have one other Freeman title in the stacks, Go With Me. I'll need to move that one up.
I now have so many SS collections to get to, it's mind-boggling.

I forgot to mention while up in Michigan I made a visit to a nifty little new/used bookstore and picked up a copy of The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty. I have never read her and I quickly read the 1st 2 stories, (they are very short) and was immediately drawn in. Here's a nugget:
"A whole tree of lightning stood in the sky. She kept looking out the window, suffused with the warmth from the fire and with the pity and beauty and power of her death. The thunder rolled."
This was from "A Piece of News".

Oh...Eudora Welty is a favorite of mine. Enjoy, enjoy. Wait til you get to "Why I Live at the P.O.", which I think is in that volume.

I know one or 2 LTers recommended Welty during our SS discussion. I just could not remember who. I can't wait to dive in further.

#60 - That sounds good, Mark. I read her novel The Optimist's Daughter earlier this year and gave it 4 stars.

I really hope to get to two short story collections this month:

*Enormous Changes at the Last Minute: Stories by Grace Paley (Just received a lovely used copy in the mail.)
*Binocular Vision: New & Selected Stories by Edith Pearlman (I've been trying to get to this forever.)

Kerri- It's good to see you over here. I want to read Binocular Vision so bad. Maybe you'll push me over the edge. I just have several SS collections, at hand, I also NEED to get to. I'm not familiar with the Paley.

You both NEED to read Binocular Vision.

I loved Interpreter of Maladies, and I am hoping to get to Unaccustomed Earth this month.

#65 - It's definitely up next! I think it has the distinction of being the book that I've placed in the most TIOLI challenges and then never read.

I am delayed in reporting here (sorry Mark) that I have finished and posted a brief review of blue has no south, a slim volume of short-short stories by an Israeli author, Alex Epstein. He is obviously a very talented writer, capable of crafting a story in very few words, and I did enjoy the book. However, there were aspects of his writing that left me feeling uncomfortable, although I am finding it difficult to articulate exactly why. There is an unemotional yet aggressive tone to some of the stories, while in others he writes about emotions and suffering in a way that felt distant. I wish I had a better sense of what Epstein was really trying to communicate.

I am now reading the Nobel Laureate, J. M. G. LeClezio's short story collection, The Round and Other Cold Hard Facts.

Linda- Good to see you over here! I really liked your review of blue has no south. Sounds very interesting and so does The Round and Other Cold Hard Facts. I've never heard of LeClezio. More for the WL.

I think I might dip into a Flannery O'Connor collection. The timing might be right.

I did start A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories and read the 1st story. This is my 1st foray into Ms. O' Connor and she's the real deal. Wow. Dark & edgy, with a wicked wit, just my cuppa.
Any fans of Flannery?

#69 - I've only read "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" and "The River" from that collection. Both were good, but I'm not sure how I feel about her yet. I think I have to read a few more.

And this leads me to another thought on short stories that I don't think I've discussed on this particular thread (although I have on others). I tend to love individual short stories when I read them in a stand-alone setting. Some examples of short stories that I love are "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tille Olsen, "Barn Burning" by Faulkner, "He is Thousands" by Jack Conroy, "Life in the Iron Mills" by Rebecca Harding Davis, and "The Outing" and "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin. However, I have a (really) difficult time reading a collection of short stories by one author all at once, if that makes any sense. I'm not exactly sure why, but I think from now on, I'll just dip into a collection here and there until I've finished it. That seems to work best for me. I bring this up, because I've started Binocular Vision and, yes, it's very good, but I keep longing for a novel. So, I think I'll read a few stories a week from the collection, while reading something else. Does anyone else have this problem? Am I just a flawed human? : )

I don't think you're flawed, Kerri :) I tend not to read short story collections straight through; rather, I do what you are describing - dip into them, read a few between other books, set them aside for a bit. Works well for me --

I like to read just one or two of the stories in a collection at a time. When I was reading Binocular Vision, I read other books, too. I usually read from it at night, the last thing before I went to bed, and then just one or two of the stories. And by the way, that collection gets better as it gets further into the book. I thought the last half of the collection was where the best stories were.

Kerri- If your flawed, we're all flawed. Your in good company. I'm somewhere in between on the SS reading. I don't like reading straight through. I do like dipping in and out but I also don't like to stretch them out to much, because, especially in the later collections, there is a tone and atmosphere to these books I don't want to lose.

I plan on reading at least a couple more O'Connor stories today, perfect tweeners!

Mark, That's a really good point about stretching things out too long. You can lose the theme/arc/tone/whatever of a collection.

#71-74 - Thank you Katie, Mamie, and Mark for confirming that I'm not too incredibly flawed! Mark - I agree with Katie that you have a good point about not taking too much time, especially if the stories are loosely connected by characters or theme. I'll probably just focus on one collection at a time, but just read two or three a week.

*tiptoeing in to guiltily lurk*
Still havent completed a book of Short Stories, but will soon. Ahem, hopefully.

Megan- I'm tapping my foot impatiently. Come on, you can do it. Do you have something picked out at least?

I've read the 1st 4 stories of A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories and I'm enjoying them.
I snagged an advanced copy of "Stabs at Happiness" by Todd Grimson. It looks like a dark & surreal collection.

One thing I HAVE to point out, while reading, the O'Connor stories, is her casual use of the "N" word and her references to monkeys, which can be a bit disconcerting. The next story up is called "The Artificial Nigger". I understand she is an old school "southerner", but it sure doesn't make it easy to read.

I'm currently three stories in on What we talk about when we talk about Anne Frank and finding it thoroughly enjoyable. I loved his novel The Ministry of Special Cases.

hitherereadsomebuthaven'tfinishedacollection bye

Kerry- I'm so glad you are enjoying the Englander collection. I was very impressed with that one and look forward to reading more of his work.

RD- goodtoseeyouoverherelookforwardtoyourcommentshugs

I have about 80 pages left in the O'Connor collection.

>77 msf59: I am "reading" the collection of Americas short stories.....Penguin one, cant remember exact title....have been reading it for an age and a half.

81) A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor 4.5 stars

“The sun was a huge red ball like an elevated host drenched in blood and when it sank out of sight, it left a line in the sky like a red clay road hanging over the trees.”

The ninth story, “Good Country People”, would have made the perfect title for this collection written in the late 40s and early 50s and all set deep in the bible-belt South.
This was my first foray into the unsettling, racist, often brilliant, world of Flannery O’ Connor. These are dark, disturbing tales, told with insight and a wicked edge. Yes, the casual use of the “N” word or other very derogatory terms, made me uncomfortable, especially in the story “The Artificial Nigger” but her prose is so deft and sure that even that can be overlooked.
“…but the face on the moon was a grave one. It gazed across the room and out the window where it floated above the horse stall and appeared to contemplate itself with the look of a young man who sees his old age before him”.

I am reading An Elegy for Easterly by Patina Gappah. I am currently on the fourth out of thirteen stories in this collection. The stories are all set in Zimbabwe. They address how people are living under the regime of Robert Mugabe.

#83 - Mark - Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the O'Connor collection - I'll probably finish it at some point. Like I said above, I've read a couple of her stories, but, I agree, that the language is tough to take. Even though it was the 40s and 50s, you'd like someone who was smart enough to write a collection of classic short stories to have a more evolved outlook on race. And then it's hard to tell if the stories are just reflecting the times, or if that stuff comes from deep inside. I haven't actually read enough of her to have an informed opionion.

#84 - Mamie - I have that one on the list for next year when I do my Sub-Saharan African fiction challenge. I look forward to your thoughts.

I finished up What we talk about when we talk about Anne Frank and really enjoyed it, though the first two stories remained my favourites, I did like the summer camp for elderly story.
My next collection should be Irish writer Claire Keegan's Walk the Blue Fields. I was captivated by her way with words when she was part of a short story panel at our local writers festival last year.

Mamie- An Elegy for Easterly sounds interesting. I'll watch for your thoughts.

Kerri- I plan on reading more of O'Connor, especially the rest of her stories but I might be interested in a biography of her too. See what made her tick.

Kerry- As you know, I loved the Englander collection. And I agree with you on the 1st 2 stories and the Elder Camp one. Hope you like Walk the Blue Fields. It also sounds good.

#57-59 I received my copy of Round Mountain from the Concord Free Press yesterday. Can't wait to get to it.

Linda- That's great! I'm surprised more people having taken advantage of that. If you see them post another book, let us know and I'll do the same.

Actually, they have a new book up, Mark-- A Handbook of American Prayer by Lucius Shepard. EDIT: OK, maybe this isn't a new offering...I see a great number of people already listed as donating after receiving that one. I

Mark, Last night on "All Things Considered," there was a brief review of three new collections of short stories:
Sorry Please Thank You by Charles Yu,
The Woman Who Married a Cloud by Jonathan Carroll, and
Signs and Wonders by Alix Ohlin.
I plan to see if I can get a copy of each since they all received top marks.

Linda-I saw the Shepard book on Concord. Have you heard anything about it?

Ellen- Thanks for the list. More SS titles. Yah!

Mark, the best review of the Shepard I've seen is by LT member thetalkingmoose, who edits a SF ezine. It isn't something I'm tempted to read, but it does sound like it might be good if the subject matter appeals to you.

Okay, I had found this (at least once) but I guess I never starred it. Ha! That has now been corrected.

"A ruined country, a country of tricksters. Rich haciendas hid within the folds of mountains. Guns lay under crates of bananas. Even green parrots practiced deception. They rested in trees, not making a sound; suddenly they rose as one, appearing and departing at the same time, leaving the observer abandoned."

-Binocular Vision

Yep, this is a collection I started and it looks very very promising. This is from the introduction by Ann Patchett:

"To that great list of human mysteries which includes the construction of the pyramids and the persistent use of Styrofoam as a packing material let me add this one: why isn't Edith Pearlman famous?"
And:
""...I think that Binocular Vision: New & Selected Stories should be the book with which Edith Pearlman casts off her secret-handshake status and takes up her rightful position as a national treasure."

Linda- Caroline, (cameling) also just reviewed A Handbook of American Prayer. She loved it and gave it 4.5. It does sound interesting.

Ellen- Good to see you! And now we expect many more visits!

I picked up from the library and started reading What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank. I've read the first story. At first, I found myself thinking "huh, maybe this isn't for me." At the end, it blew me away. Very powerful. I will keep reading.

Ellen- What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank is an excellent collection. A nice range of stories too. Enjoy!

I have finished and posted a review on my thread and the book page of The Round & Other Cold Hard Facts, a short story collection by J.M.G. Le Clézio, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature. This is an excellent collection by a brilliant writer who deserves to be much more widely read. He has another collection that has been translated to English that I will definitely be ordering soon!

Linda- Great review of The Round & Other Cold Hard Facts! It sounds very powerful. I'll keep my eye out.

I'm still working on binocular Vision, which has been terrific. I should be done with it this week.

Thanks Mark. Binocular Vision is already on my list and I am looking forward to your thoughts on it.

Just found this challenge from a link posted on Darryl's (kidzdoc) thread. I'm in for the rest of the year. Here are the story collections I've read since the challenge opened in early May:


Dancing with Mr. Darcy, edited by Sarah Waters

A rather ho-hum collection of short stories selected by Sarah Waters as the best entries submitted to a competition sponsored by the Chawton House Library in 2009. All the stories were "inspired" by Jane Austen's life, works, home at Chawton, or the Chawton House Library itself. In the winning story, "Jane Austen over the Styx," the author descends into hell, charged with creating older female characters who are either snobs, scolds, harpies, or selfish manipulators--some of whom are there to give testimony. This is perhaps the best of the lot. I was at times at a loss to see the Austen connections in others, such as the fantasy-like "Broken Words." Overall, not a bad collection, but very hit and miss.


Imagined Lives: Portraits of Unknown People by John Banville, Tracy Chevalier, Julian Fellowes, Alexander McCall Smith, Terry Pratchett, Sarah Singleton, Joanna Trollope, and Minette Walters

This clever little gem has found a special place on my bookshelf next to another, Helen Humphreys's The Frozen Thames. Published by the National Portrait Gallery in London, Imagined Lives is a collection of fourteen 'biographical' sketches based on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century portraits of unknown sitters. Eight well-known writers contributed to the book: John Banville, Tracy Chevalier, Julian Fellowes, Alexander McCall Smith, Terry Pratchett, Sarah Singleton, Joanna Trollope, and Minette Walters. Each has given the portrait sitter a name, and the sketches take the form of biographical entries, letters, and internal dialogues. One imagines the sitter critiquing his own newly-finished portrait. In another (my favorite), a young woman writes to her mother, asking for advice on a proposal from the man in the portrait. Tracy Chevalier's subject, an aging woman, muses on why she agreed to be drawn and on the passing of her years.

The book includes full color copies of the portraits plus a closeup of a significant detail in each. At the back you'll find a fine essay on how sitters in historic portraits are identified, using as models known portraits of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, Mary, Queen of Scots, Anne Boleyn, and Michael Drayton. Details of each portrait's provenance, media, and dimensions are provided, along with a brief history of former identifications.

This is a lovely and fascinating book, the kind to reach for in quiet moments or to take you away from the not-so-quiet.


The Lemon Table by Julian Barnes

I picked up this collection of short stories on the strength of Barnes's Booker-winning novel, The Sense of an Ending. Similarly, most of these stories also deal with aging--but without the humor and touch of hope found there. Quite a few deal wiuth artists, musicians and writers who have lost their talent; several others involve elderly people who suffer from Alzheimer's and their caretakers. Overall, I found it rather sad and depressing, although finely written.


Good Evening, Mrs. Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes

The book's subtitle gives a clear description of its contents: a collection of stories written during the war years (1939-45). Most of them focus on the lives of British women and the minor and major inconveniences they experienced, from rationing food to finding a safe haven, from opening homes to refugees from the city to having to say goodbye (sometimes more than once). In her understated way, Panter-Downes brings to the fore the quiet--often silent--heroism of these women in wartime, adding a touch of humor and poignancy. While I can't say that I absolutely loved the book, I did appreciate many of the stories in it.

And I'm currently reading Last Year's Jesus by Ellen Slezak.

Hi Deborah- Thanks so much for dropping by and adding some interesting titles. I was also a fan of The Sense of an Ending and look forward to reading more of his work.

103> Although I didn't enjoy The Lemon Table, I'll be giving Barnes another try (or two).

Just finished another great collection:



Last Year's Jesus by Ellen Slezak

Since I was born in Detroit, grew up in the suburbs, and lived more than half of my life in the area, Ellen Slezak's stories brought back a lot of memories of persons and places: Bob-Lo Island, Ernie Harwell, the Ford River Rouge Plant, Sonny Eliot, Bozo, Jerry Cavanaugh, Woodward Avenue, Hamtramck, Tiger Stadium, etc. That said, I think there's plenty in Slezak's stories that non-Detroiters will relate to. They are very human stories. Two aging sisters stuck working at a GM plant are both rivals and best friends. A young boy, abandoned by his mother, moves in with his father and new wife and finds comfort in the friendship of an elderly neighbor. Three sisters whose lives have taken different directions quarrel over whether or not to move the body of a sister who died young to be near her parents' graves. A young woman who tries to turn an abandoned building into a European-style hotel gets more than she bargained for from a Russian tenant. These are stories with a lot of heart, and the characters ring psychologically true.

The "novella," titled "Head, Heart, Legs, or Arms," is narrated by nine-year old Mona, whose little sister DeeDee has been hospitalized. Mona doesn't know what's wrong with DeeDee, and no one will tell her; in a diary entry, she ponders:

"Possible things wrong with her: 1. Amputation, 2. Blindness (one or two eyes), 3. Retardation, 4. Heart murmur, 5. Other? Possible body parts affected: a. Head, b. Heart, c. Legs or arms."

In a prime example of children's magical thinking, Mona believes that if she doesn't see DeeDee in the hospital, her sister will come home. In the background are the 1967 riots, a serial killer on the loose in Ann Arbor (where her sister Rose will move to attend university in the fall), and the Tigers' shot at the American League title, as well as ongoing family issues. Slezak's Mona is a narrator who thinks like a child and sounds like a child--something rarely done so effectively.

Recommended--and I plan to look for more of Slezak's work.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

From my own thread:


3 stars

I wanted to like this collection of stories more than I actually did like them. I ended up liking about every other one. The title story was tiresome, although it admittedly had a memorable punch at the end. "Sister Hills" was my favorite story -- a stunningly poignant story of two Jewish families settling on the west bank and the exchanges they enact with one another, touching on the meaning of family, community, identity, and sacrifice. "Everything I Know About My Family on My Mother's Side" was also worth reading -- I loved the rhythm of the narrative. It was completely different from "Sister Hills" but an equally intriguing exploration of family stories as identity. And "The Reader" was delightful, and not solely because the action concludes at my favorite Seattle bookshop (clearly set when said bookshop was in its original Pioneer Place location). Any lover of books and admirer of their authors will enjoy this small gem. Otherwise, the stories were so-so. Hence, my round number rating of 3 stars.

Started to read Sorry Please Thank You by Charles Yu. I will finish the first story on my bus ride home this evening and so far I love it.

My thrilled and delighted review of Whispers in Dust and Bone, a South Texas-set (for the most part) debut story collection, is in my thread...post #95.

*Peeking in*
Coast is clear? Good.

I am reading a collection of short stories! Stop the press. It's true. Unfortunately, it is not that good. I may have to abandon ship.
The Word Book by Mieko Kanai.
I am also still "reading" the Penguin collection of American SSs.

I am SO about to get voted off this island.

*tsktsk*

*tut-tut*

RD is RIGHT! I did abandon my SS thread! Very Bad Mark! My last collection was Binocular Vision, which was excellent but I never reviewed it for some lame-ass reason, so I never posted it over here.
I did, just finish one today, the Tenth of December, which I really enjoyed and since it was an ER title, I will be reviewing it. This guy has talent and I would like to try his other collections.

RD- Thanks for bringing this thread back from the dead! Poor Ellen got ignored too!
Excellent review of Whispers in Dust and Bone. It looks like a perfect fit for me, so on the WL it goes.

Ellen- I liked the "Anne Frank" collection a bit more than you. There were some terrific stories in there. I'd like to sample more of Englander's work.
What did you think of the Yu?

I liked the Yu collection a lot, Mark.
Here's what I wrote on my thread:

4 stars

This collection of stories is a delight to read. Are they science fiction? I don't know, and reading them helped me realize how little I know of modern science fiction literature. They are certainly set in the future and have a sort of sci-fi dystopic tone to them. Yu is interested in the nature of being, of self and identity and consciousness --- and how much of this can be influenced or even owned by technology or big business or.....

My favorite stories included the first, "Standard Loneliness Package," which explores the notion of consciousness/life as a commodity to be bought and sold. Can you sell your life for security? Can you buy a life? "Hero Absorbs Major Damage" was another favorite: the characters appear to be avatars in a good video game. I was reminded of my visit to my friend Evee in Oakland many years ago. I played an adventure video game (build structures, collect wood and food and energy in its various forms, kill bad buys, create babies....) at which I wasn't very skilled ("stop poking me!"). I enjoyed Yu's exploration of what it would be like if those video game characters were really experiencing the battle and the adventure.

"Note to Self" is a masterpiece.

"Yoeman" and "Designer Emotion 67" were appealing to me as a mental health care provider. The latter is an interesting consideration of the pharmacological industry's effort/ability to help us manage our moods..... at some cost, of course, and at great profit to a few.

I recommend this collection of stories. I heard a brief review of it on NPR a couple of weeks ago and promptly put it on hold. I'm glad I did.

I think I did see this the 1st time you posted it and forgot it. That's a good review and another one I'm sure I would love. Thanks!

From World Literature Today: The Remarkable Reinvention of Very Short Fiction.

Excellent piece.

100) Tenth of December: Stories by George Saunders 4.2 stars

Story collections are always difficult for me to describe, especially when there isn’t a true central theme. These are wide-ranging tales, dealing with loners, misfits, combat vets, with forays into a creepy Sci-Fi future. Saunders has a bold, innovative style, just this side of quirky. There is pain and angst but also a wicked sense of humor. The title story, that deals with a dreamy young boy and a elderly suicidal cancer patient, meeting on a frozen lake, is a stunning piece of work.
Saunders has written several collections and I am looking forward to exploring more of this very talented writer. Here is a taste of his humor from the story “Al Roosten”:

“…as someone who does feng shui for a living, there’s no way I could do feng shui if I was whacked out on crack, because my business is about discerning energy fields, and if you’re cracked up, or on pot, or even if you’ve had too much coffee, the energy field gets all wonky, believe me, I know, I used to smoke.”

Mark, I've been thinking more about Sorry Please Thank You and I've downgraded it to "only" 3.5 stars. His writing just isn't that good and his ability to create characters and voice is limited. Still, his imagination is laudable (and thanks to Richard for helping me crystallize my thinking about this book of stories).

I started first love, last rites by Ian McEwan today. Will keep you posted.....

Ellen- That's to bad! The Yu looked like it had potential. I did not realize McEwan had a story collection out. Sadly, I've still not read this guy.

First Love, Last Rites was the first McEwan I read. I haven't read a lot more of his. As the title suggests, I seem g to recall a lot of sex and morbidity, and those seem to be continuing themes in the others of his I've read. Will be interested to see what you think, Ellen.

118> Yep, I've read the first two stories and so far lots of sex and obsession with sex. I have read other things by him and I am trying to remember if he is one of those male authors who seems unable to write about anything other than male obsession with sex. I mean, I'm a fan of sex and all, but is it really the only subject or experience to which he can attribute interest or profundity? Sort of interesting so far, and I'll admit the guy can write, but I hope at least one of the stories is about something other than male obsession with sex (and not that I'm not saying they're about sex, they're about men thinking about sex).

I take it all back. first love, last rites is a powerful bunch of stories.

I'll have to keep an eye out for that one, Ellen!

Anyone interested in my copy of the Tenth of December, I'm willing to pass it on. PM me!

Wow, this thread is going like gangbusters! Mark suggested I post this review of a collection of really short stories. So here goes:



I enjoyed Lou Beach's 420 Characters, a collection of very short stories that first appeared on Facebook and were subject to its former 420 character limit on status updates. He explores a lot of genres, including noir and surreal, and the range of the stories is part of the appeal. Some are even romantic. An example:

"I kiss your neck, the sweet spot behind the jaw where your ear lays its shadow. A curl of your hair catches in my mouth and I sputter and cough. You laugh, push me away and continue dusting the room, ask me to get a fresh bag for the vacuum cleaner. I go the hall closet, return to find you sitting on the couch, naked. You look up at me, smile. You are pinning back your hair. 'I don't want you to choke,' you say."

At the other end of the spectrum, the subject of a "merely routine" investigation invites the police in to see his collection of kitchen knives "on a magnetic board, the points always up", and to look at an album full of suspicious photographs.

The author's name will ring a bell for some as an illustrator for the New Yorker and other magazines. There are several of his odd illustrations in this book. They reminded me a bit of Terry Gilliam's Monty Python illustrations. Here's an example:



They're thought-provoking, although not subject (for me, anyway) to linear resolution, or to direct association with the stories. They're more like oddball short stories in their own right.

If you're ready for "something completely different", give this one a try. As Jonathan Lethem says on the cover up above, "Holy sh*t, these are great!"

Thanks Joe, for posting your terrific review of 420 Characters. It sounds like a very enjoyable collection.

I'm new to this group but I wanted to know peoples thoughts on this....

1) Does reading comic books (individual issues) count in books read? What about graphic novels that cover 1 or more story arcs?
2) Does listening to an audiobook count as reading a book?

I find myself debating these all the time but when I look back at this year for just books I find I have barely read any but I've done comics, an audio book, etc....

As far as I am concerned, there are no rules about this. You can track your comic books, graphic novels and definitely audiobooks. This site is for you to do with as you want. There are challenges that have rules and if you participate in them you might find that you can't count a comic book there, but you would see the 'rules' right up front.

Welcome millerca! Are you asking specific questions about the 75 Challenge, LT or the Short Story Thread, or all of them?
I never looked for individual comics on LT but if they are there, sure go ahead and count them. I know GNs are available.
And yes, audiobooks COUNT! Yes, indeedy!

Spent my lunch break today reading a powerful short story titled "Indelible" by the wonderful Holly Wendt, (LT member geatland) which you all can read or listen to as well, by going here. Language warning for those who mind that kind of thing.

Linda- Thanks for posting something over here. It's been quiet lately.

My next story collection will be the new Junot Diaz and of course I have several others chomping at the book bit!

I've finally picked up Round Mountain to read in earnest. I like the characterizations a lot. Not much happens in the first two selections, but I feel I really know the people.

I Cannot Tell a Lie, Exactly and Other Stories by Mary Ladd Gavell

If you prefer your short stories to be rip-roarin', sexed up, or fantastic, you probably won't appreciate this collection. Gavell's stories are, for the most part, gentle slice-of-life tales of ordinary people; many of them are set in and around the small Texas town where she lived until her death in 1967. I first discovered Gavell's short story "The Swing" (included here) a few years ago, when looking for themed stories for a course I was teaching, and I liked it so well that I sought out more of her work. While "The Swing" remains my favorite, I also enjoyed all of the stories in this collection. They are small stories: a girl gives a doll to someone less fortunate; a couple makes their son's George Washington costume; a farmer's wife dupes a city couple; a family gathers at an old woman's deathbed; a teacher regrets not having praised a child's beautiful handwriting; a woman comes to appreciate the daughter-in-law she initially rejected. There's an apt quote form the Chicago Sun-Times on the cover: Everyone should have this book on their shelf . . . for the pleasure of reading a perfect story again and again. The Random House edition includes a fine introduction by Kaye Gibbons and a short essay by Gavell's son, remembering his mother.

Deborah- I Cannot Tell a Lie sounds very good. I'll have to add that to my SS WL.

I started the wonderful This is How You Lose Her! You must READ this one!

Thanks Mark, for pointing me to this thread. I am a BIG SS fan.

Looking forward to starting This is How You Lose Her myself this week. And maybe Blasphemy.

Nancy- I'm looking forward to your contributions. You seem to have a solid knowledge of the short story form.

I finished Round Mountain, and can recommend it highly. This collection of interconnected short stories is set in rural Vermont, but the people and places described so beautifully by the author could have been lifted intact from my childhood in Northeastern Pennsylvania. In fact, while reading one of the stories I felt I was walking around inside a house I knew very well as a kid. I'd say Freeman has created an incredibly real world, except that I know he didn't make any of this stuff up. Maybe the stories came from his imagination, but the settings are tangible, and the people aren't "characters"...they exist too. The first couple stories seem almost unfinished, but as you read further you realize that they belong to the collection, and each subsequent story adds another piece to the whole. Some of them stand alone very well, while others need to be read in context of their companions to reveal their full impact.
I received this book free from Concord Free Press, thanks to Mark's mentioning them, and I'm obliged to pass it on. The terms are explained on their website, but simply stated, upon receipt of a book, you agree to donate something to a charity of your choice, and to pass on the book when you're finished to another reader who will make the same commitment. I hate to give this one up, but I hereby offer it to anyone in the U.S. who reads this and is willing to be part of this project.

Linda- I loved Round Mountain too! It also caught me completely by surprise. I'll have to read more of Freeman's work.

Added Round Mountain to my wish list. Linda, I would be happy to participate!

When I looked for the book, I didn't see that offer. I just saw that I could get it on the kindle.

Can Mark or Linda post a link to that offer?

BTW - I am counting Molly Ringwald's linked stories (novel?) in my challenge. Loved When it Happens to You}.

#136. Sorry, Nancy, I meant to put the link in that post. Click here for Concord Press website. Would you like my copy? I'd be happy to send it to you if you PM me with your mailing address.

#135 Mark, I have two of Freeman's novels in my TBR stacks. He was first recommended to me by avaland, who knows my affinity for regional fiction. I intend to read more of him soon.

Yes! and thank you. Message sent.

Linda- Do you also know where the LT link is for the CFP? I know Caroline set one up and it's very useful.
Speaking of Freeman, I have go With Me in the stacks.

Well, I had forgotten there was a thread for CFP. But here is the link to that. I have never gotten the hang of using the wikipages, so I apologize for not listing my copy of Round Mountain there. But as Nancy has requested it from me, it all works out well in the end. If some savvy person wants to add my name to the list and indicate that I've passed it on, feel free.

120) This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz 5 stars

“The half-life of love is forever."

We first encountered Yunior, a Dominican-American kid, back in ‘97, in the stories Drown and then he made an appearance in the Pulitzer prize winning Oscar Wao. He returns for the third time, growing into adulthood, in this amazing collection, which I think is his best.
This is an ode to love, in all it’s various guises. A steaming kettle of heartbreak, infidelity, joy, pain and laughter, told in rich, razor-sharp prose, sprinkled with the spicy rhythms of a Spanglish tango. Here are a couple delectable nuggets:
“You, Yunior, have a girlfriend named Alma, who has a long tender horse neck and a big Dominican ass that could drag the moon out of orbit. An ass she never liked until she met you. Ain't a day that passes that you don't want to press your face against that ass or bite the delicate sliding tendons of her neck. You love how she shivers when you bite, how she fights you with those arms that are so skinny they belong on an after-school special."

“The newest girl’s name is Samantha and she’s a problem. She’s dark and heavy-browed and has a mouth like unswept glass-when you least expect it she cuts you.”

Hello Short Story Challenge, dont think I have forgotten you, its just that I have only read one collection since this thread started, and am thinking maybe the fact that I am reading less in the way of short stories now could be your fault? Just thinking ;)

Hi Megan- I'm glad the Short Story Challenge is in your thoughts. Do you any on the agenda?

I'm starting a new collection called Stabs at Happiness: 13 Stories, which holds much promise.

Read This is How You Lose Her Saturday. Found it well-written and great insight into a culture. Liked it a lot, but didn't love it as much as I expected, given all the ravs. I think I need to read Oscar Wao. This was my first Diaz.

Mark - Like the title of Stabs of Happiness. Off to check it out.

I forgot to post my review of Windeye here!



Rating: 4.25* of five

The Book Description: A woman falling out of sync with the world; a king's servant hypnotized by his murderous horse; a transplanted ear with a mind of its own—the characters in these stories live as interlopers in a world shaped by mysterious disappearances and unfathomable discrepancies between the real and imagined. Brian Evenson, master of literary horror, presents his most far-ranging collection to date, exploring how humans can persist in an increasingly unreal world. Haunting, gripping, and psychologically fierce, these tales illuminate a dark and unsettling side of humanity.
Praised by Peter Straub for going "furthest out on the sheerest, least sheltered narrative precipice," Brian Evenson is the author of ten books of fiction. He has been a finalist for the Edgar Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the World Fantasy Award, and the winner of the International Horror Guild Award, and the American Library Association's award for Best Horror Novel. Fugue State was named one of Time Out New York's Best Books of 2009. The recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and three O. Henry Prizes, including one for the title story in "Windeye," Evenson lives in Providence, Rhode Island, where he directs Brown University's Literary Arts Department.


My Review: Since there are 25 stories in this book's 188pp, I will not be utilizing the Bryce Method (named for the illustrious blogger/reviewer/Goodreader Bryce, of revered memory for his excellent and frequent reviews before the twins were born) as the reviews of each story would be as long as the stories themselves are. For such is the nature of Evenson's writing. It's a challenge to make his storytelling anything other than real-time without spoilering or simply regurgitating his words.

It's not that his writing is Lovecraftian in its ornament, or Kingly in its wallop. His eerie and atmospheric stories are concise, and have their own unadorned grandeur. If his prose was architecture, I'd call it Art Deco with Fascist Monumental leanings.

So here's a species of compromise on Bryce Method reviewing...stories grouped by stars!

5 of 5
“Windeye”
“Discrepancy”
“The Process”

4 of 5
“The Second Boy”
“Angel of Death”
“The Dismal Mirror”
“Legion”
“Hurlock's Law”
“The Tunnel”
“South of the Beast” (maybe this gets 4.5....)
“The Absent Eye”
“Tapadera”
“They”
“The Oxygen Protocol”
“The Drownable Species”

All of the others are three stars...good, solid stories, but not for whatever reason outstanding compared to their peers in this collection.

I'm not sure I'd call any of them “horror” stories. I'd call them all, one and all, atmospheric evocations of unsettling and unsettled mood, of disturbed and disturbing malfunctions of perception. I'd call them all quietly unnervingly accurate night-scopes on the rifles your inner demons bring to bear at the back of your neck on windy, rainy nights when the power goes out and the flashlight batteries are dead.

If that kind of reading has no appeal, horseman, pass on.

One bleat of dissatisfaction: This book has the UGLIEST cover...a dark, blood-mixed-with-poo colored block set off by a ragged edge of trailing bloody red on a white background. Y.U.C.K. Drop-out type for the advert on the back reinforces the low-budget look, as does the Preparation-H-hued type they set the title in. In a store, I'd pass it up with a wrinkled nose and a scoff. This reaction is not to put y'all off! The stories make up for the dismal disappointment of the cover. Really, honestly, they do.

I've reviewed Edith Pearlman's four-and-a-half star collection Love Among the Greats in my thread...post #213.

deleted by author and moved to 2013 thread.