Five Great Story Collections
Today, on the Slate podcast called Culture Gabfest, Slate’s film critic Dana Stevens endorsed The Book of Right and Wrong. (That’s their term for it, by the way, endorsing. Which made me feel fancy!) It was exciting to hear, and you can hear it for yourself at Slate.com. (Listen to the whole thing, as it’s great, but my mention comes in at 42:55.)
One interesting thing about the endorsement was hearing Dana Stevens say she doesn’t normally recommend story collections, because she finds most modern short stories static and shapeless. You know what? Me, too. With that in mind, let me please direct you to five story collections, all from within the last 15 years, that are anything but static and shapeless. You can’t go wrong with any of these.
Has she not made time to read the great "Olive Kitteridge" by Elizabeth Strout? It's a collection so nice, I read it twice. Seriously, it's an amazing collection of characters and moments that linger. I'd also recommend Brad Watson's "Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives," which just came out a few months ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/books/review/Thomas-t.html
http://books.wwnorton.com/books/978-0-393-33885-0/
Maybe she has – she did say *most* modern short stories. And, I mean, I read a lot of stories — not just collections and anthologies, but lit journals — and I do agree with her. I don't know what the hell happened in the world of short stories, but a large number of writers seem hell-bent on disavowing the "story" part.
I'm going to check out the Strout collection. I've really liked individual stories of hers. And I still need to get that Watson book! When I come up to sign the Debenbook at Porter Square Books, I will buy the Watson. This is my pledge!
Thanks for posting!!
Matt
Why does Powell's still have your book listed at $24.50? I'm not sure who to talk to there about getting your book out on their shelves (at the right price), but I'll do my best.
Also…thanks for the bookplate/drawing. Your kids are brilliant.
Tracy,
The distributor sends out all that info to all potential carriers of the book. You can get it on BN.com, too, but they still don't have a cover image. It's all very haphazard.
If you find someone to talk to at Powell's, let me know – I'll send them a review copy! Thanks!
Matt
P.S. And thank you for pre-ordering, too!