Posts tagged shortreads

"Amundsen," by Alice Munro

newyorker:

Read “Amundsen,” new fiction by Alice Munro in this week’s issue: http://nyr.kr/R4MqaB

Her new story collection, Dear Life, graces bookshelves in mid-November.

Great short stories and great jokes have a lot in common. Both depend on what communication-theorists sometimes call “exformation,” which is a certain quantity of vital information removed from but evoked by a communication in such a way as to cause a kind of explosion of associative connections within the recipient. This is probably why the effect of both short stories and jokes often feels sudden and percussive, like the venting of a long-stuck valve.

David Foster Wallace in “Laughing with Kafka” (PDF), published in 1998 issue of Harper’s.  (via explore-blog)

I love this.

explore-blog

For the next hour, Nathan Englander will be answering your questions about his books, short stories, the craft of writing, and whatever else is on your mind. The conversation’s taking place on our Facebook page—come hang out.

For the next hour, Nathan Englander will be answering your questions about his books, short stories, the craft of writing, and whatever else is on your mind. The conversation’s taking place on our Facebook page—come hang out.

Stories Under the Stars

You know how much we love short stories, so maybe you can imagine how excited we are about this event in Brooklyn on Monday:

“I’m not trying to make this competitive or anything, but I don’t think there’s anyone who could possibly be more excited for WORD’s edition of Books Beneath the Bridge than I am. WORD consistently puts together some of the best literary events around, so it was already a given that I was attending, but when I found out that their night in the BBB series was focusing exclusively on short story writers, I actually started wishing that July could end sooner. (If you aren’t already totally psyched, check out our writer Jack Palmer’s blog post on the last installment of Books Beneath the Bridge.) If you haven’t read a short story since school, this is the time to reacquaint yourself, since not only are they featuring five (count ‘em, five) short story writers, but they’re five of the best currently writing. From master of the form Jim Shepard, to Charles Yu, whose collection Sorry, Please, Thank You was released just this week, they’re all talents who’ve honed their voices into word lasers that stun and amaze with just one blow. Plus, there’s extra incentive to get there early, since compliments of the BPL’s new Espresso Book Machine, there’ll be a limited-edition chapbook available of all the stories read that night, signed by the authors. Beats any party favor I’ve ever gotten!”

elliott holt: Short Stories You Should Read

elliottholt:

Listed in no particular order. I forced myself to choose only one story per writer (very difficult in some cases). There is a lot of amazing short fiction out there, but these are stories—of various styles—that have stuck with me over the years and have taught me what a story can be. I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot of gems.

  1. “Wakefield” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  2. “The Lady with the Lap Dog” by Chekhov
  3. “The Overcoat” by Gogol
  4. “A Hunger Artist” by Franz Kafka
  5. “The Dead” by James Joyce
  6. “The Secret Life of Walter Middy” by James Thurber
  7. “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner
  8. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
  9. “Friend of My Youth” by Alice Munro
  10. “When We Were Nearly Young” by Mavis Gallant
  11. “Work” by Denis Johnson
  12. “Wants” by Grace Paley
  13. “The Swimmer” by John Cheever
  14. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor
  15. “The Laughing Man” by J.D. Salinger
  16. “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver
  17. “In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried” by Amy Hempel
  18. “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin
  19. “In the Heart of the Heart of the Country”  by William Gass
  20. “White Angel” by Michael Cunningham
  21. “Girl” by Jamaica Kinkaid
  22. “A Rich Man” by Edward P. Jones
  23. “Do Not Disturb” by A.M. Homes
  24. “Fields of Dusk” by James Salter
  25. “Screenwriter” by Charles D’Ambrosio
  26. “Memory Wall” by Anthony Doerr
  27. “L. Debard and Aliette” by Lauren Groff
  28. “Bullet in the Brain” by Tobias Wolff
  29. “Boys Town” by Jim Shepard
  30. “The Fat Girl” by Andre Dubus
  31. “Pastoralia” by George Saunders
  32. “Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned” by Wells Tower
  33. “Men Under Water” by Ralph Lombreglia
  34. “All the Way in Flagstaff, Arizona” by Richard Bausch
  35. “Brownies” by Z.Z. Packer
  36. “Hell-Heaven” by Jhumpa Lahiri
  37. “Sindbad” by Donald Barthelme
  38. “I Used to Live Here Once” by Jean Rhys
  39. “The Girl Detective” by Kelly Link
  40. “Sororally” by Gary Lutz
  41. “Train” by Joy Williams
  42. “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” by Karen Russell
  43. “The Magic Poker” by Robert Coover
  44. “Lady” by Diane Williams
  45. “Love and Honour and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice” by Nam Le
  46. “Natasha” by David Bezmozgis
  47. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates
  48. “Mothers” by Lydia Davis
  49. “A Spoiled Man” by Daniyal Mueenduddin
  50. “Rock Springs” by Richard Ford
  51. “In the Gloaming” by Alice Elliott Dark
  52. “You’re Ugly, Too” by Lorrie Moore
  53. “A Romantic Weekend” by Mary Gaitskill
  54. “Drown” by Junot Diaz
  55. “None of the Above” by Suzanne Rivecca
  56. “Virgins” by Danielle Evans
  57. “Safari” by Jennifer Egan

I can’t believe someone had the stamina to make a list!

rachelfershleiser: GREAT AUTHORS INSPIRE US. But what about the stories that inspire them? Recommended Reading, a magazine by Electric Literature, publishes one story a week, each chosen by today’s best authors or editors. (via Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading) This new fiction mag, from the amazing people who brought us Electric Lit, will be publishing directly to Tumblr. We’re incredibly excited about it! Follow! Reblog! Read! It’s a Short Story Month miracle! Bonus: the first story is by Ben Marcus, author of The Flame Alphabet.

rachelfershleiser:

GREAT AUTHORS INSPIRE US. But what about the stories that inspire them? Recommended Reading, a magazine by Electric Literature, publishes one story a week, each chosen by today’s best authors or editors.

(via Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading)

This new fiction mag, from the amazing people who brought us Electric Lit, will be publishing directly to Tumblr. We’re incredibly excited about it! Follow! Reblog! Read!

It’s a Short Story Month miracle! Bonus: the first story is by Ben Marcus, author of The Flame Alphabet.

pantheonbooks: “The problem with unintended consequences isn’t with the consequences, it’s with the unintended. Just because you didn’t intend for something to happen doesn’t mean you didn’t want it to happen.” - Charles Yu, Sorry Please Thank You We’re so, so excited for this book, which comes out 7/24! And I’m excited because it’s Short Story Month.

pantheonbooks:

“The problem with unintended consequences isn’t with the consequences, it’s with the unintended. Just because you didn’t intend for something to happen doesn’t mean you didn’t want it to happen.”

- Charles Yu, Sorry Please Thank You

We’re so, so excited for this book, which comes out 7/24!

And I’m excited because it’s Short Story Month.

Short Story Month continues apace! Countless readers cherish Haruki Murakami’s otherworldly novels. But did you know he’s also an accomplished nonfiction and short story writer? Which brings us to today’s exercise: think of your favorite novelist. Has he or she written any short fiction you can share?

Short Story Month continues apace! Countless readers cherish Haruki Murakami’s otherworldly novels. But did you know he’s also an accomplished nonfiction and short story writer?

Which brings us to today’s exercise: think of your favorite novelist. Has he or she written any short fiction you can share?

hobartpulp: Poetry Month is over. Make room for Beyonce Short Story Month hobartpulp: via Michael Filippone (c/o Dan Wickett) Love you, Hobart. I read this post and exclaimed, “This means Short Story Month is officially real!” Dip into the #shortreads. Everybody’s doing it.

hobartpulp:

Poetry Month is over. Make room for Beyonce Short Story Month

hobartpulp:

via Michael Filippone (c/o Dan Wickett)

Love you, Hobart. I read this post and exclaimed, “This means Short Story Month is officially real!”

Dip into the #shortreads. Everybody’s doing it.

hobartpulp