October 2009
4 posts
1 tag
"The Twenty-Seventh Man" by Nathan Englander
In this opening salvo to Nathan Englander’s much-loved story collection, For the Relief of Unbearable Urges (Meredith gave it 5 stars on GoodReads!), 27 writers are rounded up and imprisoned in Stalinist Russia. 26 of these writers are great intellectuals with minds and public reputations to be reckoned with. The 27th writer, Pinchas Pelovits, is a clerical slip: he’s an unpublished...
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"Ya Khabiir" by Mohammad Abdul-Wali
And now, for something completely different.
I picked up a copy of The Anchor Book of Modern Arabic Fiction in a fit of ambitious self-improvement. “I will be cultured and culturally sensitive!” I thought. But for all my good intentions, the first story out of this collection bored and confused me silly: it’s 3 pages long, and it’s about a soldier and a lawyer walking from...
September 2009
28 posts
"Child of God," Geoff Wyss
1) I generally shy away from stories that take place inside a teacher’s lounge AND/OR high school English classroom, both of which Wyss uses in a oh-my-god-I’m-going-to-SCREAM way 2) I’m tired of stories about older men being shamelessly aroused by much younger women, 3) Wyss’ writing is amazing, but way TOO MUCH given the subject matter. He’s trying too hard, and...
"Banger Finds Out," Kelly Cherry
Relatively simple plot that’s a wee bit heavy on the back-story. Use of Nazism as a paradigm for evil = too easy. Loved the characterizations of Plummy and Banger, although I think they both might be too likable, good, sincere, loving, etc. to be considered full characters (everyone loved Plummy in high school even though she was a raging slut? It’s a mature viewpoint to believe that...
"Quarantine," Rahul Mehta
Usually I have a hard time connecting to stories with the thesis statement “Here I am, in the USA, trying to acclimate to a new culture while trying to hold on to my native country’s traditions.” I’m sure this is just my sense of perception playing tricks on me, but it seems to be the main characters in these stories are always Indian (dot not feather [Is this shorthand for...
1 tag
Another interesting thing
I forgot to mention: When someone asked which authors Steven Millhauser looks to in formulating his fabulist stories, he replied that he prefers to read realists—that he defines his aesthetic against those of Chekhov and Flaubert, and by reading these authors, he is able to liberate his own writing.
I like the idea of reading against one’s aesthetic—might have to try that after October...
2 tags
Steven Millhauser / Annie Proulx
Last night was the long-awaited Steven Millhauser / Annie Proulx reading at the 92nd St Y. After a bit of a delay (thanks, Netanyahu), Millhauser drew us into a story called “The Visit” about Albert and his frog-wife, Alice. Looking back at my notes, the only thing I wrote down during the story, alongside doodles of frogs wearing crowns, was “the secret of air.” Then...
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"The Tower," "Here at the Historical Society," and...
These three stories grasp on some outlandish idea and take it to the extreme. In “The Tower,” that idea is a tall building. In “Here at the History Society,” that idea is preservation. And in “A Change in Fashion,” that idea is, obviously, fashion.
Now that Meredith and I have been writing these posts for a little more than a week, I’d like to reflect on,...
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"My Friend Joseph" by Sophie Judah
From a collection of stories about the super-obscure Bene Israel Jewish community of India (Dropped from Heaven). INDIAN JEWS?! Yes, they exist. Specifically in the southwestern side of the Indian subcontinent.
“My Friend Joseph” is about two such Indian Jews who return from fighting on behalf of the British in the Boer War. They want to rustle themselves up some wives. They succeed,...
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"Jeeves Takes Charge" by P.G. Wodehouse
I waited way too long to return to Wodehouse. I’ve read some stray Jeeves stories here and there, but never the story of how Jeeves began working for Bertie Wooster. Everyman’s Library published a nice edition of Jeeves stories along with The Code of the Woosters. This anthology includes a short introduction by John Mortimer in which you find out that:
[how much you think Jeeves is...
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"A Fable Ending in the Sound of a Thousand...
This first story from The View from the Seventh Layer is a magical realist explosion of birdsong. I wish I could quote the last two sentences of the story, but it’ll detract from the experience of reading the story itself. You’ll just have to imagine the sound a thousand parakeets (natural mimics) make when their mute owner dies.
—Pam
2 tags
"Sans Farine," Jim Shepard, originally published...
Holy shit.
“Sans Farine” means “without flour” in French. The title refers to narrator Charles-Henri Sanson’s nickname, given to him by the people of France. This story takes place during the French Revolution - Sanson uses emptied bran sacks (hahahaha, “without flour”) to carry away all the severed heads that he chops off. He’s the executioner. In...
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"You Were Perfectly Fine" by Dorothy Parker
This story taught me the following in 4 painless pages:
Drunk people are annoying.
Drunk people always seem so innocent b/c they can’t remember being annoying.
What is “clam-juice”?!
When you do something stupid while drunk, the only way to make it go away is to drink more.
—Meredith
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"The Other Town" by Steven Millhauser
Only 5 more Millhauser stories to go before I see him on Thursday!
For the sake of not confusing you, let’s use letters: There is town A. The residents of town A built town B (adjacent to town A). Town B is identical to Town A. It is also uninhabited and exists solely for the viewing pleasure of town A residents.
Oh…strange. I just flipped through the last few pages of the story and...
Oprah supports this blog
Yesterday Mz. Winfrey revealed her newest Book Club pick - Say You’re One of Them by Uwen Akpan. I’m excited to get on this (no shame - I heart Oprah). This piece of news paired with this year’s Pulitzer going to Olive Kitteridge - which is a novel in stories, aka a slew of closely related short stories - by Elizabeth Strout, I think short stories are oh so “in” at...
YAY!
Meredith is posting! I guess we’re going to start signing our names to our posts, so you don’t get all confused.
Also, I’m a butthole and haven’t checked the Tumblr dashboard in a while, so I’m going to be approving a bunch of posts that Meredith excellently submitted over the weekend.
Also also, I have a few stories to share later. Prepare to be overwhelmed by our...
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"Allegiance" by Aryn Kyle
Originally published in Ploughshares; reprinted in Best American Short Stories 2007, chosen by Stephen King.
Holy shit! This story was so amazing… it’s one of those pieces that makes me think about everything in my 5th grade voice for a few hours after reading it. Unfortunately, I read it in a few small chunks… so I was in 5th grade mode for a few days. (Although the story is...
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Finally! Here I am! ("The Bris")
So finally I’ve gotten my act together enough to put together some coherent thoughts! Whoa! I just hope Pam understands how truly rare this is. I don’t actually try for just anyone, you know.
So I have a two stories that I just read today, and two others that I slowly plowed through on my way home from L.A./last week, when I was so discombobulated and unfocused on life. I’ll...
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"In the Reign of Harad IV" by Steven Millhauser
Yes, another Steven Millhauser story! His event with Annie Proulx is next week, and I really need to finish Dangerous Laughter before then. Hopefully Meredith will chime in soon, so you won’t experience Millhauser-fatigue. Of course, if you’ve read any short stories, you’re more than welcome to contribute to this Tumblr. Simply submit via this form or shoot us an e-mail...
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"The Dome" by Steven Millhauser
A story about hermetic, climate-controlled domes sealing off houses, neighborhoods, towns, even countries from the unpredictable world. Millhauser takes this concept to its inevitable end. Peppered throughout the story are editorial comments, under the guise of “It was said that…” or “People began to wonder…” In previous stories, Millhauser presents the story or...
