Now that school has started back I have time for a very limited amount of what I like to call “fun reading.” Modernist literature has taken over my life (what’s up William Faulkner) as well as plenty of Elizabethan poetry. SO when I do have time to sit down and read something for fun, I have been turning to short stories.
One super easy read that I know Emily has already raved about is Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson. I just finished reading “Blowing up on the Spot,” the second story in the book. The story was about a guy who works at the Scrabble factory all day searching for the letter Q. I loved the story because it was so random- but really, who thinks about the letter Q more than the person who’s job it is to find it all day?
This is why short story books rock: You can skip around. I usually pick ones based off of the title. I’m flipping through the table of contents of Wilson’s book right now and I think “Go.Fight.Win” will be the next one I hit. It just sounds catchy, doesn’t it? The good news is, so far all of Wilson’s stories are easy to read and a good mixture of thought-provocation and lightheartedness.
See Lisa’s comments on Tunneling.
Another great “casual read” is Sloane Crosley‘s book of essays. It had me doubled over laughing when I read it. Her writing reminded me of Dave Sedaris if Dave Sedaris was a straight female with a penchant for creating awkward situations and then living in them to the fullest. Crosley writes for Playboy sometimes and that witty and sexy humor permeates the entire book. The cynicism is reflected in the title, I Was Told There’d Be Cake, and the title story is one of the best. In it, Crosley reminisces on the abject misery she felt being a bridesmaid to a girl she couldn’t stand. Her take on weddings is reason enough to read the book, but look out for “The Ursula Cookie” if you are hoping for pointers on how to charm your boss (note to self- do not bake a cookie that resembles your boss’s profile).
If you are feeling slightly more literary, a great pick is Growing Up in the South. This compilation of short stories hits a ton of awesome writers in one cheap paperback volume. You can read the best short stories by Richard Wright, Eudora Welty, Anne Moody, Ellen Gilchrist, Flannery O’Conn0r and Alice Walker without buying a Norton anthology or taking an entire college course. Each story has a brief introduction that gives you a little bit of background about the writer too, so you can sound extra-smart at cocktail parties (or sitting around drinking beer and talking about literature…I am such an English major). I just finished reading “The Old Forest” by Peter Taylor, a writer who deserves more hype than he gets. The story is set in Memphis in the 1930’s, and at 60 pages it’s a doozy in the world of short stories…but well worth your time.
And finally, if you are really feeling super literary, grab a copy of Dubliners by James Joyce. I will go ahead and boldly recommend the Norton Critical Edition mostly because of the footnotes, which are priceless. For example, in one of the stories a man is wearing patent leather shoes and there is a footnote. There it tells you that patent leather is “a sort of leather with a shiny finish.” How helpful is that? All sarcasm aside, James Joyce is a beautifully calculated storyteller. Read “The Dead” and “Araby,” both of which are flashbacks to high school English class for sure but stand out once you cover them for a second time. Everyone should say they’ve read some Joyce.
(If you have a favorite short story book or essay collection, I welcome the feedback. Doesn’t look like I’m going to have time to sit down to a 600 page novel anytime soon. Lisa, I admire your courage.)
-Nell
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