Last week I was in a meeting with some fellow Lemurians trying to convince Kelly that the best idea we could ever have would be for us to obviously get a liquor license and a cat to roam around the store. (I know, I know. Cats are trendy. Next year we’d look at the cat and be like, “Really? This cat is like, so 2013.”) As unproductive as this meeting may sound, there is one thing that we left determined to share with you, sweet fellow readers, and that is that these days just like the old days, the Southern short story absolutely refuses to be ignored, nor should it be.
In the wake of the George Saunders event we held last night in our Dot Com building for the release of his newest collection of short stories, Tenth of December, I realized that maybe I was mistaken about the seemingly waning following of the Southern short story. (If you weren’t at the reading, let me just tell you. You don’t want to keep missing events like this! Incredible.)
The event turnout and some of the discussions I overheard showed me that our friends here in the city not only like short stories, you people love short stories! You think they’re fabulous! And let me tell you guys, so do we. So what was originally conceptualized as a blog designed to plead with you all to open your minds to the smallest member of the fiction family, is instead going to turn into something of a greatest hits list.
If you read nothing else from this moving and sometimes hilariously disturbing collection of stories, read the opener story, a tidy little piece of work called “Gentleman’s Agreement.” Richard narrates the day’s events of the young boy the story centers around in a convincingly childlike manner. The storytelling, while simple, is startlingly sharp, offering little bursts of realization hidden among the sparse narrative. Beginning with the slow, steady plod of a tentative story that has yet to learn its own ending, the story reaches a wonderfully crafted crescendo as the reader realizes the gravity of the turn the story has taken.
With Mark Richard, when it comes to the mantra “less is more”, he is truly the king. This collection is filled with staccato storytelling, with deliciously interesting characters. Oh, and another must-read from this book? “The Birds for Christmas.” Yikes, that was good.
St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Karen Russell
Y’all. Can we talk about how incredible this book is for a second? I mean, really. You probably recognize this name from her lovely first-ever novel Swamplandia– a book that we had a signing for here! (Again, hopefully you guys are coming to these things. Take advantage of having these great writers come visit our home. That’s Karen on the right with her friend.)
St. Lucy’s Home was Russell’s otherworldly and beautiful debut collection of dream-like stories, which have (not surprisingly) already made an appearance on Lemuria’s blog. So a refresher! I plead that you wouldn’t forget about the small beginnings that in one instance, created the inspiration for Russell’s novel. In a story called “Ava Wrestles the Alligator,” Russell toys around with characters and ideas that bloom fully later in Swamplandia.
If you already know and love Russell or would like to, rejoice! She has a new collection of short stories titled Vampires in the Lemon Grove coming out on February 12! My heart will always belong to St. Lucy’s though- my favorite story from her first inspired collection? “Z.Z.’s Sleep-Away Camp for Disordered Dreamers.” And no, that has nothing to do with the fact that my boyfriend read it out loud to me in while I was in college and I was like, super totally smitten with him.
Music of the Swamp, Lewis Nordan
My hope is that you’re rolling your eyes because I’m putting this in my blog. I hope you’re like, “Really Hannah? We’ve all read this a thousand times. We already know how amazing it is.” Yes! Good for you! I’m so glad you have such amazing taste in books. If, however, this is one of Nordan’s greatest hits that you haven’t gotten around to yet, then get around to it, my friend.
Using absolutely scrumptious descriptions, Lewis Nordan takes pieces of the South that were before only grey and over-written and turns them into magical people and places we never imagined were possible. With childlike imagination, he tells his stories with a wealth of beauty and hopefulness that does not shy away from sadness. Truly heartbreaking and whimsical all at the same time, the stories from Music of the Swamp follow the life of Sugar Mecklin, at first a child filled with wonder and imagination, and then later, a man who begins to realize the beautiful ache that comes from loving and losing the people he loves.
I’ll never forget reading this book for the first time. It filled me with the most rapturous longing, a desire to just be in the sticky heat that surrounds me and my family and all of this whole, hot place we call home.
I was truly heartbroken to hear about Lewis Nordan’s passing last year, but I am happy to say that I will never hesitate to pick up this book, over and over again, to re-read these stories that will never cease to feel fresh and new.
Comments are closed.