In May, Alice Munro won the Man Booker International Prize for her body of fictional work, which consists mostly of short stories. This honor reminded me of a lovely article written by Steven Millhauser for The New York Times Book Review last fall. In comparing the short story to the novel, Millhauser points out the dominance of the novel and describes it as “the Wal-Mart, the Incredible Hulk, the jumbo jet of literature . . . insatiable . . . it wants to devour the world.”
Ah yes, but what I really appreciate about this article is Millhauser’s praise for the short story. I continually have so many customers who turn their noses up at the short story, turn their heads in disgust at the mere suggestion of a collection of short stories. But wait a minute folks! Listen to Millhauser sing praises for the virtues of brevity:
“The short story concentrates on its grain of sand, in the fierce belief that there–right there, in the palm of its hand–lies the universe . . . it looks for the moment when the grain of sand reveals its true nature . . . the short story becomes bigger than itself. It becomes bigger than the novel”
“Therein lies the immodesty of the short story, its secret aggression. Its method is revelation. Its littleness is the agency of its power . . . It exults in its shortness. Its wants to be shorter still. It wants to be a single word. If it could it could find that word, if it could utter that syllable, the entire universe would blaze up out of it with a roar. That is the outrageous ambition of the short story, that is its deepest faith, that is the greatness of its smallness.”
And so these customers who are missing out on the short story inspired me to set up a large display in the fiction room solely dedicated to the short story . . . old and new, known and unknown, paperback and fine first edition . . . all short stories!
As Ann Patchett says, “SUMMER IS SHORT, READ A STORY.” Harper Perennial has launched a series of Public Service Announcements to deal with the short story reading deficit. Apparently, HP is also very aware of the painfully distorted faces at the mere mention of the word ‘story.’
I just keep several short story collections nearby . . . and there is no guilt if I do not finish the whole book in a short time. I can always pick it up later! Short stories are great for busy people who still want to do some reading. Some of my favorite collections include: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, The Way Forward Is With a Broken Heart by Alice Walker, The Boat by Nam Le, Tongues of Flame by Mary Ward Brown, and Bad Behavoir by Mary Gaitskill.
Some collections that I am reading now: Love and Obstacles by Aleksandar Hemon, Demons in the Spring by Joe Meno, My Father’s Tears by John Updike, and It Wasn’t All Dancing by Mary Ward Brown.
Some collections I would like to read are by Alice Munro, Barry Hannah, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isak Dinesen, Katherine Anne Porter . . . .
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If there is a short story writer that you really like, let me know!
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