Short Stories - Where'd the Quality Go?!?

[dijinn]

Recently I read a book of short stories ("A Supposedly Funny Thing I'll Never Do Again") that I absolutely loved. I even sa-WOoned over it. Ok, why do you care? It's the first book of short stories published post 1985 I have ever even remotely enjoyed. The only reason I even picked up said book was because it is by one of my favorite authors, David Foster Wallace... which has totally got my curiousity goin... what am I missing?

I have this preconceived notion that any idea that isn't worthy of a hundred pages or more was probably a weak idea to begin with. In short stories the characters always seem thin and the plot skitters about like a frightened bunny rabbit looking for cover. (Needless to say - epinionators took me to task for saying as much in my review.)

So - where'd the good short stories go? Or were they ever there to begin with. What am I missing??

Dij

[satan]

Originally posted by dijinn
Or were they ever there to begin with.

Pretend this are the good Mister dijinn's butt-ocks.

:butthead

SWAT

Thank you . . . next stupid question please.

[Grouch]

Originally posted by dijinn
What am I missing??

Dij

Oh Lord, where do I start?

"Well, duh, Abrams, you start with the modern master."

Uh, right.
Carver. Raymond Carver--the man who did more to change the shape and feel of short stories in the last half of the 20th century than anyone else. In my book, Raymond Carver is a god.

But there have been others who were almost worthy enough to kiss the hem of his garment (DFW among them).

For starters:
the Johns (Cheever and Updike)
Richard Ford (Rock Springs is his masterpiece)
Rick Bass (The Watch)
Amy Bloom
Andre Dubus
T.C. Boyle
Larry Brown

And those are just a few of the modern shorties I like and have actually read. I've also heard good buzz on these scribes-of-the-abbreviated:
Lorrie Moore (Birds of America)
F.X. Toole (Rope Burns)
E. Annie Proulx's Winter Range
Nathan Englander (For the Relief of Unbearable Urges)
Dan Chaon (Among the Missing)--which, coincidentally, I just bought today

Reams and reams of paper have been devoted to the difference between short stories and novels--how shorter works must hone in on their themes and characters much more quickly, while novels have the luxury of lazing around for a couple dozen pages without losing the reader; how short stories are like poisoned blowdarts shot from the breath of Amazonian junglemen, while novels are like cannonballs rolling around the mud-and-bloodstained fields of Waterloo (darts and cannonballs are both equally lethal); how short stories require hours and hours of subtraction from sweaty-browed writers, while novels are sometimes stuffed with elephantine details from shrugging writers (having written both short stories and a novel, I can say this without prejudice); how short stories, when they're really sizzling, can do their work in less than an hour, while novels stretch their effect over days, sometimes weeks--but I won't devote reams and reams to the subject here.

I'll simply say: Yes, the short story is very much alive and well (and well-suited for our ever-increasing Short-Attention-Span Society). I see more collections on display in bookstores now than I ever did 15 years ago.


I'll leave you with this thought from Frederick Busch (another great short-scribe):

Good stories say the unsayable, and that act is very close, I believe, to prayer.


Amen and goodnight.

[satan]

Amen Sir Abrams.

(Would Sherman Alexie make your list?)

Originally posted by dijinn
Recently I read a book of short stories ("A Supposedly Funny Thing I'll Never Do Again") that I absolutely loved.

i was thinking about this some more since i'm a loser, and came to the realization that Master dijinn, in addition to mistaking the book title, is trying, in his patent-pending muddle-headed manner, to compare pomegranates and thumbtacks. A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again is rather clearly subtitled as Essays and Ruminations . . .

. . . so that p'raps brings people like David Sedaris, Bill Bryson and Garrison Keillor as competitors along with the other writers mentioned . . . i haven't yet read any of them except in the snippets that show up in Funny Times . . . anyone read 'em n DFW? How do they stack up?

[AuntieEmma[$]]

Originally posted by Grouch
For starters:

We're talking about living or recently-living authors, right?

I'll add:

Haruki Murakami
Michael Chabon
Margaret Atwood
Nick Hornby
Alice Munro
Joyce Carol Oates

Some of these are primarily known as novelists, but have written some wonderful stories.

[dijinn]

Originally posted by satan
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again is rather clearly subtitled as Essays and Ruminations . . .[/b]

Ok - so never mind. I couldn't understand why I like 'A Supposedly Fun Thing... now I can go back to my ORIGINAL belief that ALL modern day short stories suck. THANKS TIPU - I was worried there for a while. cough.

Senjor Groucho - thanks for your thoughtful list. I am going to go and pick up the stories you specifically mentioned, (do you want to mention a story or two for the John's?) read them and get back here to let you know how it went. I've got a pretty bad feeling... but heck it's worth a go.

A prayer? That is what poetry is about, not short stories. The only guy I know of that could even come close to that description of a short-story-author was Joyce. Brilliant, that guy - no one could pack the allusions in like he could. But I don't think they make short story writers like that anymore.

Hrmmmm. I'll get back to you guys.
Dij

[theeye]

Originally posted by Grouch
Nathan Englander (For the Relief of Unbearable Urges)

Nathan Englander is extraordinary. This was his first published book (as far as I know, there are no more yet -- am I wrong????). He's got a real gift for language.

Englander is a secular Jew, but with a deep love of traditional Judaism. His characters are always traditional Jews, but I think his work is still very accessible to someone unfamiliar with that world (I'd be really interested to hear your assessment of that!).

He has a wonderful way with language and his stories, while often outrageous paradies, are nonetheless sone with such obvious affection that they are not in the least offensive. It's a rare gift.

I heard him speak when this book came out. Actually, I should revise that: I heard him read from his book. He is amazingly inarticulate (**) up until the moment he begins reading, when his voice becomes magical.

(**) Not really inarticulate, but childlike and shy.

Really remarkable work. I recommend it highly.

In fact, thanks for reminding me -- I'm going to read it again.

[erik_kosberg]

There's a guy named David Abrams who's written some damn fine short stories. Check him out.

[Grouch]

Satan:
Yes, I would probably add Mr. Alexie to the list. While he's not in the same stratosphere as Carver or Ford, he's got the kind of style which gallops along--a fine blend of humor and activism (subtle though it is). The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is the standard Alexie work.

AuntieEmma:
D'oh! How could I possibly leave the great Alice Munro off my list? I'm ashamed of myself. Not to mention the fact that I left off the equally-great Grace Paley.

dijinn:
The best Updike stories are those involving the Maples (Too Far to Go is one collection). The best Cheever stories are those involving alcohol and New England.
Agreed that Joyce was brilliant. But don't cut modern writers off at the knees (or knuckles). There is some equally-brilliant fiction being penned today (and in the past 75 years).

theeye:
I need to dust off my Englander, too.

Erik:

[theeye]

Speaking of Munro, how about H. H. Munro (Saki)? Any other fans here?

[eplovejoy]

Ethan Canin's short stories are exceptional. They are collected in Emperor of the Air and The Palace Thief). Especially interesting is Canin's presentation of one man's middle-aged dissatisfaction and his meeting Willie Mays in "The Accountant" in The Palace Thief.

I also recommend two of Canin's three novels, Blue River and For Kings and Planets, except I won't do so here because that would violate the site's strict rules against wandering off-topic.

[satan]

Originally posted by theeye
Speaking of Munro, how about H. H. Munro (Saki)? Any other fans here?

'nother fan of Hector Hugh Munro n Clovis n Reginald . . . unfortunately, the Master dijinn considers him a classic short story writer and thus dismisses him . . .

. . . the little «beep»er would probably say the same things about Roald Dahl, who has penned some exceptional not-so-children stories that those who know him only from Matilda, The BFG, the peach story and the Charlie tales would be shocked by . . .

[theeye]

Ah, I didn't realize that "classics" were out of the running here.


Saki has been a favorite of mine since childhood. I still remember the first thrill of reading him.

[AuntieEmma[$]]

Grouch -- yeah, how could I have forgotten Grace Paley?

Dijinn -- I just read your review of Salman Rusdie's "Fury" (good review, btw -- your enthusiasm reminded me I had wanted to read the book). Since you like Rushdie, you'd probably like his short stories too. He has a story collection called "East, West." I actually thought it was a mixed bag. It's in three sections -- the "East" section consists of rather conventional stories about India -- nice, but nothing too exciting; the "West" section stories are experimental and I thought they overreached and didn't work particularly well; but the "East/West" section has stories that are similar to his novels, with that same kind of manic, funny energy, and I liked them a lot -- and I think even a short-story hater might like them as well.

[dijinn]

Originally posted by AuntieEmma
Dijinn -- I just read your review of Salman Rusdie's "Fury" (good review, btw -- your enthusiasm reminded me I had wanted to read the book).

hey HEY hey (said in my best RERUN impression) - thanks! Yeah, read Fury - the man thinks thoughts that just turn my mind inside out. Can't wait to get his other stuff.

continued...
Since you like Rushdie, you'd probably like his short stories too. He has a story collection called "East, West." -snip- and I think even a short-story hater might like them as well.

Now that is what I'm talkin about. Who knew Rushdie wrote short stories? (well obviously - you did, heh.) That is great - I will attack that before I do Satanic Verses. Many thanks AuntieEmma!!

Dij

[eplovejoy]

Originally posted by Grouch


For starters:
Andre Dubus

Because of the publicity surrounding the movie In the Bedroom , which is adapted from Dubus' story "Killings", I picked up his Dancing After Hours. What I've read is so good that I can hardly wait to read Selected Stories, in which "Killings" is included.

It is so good that I had to rush over here to let everyone know, even though that took me away from reading more.

It is so good that I am certain that his other work can't be as good. And so good that I expect to be wrong about that.

[Grouch]

Of all the Dubus stories which stick in my mind, "The Colonel's Wife" blazes bright. Don't know if you've reached it yet or not, Peter, but you'd better have an oxygen tank standing ready nearby. This story always takes my breath away.

In looking up this story (I couldn't remember the name of the danged thing), I ended up leafing through the entire volume of Dubus' Selected Stories and I was struck by the simplicity and directness of his opening sentences. Richard Ford is a master at this as well, but look at how Dubus begins these tales with what seem like innocent, expository sentences. It's like the quiet calm as a fighter cocks his fist back before the TKO wallop.


The Jackman's marriage had been adulterous and violent, but in its last days, they became a couple again, as they might have if one of them were slowly dying.
--The Winter Father

Juanita Creehan was a waitress in a piano bar near Camp Pendleton, California.
--Waiting

I wasn't in the clubhouse when Joaquin Quintana went crazy.
--After the Game

I grew up in Louisiana, and for twelve years I went to a boys' school taught by Christian Brothers, a Catholic religious order.
--If They Knew Yvonne

Her name was Louise.
--The Fat Girl

His son wore a moustache.
--The Captain

Her name was Anna Griffin.
--Anna

The campus security guard found her.
--Townies

When the alarm rings the room is black and grey; I smell Kevin's breath and my eye hurts and won't open.
--Leslie in California

When Gerry Fontenot is five, six, and seven years old, he likes to ride in the car with his parents.
--Sorrowful Mysteries

My name is Luke Ripley, and here is what I call my life: I own a stable of thirty horse, and I have young people who teach riding, and we board some horses, too.
--A Father's Story


Sometimes it's good to examine the science of writing. I find these sentences interesting. Dubus knows he has a lot to do in a short space of text and yet he opens with these bare-bones declarations. Most of them have very little physical action--they're just stage-setters. But yet--and here's the kicker--we know, given the brevity of what we're about to read, there's a lot of subtext at work--the bubbling simmer below the surface of words like hurts, was, too, piano, found, and wore. To me, it's the sign of a writer who is in complete control (of his words and of his reader).

[dijinn]

Originally posted by Grouch

Raymond Carver
Richard Ford - Rock Springs
Rick Bass The Watch
Lorrie Moore Birds of America
F.X. Toole - Rope Burns
Nathan Englander - For the Relief of Unbearable Urges
Dan Chaon - Among the Missing

Ok - The ones I listed above (out of Grouch's quote) I have put on hold to read. A bunch of them should be arriving in the next few days. (Also put a hold on Rushdie's East/West as well.)

In the mean time I found a copy of F.X. Toole's Rope Burns and to be honest... more of the same. I read about 75% of it in the last 24 hours and decided I'd read more than necessary.

Couldn't really swallow it. I did enjoy the history of it - the technical matter at hand (ie boxing) as I learned more about being a cut man than I ever really wanted to know. Or being a boxing coach - or a boxer - or a boxing fan for THAT matter. The short intro (4 pages?) was actually the most interesting. Talked about his life and how he got involved in the boxing scene. THAT was cool.

You ever been in one of those conversations where everyone starts telling fishing tales?? The bigger the wierder the better? That is what it felt like reading Rope Burns. A guy, familiar with his profession telling someone he just met about the wildest things he'd witnessed.

Now - really - I am holding out on a judgement til the big daddies get in. But I am honestly not thinking that this lil excercise will turn out all right. I think I get an 'A' for effort anyway... dangit.

Dij
who's hoping just ONE of the books will catch his eye ... and who presently has his money on the dark horse Rushdie in the outside lane.

[Grouch]

This morning, I came across this review of Alice Munro's latest short story collection, Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories, and thought it was applicable to our discussion here of the short form. At the very least, it sheds a little light on the reason why Munro writes in the shorter form (I think Raymond Carver once said the same thing--because he only had small gulps of time, not lungfuls, in which to write. That's purely paraphrasing [and, now that I think of it, horribly tacky in light of his demise], but it makes an argument for the short story as a product of attention span/time. I know that's certainly one of my reasons for writing in the short form--I just don't have the time/energy/patience to tackle something longer than 20 pages. (I say this, ironically, on the eve of starting work on my next novel).

At any rate, here's part of the review (from The New Republic) by Ruth Franklin:

The short story is the single mother of the literary family. No
matter how hard it strives or how many esteemed advocates it summons,
its detractors will never be convinced that it deserves the moral
legitimacy of the novel. Even in the case of Alice Munro, who
has produced ten consistently distinguished volumes of stories
over the past thirty years, the acclaim acquires a strange aftertaste
as it piles up. She is "Canada's greatest writer of short fiction"
-- but how many other Canadian short-story writers can you name?
"One of the best short-story writers alive," or "perhaps the best
short-story writer of our time" -- does that make her, then, one
of the best writers, period? One reviewer just came out and said
what all were thinking: "Alice Munro should write a novel."

Actually Alice Munro has written a novel, but that is not the
point. She, too, says that she prefers the novel to the short
story, and she says this in, of all places, the preface to her
Selected Stories, which serves as an introduction to more than
six hundred pages' worth of exceptional work:
I did not "choose" to write short stories. I hoped to
write novels. When you are responsible for running a
house and taking care of small children, particularly
in the days before disposable diapers or ubiquitous
automatic washing machines, it's hard to arrange for
large chunks of time....You're better to stick with
something you can keep in mind and hope to do in a few
weeks, or a couple of months at most.

~~~~~~

Even if she did not "choose" to write short stories, her stumble
into them is certainly a happy accident, because the short story
is the form that accords most exactly with the way she views the
world: as a collection of images....
that reveal something of the lives around them. Her single novel,
Lives of Girls and Women (1971), has the verisimilitude of her
stories but not their tight control, their sense that nothing
has been left out. This "novel" is no different in form from The
Beggar Maid, the collection of "linked stories" that came a few
years later; and yet the later book -- which covers far more emotional
ground than the novel, following a single character through ten
stories, from childhood to middle age -- is one of Munro's most
accomplished. It is as if Munro, nodding ruefully to her critics,
felt that she ought to write a novel, and once it was over with
she could shamelessly get back to what she does best. The shame
is that they are still trying to force it upon her.