Mike Niendorff
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Sat Jun-05-04 07:14 PM
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Seeking recommendations: collections of short stories |
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I'm looking for some good nightstand reading, in particular any short-story compilations that are dark, intelligent and exceedingly well-written. I've pretty much run through the authors I know, and I'm drawing a blank. Anyone have any ideas or recommendations?
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democracyindanger
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Sat Jun-05-04 07:48 PM
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Raymond Carver? "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" is a good collection. Consistently grim.
or
Roald Dahl--he of Willy Wonka fame. His short story collection is surprisingly dark, but looking at how he offed so many greedy kids in Wonka, I guess it's not that surprising.
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fishnfla
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Sat Jun-05-04 08:08 PM
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4. another vote for carver |
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there is a new book out by a guy, Berger, I believe, supposed to be pretty good, I'll track it down
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democracyindanger
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Sat Jun-05-04 08:14 PM
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5. The great thing about Carver |
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is that he puts the 'short' in 'short story'. My favorite is "Popular Mechanics," which is about 4 grafs long.
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Mike Niendorff
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Sat Jun-05-04 08:56 PM
Response to Reply #5 |
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I'm a big fan of brevity in writing. I even like my poems short (my favorite, if I had to pick one, is Langston Hughes' Motto -- all 8 lines of it :) ). It always amazes me how a good writer can say in 10 pages what a mediocre writer can't say in 100.
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Mike Niendorff
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Sat Jun-05-04 08:35 PM
Response to Reply #1 |
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Which is, of course, exactly what I was looking for :) I'll check it out when I go book shopping tomorrow.
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democracyindanger
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Sat Jun-05-04 08:42 PM
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9. Ooh--also, just remembered |
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"I Thought My Father Was God," an anthology edited by Paul Auster for the NPR National Story Project. 180 true stories by average people. I'll crib from the blurb:
"...Most of the stories are short, vivid bits of narrative...Some are funny, like the story of how a Ku Klux Klan member's beloved dog rushed out into the street during the annual KKK parade and unmasked his owner as the whole town looked on. Some are mysterious, like the story of a woman who watched a white chicken walk purposefully down a street in Portland, Oregon, hop up some porch steps, knock on the door--and calmly enter the house..."
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Bush_Eats_Beef
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Sat Jun-05-04 07:51 PM
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2. "The Simple Art Of Murder," by Raymond Chandler |
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http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0394757653/qid=1086482871/sr=1-12/ref=sr_1_12/103-3312311-0872609?v=glance&s=books"From Library Journal Chandler is not only the best writer of hardboiled PI stories, he's one of the 20th century's top scribes, period. His full canon of novels and short stories is reprinted in trade paper featuring uniform covers in Black Lizard's signature style. A handsome set for a reasonable price." "dark, intelligent and exceedingly well-written"...a good description of Chandler's work. :toast:
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DemoTex
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Sat Jun-05-04 07:54 PM
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" .. dark, intelligent and exceedingly well-written." That's Ms. O'Conner. Very dark, smarter than I, and as tight as a drum.
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Mike Niendorff
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Sat Jun-05-04 09:00 PM
Response to Reply #3 |
13. Another new name to me |
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Out of curiousity, does she have any particular topical genre she fits into (crime, horror, etc)?
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DemoTex
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Sat Jun-05-04 09:21 PM
Response to Reply #13 |
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O'Conner's short stories are classics. They were required reading in English 102 when I was there (1966). Racism and religion (particularly the dark notion of Flannery's Catholic salvation) are the main themes. Strong themes, too. There is always the ubiquitous dark line of trees against a bright sky (O'Conner's moral inflexibility, perhaps). Read "Three" by Flannery O'Conner, a good starting place.
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Mike Niendorff
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Sat Jun-05-04 10:16 PM
Response to Reply #15 |
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We engineering students mostly got the crash course in lit, I'm afraid ... but I can draw up a mean Bode plot :)
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kiahzero
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Sat Jun-05-04 11:03 PM
Response to Reply #3 |
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Christian Existentialism... I had to read "The Violent Bear It Away" for English class. Easily one of the worst books I've ever had to read for a class; I'm pretty sure only Wuthering Heights was worse.
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buycitgo
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Sat Jun-05-04 11:21 PM
Response to Reply #3 |
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see the movie Wise Blood, too, if it's available
John Huston's last, I think
main character prosletyzes for the "Church of Jesus Christ Without Jesus Christ"
etc
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KittyWampus
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Sat Jun-05-04 08:16 PM
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6. Honore de Balzac's Droll Stories |
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short, well written and slightly risque stories.
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DemoTex
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Sat Jun-05-04 08:32 PM
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7. If you like the Vietnam genre ... |
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Try the short stories of Tim O'Brien, particularly The Things They Carried, which - if I remember correctly - is a compendium of his short stories on that subject. Also check out Tobias Wolff. I have seen his short stories in Granta, and he has a great little novel called In Pharaoh's Army.
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kiahzero
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Sat Jun-05-04 08:49 PM
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10. Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman |
eyesroll
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Sat Jun-05-04 08:50 PM
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11. I've got an enormous anthology of Philip K. Dick, and another of Harlan |
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Ellison -- both make good reading, if you like scifi.
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Mike Niendorff
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Sat Jun-05-04 09:05 PM
Response to Reply #11 |
14. I've been thinking of checking into Philip Dick |
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Edited on Sat Jun-05-04 09:11 PM by Mike Niendorff
I thumbed through one of his books of short stories last time I was at B&N (can't remember the specific title offhand), and I've heard *tons* of good comments on him over the years, but I just haven't broken down and picked one of his books up yet. Definitely one I'll be checking into.
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Mayberry Machiavelli
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Sat Jun-05-04 10:19 PM
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17. Clive Barker's "Books of Blood". I'm serious. If you don't mind the |
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macabre. These stories are extremely well written and clever.
If you go in for that sort of thing, an early Stephen King ("Nightshift") is also good, uneven but some really high notes.
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Fenris
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Sat Jun-05-04 11:05 PM
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19. The collected short stories of Guy de Maupassant |
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Also, if you really want dark, try "The Acid House" by Irvine Welsh.
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tigereye
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Sat Jun-05-04 11:12 PM
Response to Reply #19 |
20. shorts by Ethan Canin |
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he is really good.
Can't beat early Updike.
Also Issac Babel.
Lori Moore, as well.
Short stories are great.
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