Short Stories Books - Page 12

The Story and Its Writer

Ann Charters

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Course Book I Actually Want to Keep Reading 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.

This compilation of short stories was used for my Intro. to the Short Story college course. Our professor only picked out certain stories but I found myself reading unassigned stories myself. Some of these stories are wonderful. My favorite was "The Widow's Son" by Mary Lavin. Some other noteworthy stories: "Hills Like White Elephants" Hemingway, "Girl" by J. Kincaid. Too many more to list, a course book I am actually keeping so I can finish reading it. Usually I can't wait to close them after the course and not see them anymore! :)

Editorial Review:

During her many years of teaching introduction to fiction courses, Ann Charters developed an acute sense of which stories work most effectively in the classroom. She also discovered that writers, not editors, have the most interesting and useful things to say about the making and the meaning of fiction. Accordingly, her choice of fiction in the first edition of her The Story and Its Writer was as notable for its student appeal as it was for its quality and range. And to complement these stories, she introduced a lasting innovation: an array of the writers' own commentaries on the craft and traditions of the short story. In subsequent editions her sense of what works was confirmed as the book evolved into the most comprehensive, diverse -- and bestselling -- introduction to fiction anthology. Instructors rely on Ann Charters' ability to assemble an authoritative and teachable anthology, and anticipate each edition's selection of new writers and stories.

Franny and Zooey

J.D. Salinger

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 223 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Fun Fanaticism 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

It was always a little embarrassing to admit that I hadn't read Franny and Zooey. In the literary world, I guess it's kind of the equivalent of a beauty queen admitting she wears dentures. Somewhere in between that admission and the other one (that I found `Catcher in the Rye' tolerably okay but not a masterpiece) those who saw me in equal standing begin to hee and haw and slap their knees from mirth over my taste--as if I drink sherry to get drunk (I do).

Well, now this lack is no longer a flaw to lug with me to the next book club meeting. I am properly initiated into the J.D. Salinger fan club. I loved Franny and Zooey. I loved Franny's entrance, her run-on letters to her lover, her ever so innocent religious fanaticism. I loved Zooey's interaction with Mrs. Glass, loved Zooey taking a bath, Franny's fragile breakdown, and Zooey's marvelous intentions and ultimate belief that no matter how tiny or clownish we are, we are all the "children of man."

The way it was put together, however sliced in interims, was hemmed with incredible talent. It was put together so elegantly, so mired in everyday dialogue, that I'll have to read it again to really get all the twists and turns and subtle metaphors that Salinger laid out like kitchen towels on the blank countertops of the un-inked page.

Editorial Review:

The author writes: Franny came out in The New Yorker

Borges: Collected Fictions

Jorge Luis Borges

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 67 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The New York Times bestseller, "a marvelous new collection of stories by . . . one of the most remarkable writers of our century" --Richard Bernstein, The New York Times

Jorge Luis Borges has been called the greatest Spanish-language writer of our century. Now for the first time in English, all of Borges' dazzling fictions are gathered into a single volume, brilliantly translated by Andrew Hurley. From his 1935 debut with The Universal History of Iniquity, through his immensely influential collections Ficciones and The Aleph, these enigmatic, elaborate, imaginative inventions display Borges' talent for turning fiction on its head by playing with form and genre and toying with language. Together these incomparable works comprise the perfect one-volume compendium for all those who have long loved Borges, and a superb introduction to the master's work for those who have yet to discover this singular genius.

* Exquisitely packaged edition with French flaps and rough front, quality paper stock
* Named a Notable Book by the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and the American Library Association

"An unparalleled treasury of marvels." --Chicago Tribune

"An event worthy of celebration . . . Hurley deserves our enthusiastic praise for this monumental piece of work." --San Francisco Chronicle

Personal Demon (Women of the Otherworld, Book 8)

Kelley Armstrong

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 50 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In her acclaimed Women of the Otherworld series, Kelley Armstrong has created a scintillating realm where the supernatural and the human coexist on the edge of darkness, romance, and eternity. Now Armstrong tells the captivating tale of a young woman with an insatiable lust for danger. She can’t help it. It’s in her blood.

Tabloid reporter Hope Adams appears to live the life of an ordinary working girl. But in addition to possessing the beauty of a Bollywood princess, Hope has other unique traits. For she is a half demon—a human fathered by a demon. And she’s inherited a hunger for chaos. Naturally, when she’s chosen by a very dangerous group for a very dangerous mission that will take her through Miami’s hot spots, she jumps at the chance. But Hope is a little too good at this job. And soon she’s in a little too deep. To save herself, she’ll have to unleash her most primal instincts—and open herself, mind and body, to everything she most fears . . . and desires.

In This Mountain (The Mitford Years, Book 7)

Jan Karon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 100 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Uplifting 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have read all of the Mitford Years books, and have found this one
just as entertaining and uplifting as all the rest. It is spiritual
without being "preachy", with a strength and gentleness that renews
ones faith in her fellow man.

As expected 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is a great "next chapter" to the series. If you've read the others you'll love this too.

Take Heart, God walks with you through Depression! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

As a pastor I enjoy reading the Mitford series. I can relate to lots of the things that Father Tim deals with. This book spoke directly to my heart. Retirement is not something that Pastors look forward to, at least not the ones I know. A good pastor / missionary / evangelist never retires from doing the Lord's work.

But what caught me here was the fact that even Pastor's can struggle with some discouragment and depression. I have struggled for the last two years with some depression after being moved from one position to another. It has been difficult. Sometimes I wondered where God was.

I like Father Timothy kept opening my Bible looking for the right verse that would speak to my heart. So, as I read this book I totally related.

I would hope that as you read it you will come to understand that Pastors are just as human as everyone else. We deal with the same issues that laypeople deal with.

God is there and is walking with us through every part of our lives. You just might not see him clearly right now. But hold on tight, He is there and He loves you and will help you find the other side of depression and bring you Joy in the morning.

Thank you Jan for writing a truly heart felt book.

Editorial Review:

IN THIS MOUNTAIN finds Father Time and Cynthia again living in Mitford, following their stint on Whitecap Island a few years ago. Newly retired, Father Tim realises he dislikes change. Bored sitting at home trying to write a book of essays, while Cynthia is winning awards and receiving invites to tour the country, he decides to take on a unique and difficult ministry. However, an unexpected event propels him on a painful journey that shakes his faith, his marriage and the whole town of Mitford...

Welcome to the Monkey House

Kurt Vonnegut

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 78 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

embarassing at times 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I was surprised at how bad some of these are. Definitely not his best. A story like "Who Am I This Time?" is dull, contrived, and when you come down to it, kind of cornball.

Glen Williamson performs two of these stories as a play 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Glen Williamson (Google him) has been performing two of these stories for years as a one-man play: "Who Am I This Time?" and "The Kid Nobody Could Handle."

"Cheers and congratulations again! Your performance Tuesday evening was truly extraordinary. I feel so fortunate to have been there. I called Kurt [Vonnegut] the next morning and raved about you - then wrote him a note and raved some more."
--Sally Forbes, Executive Director, The Beaux Arts Alliance, New York, NY

"It was so good to see your [Vonnegut] show, which I enjoyed enormously. The stories were delightful. There was a thread running through both stories - the oddball characters, and the need for imagination to give them their place in the community. I loved your characterizations, and was bubbling with mirth at the end of the "Romeo and Juliet" piece, as was the rest of the audience."
-- Andrew Floyd
Stroud, England

"I attended [The Kid Nobody Could Handle and Who Am I This Time?] with sixth, seventh, eighth graders from both Waldorf and public schools. The children were captivated. The plots and characters seemed to speak to them profoundly. Glen is a very skilled actor. He brought the characters to life beautifully, fleshing out the unique details and idiosyncrasies of each so that we all felt like we knew them well. He is a flexible, versatile actor able to portray an incredible range of characters. It was powerful and memorable.

You could hear a pin drop in that auditorium...and that's saying something for middle school kids."
-- Jill Wolcott
Lake Champlain Waldorf School
Shelburne, Vermont

Editorial Review:

This collection of Vonnegut's short masterpieces share his audacious sense of humor and extraordinary creative vision.

The Known World

Edward P. Jones

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Total reviews: 296 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Henry Townsend, a black farmer, bootmaker, and former slave, has a fondness for Paradise Lost and an unusual mentor -- William Robbins, perhaps the most powerful man in antebellum Virginia's Manchester County. Under Robbins's tutelage, Henry becomes proprietor of his own plantation -- as well as of his own slaves. When he dies, his widow, Caldonia, succumbs to profound grief, and things begin to fall apart at their plantation: slaves take to escaping under the cover of night, and families who had once found love beneath the weight of slavery begin to betray one another. Beyond the Townsend estate, the known world also unravels: low-paid white patrollers stand watch as slave "speculators" sell free black people into slavery, and rumors of slave rebellions set white families against slaves who have served them for years.

An ambitious, luminously written novel that ranges seamlessly between the past and future and back again to the present, The Known World weaves together the lives of freed and enslaved blacks, whites, and Indians -- and allows all of us a deeper understanding of the enduring multidimensional world created by the institution of slavery.

Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories

Tobias Wolff

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Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

“One of our most exquisite storytellers” (Esquire) gives us his first collection in over a decade: ten potent new stories that, along with twenty-one classics, display his mastery over a quarter century.

Tobias Wolff’s first two books, In the Garden of the North American Martyrs and Back in the World, were a powerful demonstration of how the short story can “provoke our amazed appreciation,” as The New York Times Book Review wrote then. In the years since, he’s written a third collection, The Night in Question, as well as a pair of genre-defining memoirs (This Boy’s Life and In Pharaoh’s Army), the novella The Barracks Thief, and, most recently, a novel, Old School.

Now he returns with fresh revelations—about biding one’s time, or experiencing first love, or burying one’s mother—that come to a variety of characters in circumstances at once everyday and extraordinary: a retired Marine enrolled in college while her son trains for Iraq, a lawyer taking a difficult deposition, an American in Rome indulging the Gypsy who’s picked his pocket. In these stories, as with his earlier, much-anthologized work, he once again proves himself, according to the Los Angeles Times, “a writer of the highest order: part storyteller, part philosopher, someone deeply engaged in asking hard questions that take a lifetime to resolve.”

In Our Time

Ernest Hemingway

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Total reviews: 50 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

THIS COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES AND VIGNETTES MARKED ERNEST HEMINGWAY'S AMERICAN DEBUT AND MADE HIM FAMOUS

When In Our Time was published in 1925, it was praised by Ford Madox Ford, John Dos Passos, and F. Scott Fitzgerald for its simple and precise use of language to convey a wide range of complex emotions, and it earned Hemingway a place beside Sherwood Anderson and Gertrude Stein among the most promising American writers of that period. In Our Time contains several early Hemingway classics, including the famous Nick Adams stories "Indian Camp," "The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife," "The Three Day Blow," and "The Battler," and introduces readers to the hallmarks of the Hemingway style: a lean, tough prose -- enlivened by an car for the colloquial and an eye for the realistic that suggests, through the simplest of statements, a sense of moral value and a clarity of heart.

Now recognized as one of the most original short story collections in twentieth-century literature, In Our Time provides a key to Hemingway's later works.