short story

Fifty Great Short Stories
$6.99
This is a good anthology for those who love to read but never get the time to read an entire novel or lengthy short story. It has some very nice pieces in it and a fair variety. For a quick read, a book to throw in your bag on the way to the doctor's office, or for someone wanting to renew their interest in the short story, I would recommend this.

The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition
$22.00
I have read most of the big Hemingway novels-- For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Sun Also Rises (my favorite), The Old Man and The Sea. I had limited exposure to the short stories, having only read "The Short Happy Life of Frances Macomber" and "The Snows of Kilimanjaro". Honestly, I didn't like those two very much-- they seemed to distill the elements of Hemingway's prose of which I am least fond. I decided to buy this book since I have been spending more time lately on the structure of the short story-- and Hemingway is a master of prose.

I am actually glad that I read the whole collection. It is a pretty big pill to swallow, and there were moments when I got a little bit tired of it. But to read all of his short stories gives a much more nuanced sense of his approach to topics like blood sports, war, and masculinity then you get from just reading the handful of famous stories. I liked him and his narrative voice much better for reading the whole thing. My favorites were some of the smaller pieces midway through the volume: "The Killers" and "A Day's Wait" were personal favorites, for example.

If you have an interest in Hemingway and would like to read further in his work than just the major novels, then I would certainly recommend the collection.

The Oxford Book of American Short Stories
$19.95
Short story anthologies may be the easiest and best way to undertake a quick scan of the scale and varieties of our national literature. Still, most collections have not only the same authors but the same stories, over and over. Oates self-consciously set out to be a little different: she chooses many stories and a few authors who often do not get much "air time." Still, the selections are first rate even if not first run. Her introductions are good but a tad personal and very short so do not expect much biographic or historical context. In brief, if you already own one collection, this one will not be disappointing or redundant.

The Best American Short Stories 2007
$14.00
I had been a regular reader of the "Best American Short Stories" collections for years, until I finally decided that I was reading these stories more out of a force of habit than out of real interest. The stories were well written and all, but they lacked almost any imagination or spontaneity, and was very hard to relate to either the characters or the plot lines. This has been a trend in American writing for some time, where stories are all products of the same fiction workshop mentality. Even though they are written by vastly different writers and deal with distinct issues, just like the cafeteria food it all starts to taste the same after a while. With that in mind I was rather hopeful that for 2007 the editor of the collection was Stephen King, someone well outside of the academic fiction mainstream. I was hoping that his predilection for weird and unusual stories would shake up the short fiction scene, and infuse some freshness and rawness to this genre. However, to my dismay, this collection ended up being more or less the same as all of the previous ones. For the most part. There were a few stories that stuck out with their innovativeness and freshness, but for the most part writing, although stylistically impeccable, was uninteresting and dry. There were an unusual number of stories that deal with death and aging, and this might be what's on King's mind a lot these days. Or it might be the general property of American short fiction these days, and one might be tempted to read a lot into it, but that would make for a very boring story. The collection even contains a story about the unhappy life of a college professor - this theme, in my humble opinion, is by far the most overrated in all of literature. Lives of American college faculty are excruciatingly boring - and I say that as one of them. Sure, we do have a fair share of troubles and tribulations, but these are so insular and irrelevant to the world at large that it's hard to imagine anyone caring very deeply about them.

As I said, the writing in these stories is impeccable and of rather high quality - indeed, probably the best that English language has to offer. If that is all you care about, then the stories in this collection are well worth the effort and time invested in reading them. I myself will probably go back to getting the subsequent editions of the "Best American Short Stories." However, if you want interesting stories that will keep you glued to the printed page and fascinated with their content, then you will have to look around on your own. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any reliable guide to direct you in that pursuit.