Stories 75
Short Masterpieces Bantam Books; ISBN: 0553251414; Paperback Reissue edition (August 1996) Stories that span the world and the centuries by Boccaccio, Hawthorne, Dostoevsky, Poe, Saroyan, Steinbeck, and Bradbury. The fiction in this volume represents the finest accomplishments in a difficult and special art form. Each creates a microcosm in which the very compactness of the story gives it power and emotional impact much more dramatic than could have been achieved in a longer or more explicit work.
The
Collected Stories of William Carlos
Williams New Directions ; ISBN: 0811213285; Paperback Reprint edition (October 1996) New Directions has long published poet William Carlos Williams' entire body of short fiction as The Farmers' Daughters (1961). This new edition of The Collected Stories of William Carlos Williams contains all fifty-two stories combining the early collections The Knife of the Times (1932), Life Along the Passaic (1938) with the later collection Make Light of It (1950) and the great long story, "The Farmers' Daughters" (1956). When these stories first appeared, their vitality and immediacy shocked many readers, as did the blunt, idiosyncratic speech of Williams' immigrant and working-class characters. But the passage of time has silenced the detractors, and what shines in the best of these stories is the unflinching honesty and deep humanity of Williams' portraits, burnished by the seeming artlessness which only the greatest masters command.
Flash
Fiction W.W. Norton & Company; ISBN: 0393308839; Paperback - 224 pages (July 1992) How short can a story be and still truly be a story? This volume of 72 very short fictions, none more than 750 words in length, demonstrates that less can be more. Here are short pieces by masters such as Raymond Carver, Margaret Atwood, and Tim O'Brien, as well as fiction by newer talents.
God
Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian Seven Stories Press; ISBN: 1583220208; Hardcover - 79 pages (January 2000) "My first near-death experience was an accident, a botched anesthesia during a triple-bypass," Vonnegut writes at the outset of this comical fictional adventure, a flirtation not with death so much as with our very aversion to it. In God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian, Vonnegut skips back and forth between life and afterlife as if the difference between them were rather slight. All the qualities that make Kurt Vonnegut an inimitable voice - his irreverence, humor, love of humanity, and power to make readers stop and think - permeate this book of vignettes. In 30-plus "interviews" with such late luminaries as Sir Isaac Newton, Clarence Darrow, William Shakespeare, and Kilgore Trout, Vonnegut paints an afterlife filled with characters of great dignity and wit who made their unique contributions by simply being who they were. His "lesser-known" heroes include a man who died of a heart attack rescuing his schnauzer from a pit bull.
John
Lennon in His Own Write Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 0684868075; Hardcover - 96 pages (October 2000) Hysterical, Joycean word-play from "the writing Beatle." Says he: "I was bored on the 9th of Octover 1940 when, I believe, the Nasties were still booming us led by Madolf Heatlump (who only had one). Anyway they didn't get me. I attended to varicous schools in Liddypol. And still didn't pass -- much to my Aunties supplies. As a member of the most publified Beatles my (P, G, and R's) records might seem funnier to some of you than this book, but as far as I'm conceived this correction of short writty is the most wonderfoul larf I've every ready. God help and breed you all."
Micro
Fiction: An Anthology of Really Short
Stories W.W. Norton & Company; ISBN: 0393314324; Paperback (August 1996) In 1986, Jerome Stern, director of the writing program at Florida State, initiated the World's Best Short Short Story Contest. Stories were to be about 250 words long; first prize was a check and a crate of oranges. Two to three thousand stories began to show up annually, and National Public Radio regularly broadcast the winner. This anthology presents a decade of contest winners and selected finalists. In addition, Stern commissioned Micros, persuading a roster of writers -- including Sam Shepard and Stuart Dybek -- to accept the challenge of completing a story in one page.
Short
Shorts : An Anthology of the Shortest
Stories Bantam Books; ISBN: 0553274406; Paperback Reissue edition (April 1999) A delightful anthology of miniature masterpieces: 38 brief, brilliant flashes of fiction, both classic and contemporary, from authors around the world. With a very informative introduction by Irving Howe.
Sudden
Fiction Gibbs Smith Publisher; ISBN: 0879052651; Paperback Reprint edition (March 1987) If you can get only one of these books, this is the one to have. A wonderful collection of 70 American short short stories by such authors as Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Carver, John Updike, Grace Paley, Tennessee Williams, Langston Hughes, Tobias Wolff, Joyce Carol Oates, Stuart Dybek, Leonard Michaels, T. C. Boyle, and Bernard Malamud. As if that weren't enough, the Afterwords section features 40 of America's finest writers commenting on the short-short form.
Sudden
Fiction (Continued): 60 New Short-Short
Stories W.W. Norton & Company; ISBN: 0393313425; Paperback (September 1996) Collected from nearly two hundred international magazines, well-known writers, including William Maxwell, Margaret Atwood, Don DeLillo, and Mark Richard, join lesser-known writers, such as Molly Giles, Andrew Lam, Judy Troy--who will be (or should be) better known--in this stellar collection of 60 short-shorts--serious writing that's fun to read.
The
Voice Imitator Univ of Chicago Pr (Trd); ISBN: 0226044025; Paperback - 104 pages (September 1998) Austrian playwright, novelist, and poet Thomas Bernhard (1931-1989) gives us one of his most darkly comic works. A series of 104 parable-like anecdotes--some drawn from newspaper reports, some from conversation, some even from hearsay--this satire portrays an ordinary world careening into absurdity and disaster. Excerpts are available on line at http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/044017.html
The
World's Shortest Stories Running Pr; ISBN: 0762403004; Paperback - 238 pages (February 1998) Imagine O. Henry's tales if he'd only had the back of a business card to write upon. Imagine "The Twilight Zone" if it were only a minute long. That's the challenge laid down by Steve Moss and his "55 Fiction" contest, and here are the engaging results. No story here is longer than 55 words. Think you can do it? The book includes rules and information for entering the contest.
The
World's Shortest Stories of Love and
Death Running Pr; ISBN: 0762406984; Paperback - 224 pages (March 2000) More "55 Fiction" in this follow-up to the immensly popular "The World's Shortest Stories," with contributions from Charles M. Schulz and Norman Lear.
Reference The
Art of Fiction Penguin USA (Paper); ISBN: 0140174923; Paperback Reprint edition (July 1994) From Jane Austen to Paul Auster, irony to magical realism, the novelist's art is revealed in an entertaining and enlightening book for readers and writers. Here are 50 of David Lodge's articles from the acclaimed series that engaged and delighted readers of The Washington Post and the London Independent.
Building
Better Plots Writers Digest Books; ISBN: 0898799031; Hardcover - 272 pages (April 1999) For most writers, creating strong plots is one of the most challenging aspects of narrative. This essential guide gives writers the instruction they need to analyze their work, while introducing them to the tools necessary to write better plots from the outset. From arc and conflict to climax and resolution, Kernen covers the basics of plot, illustrating how they function together with examples from popular movies and novels. As writers build on their plotting skills, Kernen addresses more elaborate dramatic devices, including frames and nonlinear structures. Plot ideas are featured throughout to help writers expand their creativity and go beyond traditional plotting formulas. Best of all, this guide's modular sections make it easy for more advanced writers to troubleshoot specific plotting dilemmas at a glance.
Fast
Fiction: Creating Fiction in Five
Minutes Story Pr; ISBN: 1884910270; Hardcover - 208 pages 1 Ed edition (June 1997) The first book I've found that specifically addresses the writing of short shorts. Gather your writing utensils, set the timer to five minutes, and write a short short story. Do not think. Do not judge. Just write. You'll be amazed with what you come up with. The rest, says Roberta Allen, is merely a matter of rewriting and refining. There's something very appealing about the short short form. As in poetry, every word and punctuation mark counts. Your characters' histories have to be delivered, if at all, with just a sliver of language. The form is elegant in the way a mathematical proof can be elegant--beautiful and economical--and the examples Allen uses, from the works of Anton Chekhov, Carolyn Forché, Mark Strand, and others, are sublime. The center section of the book comprises a nice selection of exercises to get you started. One involves writing stories from photographs; another has you choose one item from a list (such as "a broken promise," "something that was stolen," "a party," "something that hasn't happened yet," "a child," and "a secret") and write a story about it.
Fiction
Writer's Workshop Writers Digest Books; ISBN: 1884910394; Paperback - 250 pages (February 1998) This book exemplifies the best of a writing workshop -- thought-provoking instruction, intriguing assignments, a charismatic teacher, and illuminating examples from classic and contemporary literature. At the same time, it offers you the freedom to work the way most writers work best -- on your own. More than 100 writing exercises coupled with self-critique questions help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your work as you develop your own unique voice.
Making
Shapely Fiction W.W. Norton & Company; ISBN: 039332124X; Paperback - 288 pages (Nov. 2000) From the editor of Micro Fiction. This book is different from other books on writing. You can start writing serious fiction from the first page -- because, as Jerome Stern makes clear, learning to write spontaneously is the first step to writing well. As you begin to grasp the principle of momentum, tension and immediacy, you'll find your fiction has shape and form. You'll discover how to "write what you know," and avoid the traps and pitfalls awaiting fledgeling authors. A cross-referenced Alphabet for Writers includes incisive entries for such writerly concerns as Anti-Heroes, Dialogue, Sex, and Style. Whether you're a beginner, a seasoned professional, or a teacher of the craft, you already know there are no rules in writing ficton . . .but Stern will inspire you to find your personal path.
One
Continuous Mistake: Four Noble Truths for
Writers Arkana; ISBN: 0140195874; Paperback - 224 pages (April 1999) Based on the Zen philosophy that we learn more from our failures than from our successes, One Continuous Mistake teaches a refreshing new method for writing as spiritual practice. In this unique guide for writers of all levels, Gail Sher -- a poet who is also a widely respected teacher of creative writing -- combines the inspirational value of Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way" with the spiritual focus of "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind." Here she introduces a method of discipline that applies specific Zen practices to enhance and clarify creative work. She also discusses bodily postures that support writing, how to set up the appropriate writing regimen, and how to discover one's own "learning personality." I have her "Four Noble Truths" hanging near my desk.
Turning
Life into Fiction Story Pr; ISBN: 1884910378; Paperback - 208 pages (September 1997) Creative writing professor Robin Hemley shows writers how to turn journal entries into fiction; find good story material within themselves; identify the memories ripest for development; take license with fact; gain psychic distance from personal experience; distinguish between memoir and fiction, and more.
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