Entertainment For Lively Minds
Short stories
One thing I have learned from reading the Word blog takeover each month is that I no longer have the spare time to read anywhere near the number of books I used to read. Excepting holiday time or business trips I rarely have the time to read more than one book per month.
I think I might try short stories. I particularly love the Raymond Carver short stories and also Bukowski too. It enables me to dip in and out when I have free time rather than read a chapter of a novel and struggle to remember the storyline when I return to it a couple of weeks later. Also remember some sci fi short stories that I really enjoyed but can't recall whether they were Philip K.Dick or Robert Heinlein.
Anyone point me in the right direction of a good collection of short stories?
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I loved
No-one Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July and I like Carver. She's young and hip, but funny and touching too.
Me too
I adore that book. Her art is pretty nifty too.
The collected short stories of Roald Dahl...
If you haven't read them already then you're in for a treat.
I remember reading some of these
many years ago that tied in with the 'sting in the tail' TV series - you are right, these are exactly the kind of thing I was thinking about. Thanks Patrick.
Joseph Conrad
He's a much neglected author these days and his style can be difficult to get into over a full length novel. But his short stories are great and this is a fantastic value introduction: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Selected-Short-Stories-Wordsworth-Classics/dp/18... (other book retailers are available)
My recommendations;
would include;
The master - John Updike
Carver's good pal - Tobias Wollf
Canadian - Alice Munro
From Ireland - William Trveor, Colm Toibin and, of course, Mr Joyce
More stateside Ann Beattie, Lorrie Moore, John Cheever
but Updike's the man for me.
Kurt Vonnegut
Welcome To The Monkey House
Ray Bradbury - Dandelion Wine. It's sold as a novel but is really a collection of intertwining short stories. Any Ray Bradbury short story collection is great though!
You could try
The Fat Man in History - Peter Carey
In Between the Sheets - Ian McEwan
The Orangeing of America - Max Apple (hard to find)
Barcelona Plates - Alexei Sayle
or not really short stories but reliably hilarious:
The Most of SJ Perelman
Two Americans
T.C. Boyle and Jim Shepard
One People - Guy Kennaway
Absolutely loved this book - interwoven stories set in rural Jamaica.
That sounds interesting
I remember reading the V.S.Naipaul short stories from his native Trinidad.
The Irish...
...are the monarchs of the short story form. William Trevor and Colm Toibin have already been mentioned, but you should also check out Claire Keegan. Her work is awesome. Helen Simpson is probably the most feted current English short story writer, but David Constantine and Jon McGregor are also very good.
A good way of finding new writers is to browse through Granta, and also there are often short story competitions -- the best of those are usually published as an anthology. As an example, the BBC National Short Story Award 2010 contains stories by Constantine and McGregor as well as three other shortlisted authors -- all good.
Granta
An excellent source of good writing, not just short stories, but also reportage and photography.Perfect for those of us who increasingly struggle to find the time and commitment for anything longer.
As a long term reader my only frustration is that the subscription service is a shambles. It's rare I don't receive more than one copy of each quarterly edition.
Currently have two spare copies of Granta 113 free to good homes;
Mail if interested.
Try Sayle
Barcelona Plates or The Dog Catcher by Alexis Sayle, both contain some quite brilliant short stories. I can't recommend them highly enough, I'd go for The Dog Catcher first, but both are excellent.
I like a bit of...
...crime/suspense/chills. So:
Any collection of M.R. James's ghost stories.
G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown stories. (If you have a Kindle, you can get them all for something like a farthing.)
The Sherlock Holmes stories are bliss.
And I'm actually a huge fan of Stephen King's short stories. He seems to be more revered for his enormo-novels, but pick up a collection like 'Skeleton Crew' and you're in for plenty of pleasurable shudders.
Moving into more 'classic' territory: James Joyce's 'Dubliners'. His best book, I reckon...
Stephen King
I am a fan of his short stories too but don't think I have read Skeleton Crew so that might have to go on the list. Am sold on Alexi Sayle too from the comments on here.
I was also thinking of 'Twilight Zone' type stories which I guess would fall under the sci-fi umbrella - what I would term human sci-fi as opposed to Alien lifeform sci-fi - if anyone has any suggestions.
Quality Sci-fi
Bruce Sterling - writer of great novels - also edited "Mirrorshades" which is a really interesting anthology of cyberpunk sci-fi. I would also recommend a collection of his own work called "Visionary in Residence."
3 classics from early 20th century
Saki - quite a modern-taste line in black humour
Somerset Maugham - cited by George Orwell as his greatest modern influence, and with a life story which stretches credibility (eg in effect inventing James Bond before Ian Fleming, being a real spy, writing Hollywood blockbusters)
Neil Munro - his Para Handy stories are a delight, and probably my choice of Desert Island book
All of them probably require sparing reading - not too many at once!
Chekhov
Damn fine short stories there. Pretty much any of them are great. A Chekhov collection is a thing of joy.
Staying with the Russians "Diary Of A Madman" by Gogol is wonderful.
Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges. Masterpiece in every way.
PG Wodehouse has quite a few short story collections. Young Men In Spats is great, as is The Inimitable Jeeves.
My GLW rather likes The Collected Dorothy Parker.
Frank O´Connor
was one of the greatest and if you don´t believe me , try:
My Oedipus Complex
The Majesty of the Law
Guests of the Nation
My Oedipus Complex
...And Other stories is brilliant. Particularly The Genius.
Daphne du Maurier wrote some stunning short stories, a couple of which became 'The Birds' and 'Don't Look Now'
One other vote
for William Trevor - a true modern master of the form, his collected short stories is a work of art. Have also mentioned before, on another thread, Good Evening Mrs Craven, the wartme stories of Mollie Panter Downes. Finally, would also recommend London Pub Reviews, a slightly unhinged yet funny series of short tales set in real London pubs, Paul Ewen is the author.
Flannery O'Connor
and
Laurie Moore
Michael Marshall Smith
If you like sci-fi and/or Stephen King, then Michael Marshall Smith's collecttion, What You Make It is perfect for you. All the stories are wildly imaginative and some are genuninely creepy; a number showcase his talent for combining humour with the darkness. Not to mention his obsession with cats. I regularly return to this one if I fancy a quick MMS hit.
Seconded
Was just scrolling down to recommend this - wasn't expecting someone to have got there first!
from me, you can't go wrong with
James Joyce - Dubliners
Nabokov - Collected Short Stories
Martin Amis - Heavy Water
Je would suggest
Guy de Maupassant, un maitre de l'arte. Or something.
And another thumbs aloft for MR James' G-G-Ghost Stories, they really are chilling.
I love short stories - some of my favourite collections are
Lorrie Moore's Collected Stories
Angela Carter - The Bloody Chamber
David Leavitt's Collected Stories