The short story is my favorite form. I am feeling very blocked on this other stuff I’ve been working on (which means, anxious and not up to the task I set out for myself) so instead, I am going to write this sort of lame ass  post. I was perusing my bookshelves (which made me break out in a rash, I am allergic to dust) to make a nice goody bag for Larry–who won the “which 80s punk bands album titles” contest in the Ever review by my man– and I found this collection of stories and felt all warm inside. (It’s super, SUPER beat-up, Larry, that is why I did not send it to you.) Man, what a great collection.  All sorts of stuff.  Raymond Carver edited it with Tom Jenks (of Narrative Magazine, which we all know is not a favorite around here, but believe me, this collection rocks). Here are some (just some) of the authors and stories:

Richard Brautigan-1/3, 1/3, 1/3

Andre Dubus- The Fat Girl

Stanley Elkin- A Poetic for Bullies

Joy Williams- The Wedding

Jayne Anne Phillips- The Heavenly Animal

Leonard Michaels- The Murderers

Ursula K. Le Guin- Ile Forest

The last story I am going to mention is “Walking Out” by David Quammen. I think Quammen no longer writes fiction. This story burned a hole in my brain. For years, I tried to find more fiction by Quammen. All I can find is good non-fiction. But man, what a shame. I really wish he still wrote fiction. Anyone who has info on Quammen and the possibility that he still writes fiction, I’d love to hear.  Truly,  reading “Walking Out” was a formative thing for me. It made me go “I want to do this.” Also, this was published in 1987 and so it is missing TONS of things that have gone on in the past, uh, two decades. But it still is a great collection. I am so happy to see that it is still in print. Wow, I really REALLY don’t want to do any real work. I hate me.

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