At work I read short stories. Many of them. I try to keep it systematic: one story from one book and then move on to the next book. I made an exception the other day–I read two stories by David Foster Wallace. Exceptions must be made in such cases. When I get to Sixty Stories by Barthelme, I’ll probably read a couple instead of just one. Stories that are ultra short are ultra short for the same reason short poems are ultra short. But a good story often makes you want to read another good story in succession. Maybe poetry works the same way.
Anyway, here are some pouts of 140 characters (or less), reviewing said stories.
“Chekhov and Zulu” by Salman Rushdiein East, West (Vintage, 1994)
Review: THREE STARS
Star Trek-obsessed terrorists really know how to talk to audiences like they don’t exist. Just where does this story take place, and what is all the coded fuss saying?
“Entropy” by Thomas Pynchonin Slow Learner: Early Stories (Back Bay Books, 1985)
Review: FOUR STARS
Replace the cute jazz pacifism of Kerouac with writing detective, harmful: a wallop noticeable more for the smeary aftermath than the slumped crack opening.
“The Fasting Artist” by Franza Kafkain The Transformation and Other Stories (Penguin, 1995)
Review: TWO STARS
It’s still tough to find a good translation of this classic. Hunger doesn’t have to mean archaic language. Starvation doesn’t have to mean words let out to dry.
“The Sandbank Sage” by Jack Kerouacin Atop an Underwood: Early Stories and Other Writings (Penguin, 2000)
Review: THREE STARS
To get to know the Beats is to read them before they were Beats. Kerouac’s early work is an obvious quest-leg toward bop-prosody, but he hasn’t found his voice yet.
“Remains of the Night” by John McNallyin Who Can Save Us Now? (Free Press, 2008)
Review: TWO STARS
If you want to read about a faux-superhero/villain dejection called the Silverfish, check out this witty, disgusting, and highly blasé tale told by the bug’s butler.
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