I hit something of a milestone this week: I have just 3 pages left in my short story journal (where I record each day’s story), and so I am moving on to a new blank journal this week, in order to keep complete weeks intact. It’s very satisfying to hold the finished journal in my hand. I think it might the very first time I’ve ever filled every page in a blank journal. Now on to Volume 2.

Besides the unpublished story I had to read and critique for my writing class, this was my reading for the week:

“Indulgence”, by Susan Perabo, in One Story – I love the way the author uses smoking as a way to move us through the story of a woman who learns that her mother has brain cancer. I admire the use of humor to alleviate the bleakness.

“My Mother’s Gifts,” Judith Claire Mitchell, from What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter. We read this story in a writing class. It’s short, but completely knocked me out with its precise use of language and imagery.

“Second Skin” by AJ Fitzwater in Crossed Genres (online magazine). I’m making a deliberate effort to read a diverse selection of short fiction, even when it’s somewhat outside of my comfort zone. Crossed Genres magazine has an interesting premise: each month the editors choose a theme and submissions must combine that genre with some elements of science fiction or fantasy. This month’s magazine features the theme “She,” and Second Skin is an examination of what makes a person male or female. It has a steampunk feel, and I enjoyed it.

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates. Wow. I’ve read very little Oates, and only novels, and she is not my favorite author. But this is the story that put her on the map, and deservedly so. Originally published in Epoch, then in Best American Short Stories 1967, it now appears in Oates’ collection titled Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?: Selected Early Stories. Wow. It’s creepy, filled with tension, and extremely vivid. I discovered later that it was the basis for the  1985 film Smooth Talk starring Laura Dern. I’m tempted to watch, although it appears that the filmmakers do not stay true to Oates’ ending.

“The Chemistry of Objects,” by Amber Sparks, from May We Shed These Human Bodies. I can’t tell you how much I love this collection. The stories are short, each one is different from the next, and they all make me think. You can read this story online, but put the book on your reading list.

“A Telephone Call,” Dorothy Parker. I read this story in Points of View, a collection of stories that focuses on the various narrative structures used in short fiction. This first story is an example of “interior monologue,” which the book points out is tough to sustain for very long. After reading this story, I agree. It’s interesting, but started to wear on me after a bit. Still, the story is quite effective told in this way. You can find the story online (it’s a classic), but you may get a kick out of this performance by Tallulah Bankhead.

I’m off to Booktopia in Bellingham, Washington this week, where I will pepper our authors with questions about short stories and read mostly flash fiction. I’ve got something fun cooked up for next week, though, so stay tuned.

At Books on the Nightstand, we’re dubbing 2013 “The Year of the Short Story.” In celebration, Ann is reading one story a day, for the entire year. We’ll also be highlighting new story collections, lit magazines, and online resources for short fiction. Below are links to all of our posts tagged “Project Short Story”

First, I’d like to publicly thank three brave souls, Xtian Paula, Callie LaFleur, and Toni Clark, who were brave enough to post or link to their list stories inspired by the May read-along. Well done, and thank you for playing along! I enjoyed all of the stories very much.

So now on to June.

James Salter has just published his first novel in more than 30 years, All That Is, to glorious reviews and major profiles.

So I think it’s time that we read a classic Salter story: “Last Night.” It’s one of my favorite short stories.

The story appears in Salter’s collection, Last Night: Stories.

At Books on the Nightstand, we’re dubbing 2013 “The Year of the Short Story.” In celebration, Ann is reading one story a day, for the entire year. We’ll also be highlighting new story collections, lit magazines, and online resources for short fiction. Below are links to all of our posts tagged “Project Short Story”

I’ve been traveling a lot lately, and I confess that I have had a few days where I have completely forgotten about reading a short story. So I’ve done a bit of catch up. I’m still on track to average one story per day — but my one story and only one story rule has gone out the window as I make up for missed days.

Before I list my two weeks of reading, a few bits of news related to short stories:

A new postage stamp in Ireland features a complete short story. This is the coolest thing ever. If any of you are reading this from Ireland and would like to send me a stamp, I will happily share my mailing address.

Lydia Davis won the Man Booker International Prize. This is a big deal. Davis is known mainly for her short stories, and some of them are very short. I had not read Davis until this week. Ali Smith wrote a nice piece on Davis for The Guardian that you may find interesting, and there is a second Guardian article that says Davis is considering writing some microfiction via Twitter.

Just today, the shortlist for the Frank O’Connor Short Story award was announced. Two of the collections appear to be published only in the UK, but I’ll try to hunt them down. I’ve read stories from Claire Vaye Watkins’ Battleborn and from Peter Stamm’s We’re Flying, and I’d love to sample some of the others before the award is given in July.

Lastly, one of the reasons I neglected short stories this week was because I was completely wrapped up in Elliott Holt’s new novel, You Are One of Them. So blame her. Elliott has been the source of many of my short story recommendations this year, so don’t be too angry. Elliott has also written some short fiction on Twitter, in a very intriguing structure of tweets. Check it out.

So on to my reading from the past two weeks. It’s chock full of flash and micro fiction, which is not only a time saver, but is becoming a favorite form of mine to read. I am constantly amazed at the way authors can build a complete story in 250 or 1000 words.

“The Seventy-Fourth Virgin” by M.C. Armstrong from The Pushcart Prize XXXVII (2013 edition) is the longest story I read this week. It’s a somewhat confusing story set in the near future US, where some kind of religious war is happening.

The rest of the stories are very short. In honor of Lydia Davis’ win, I read “Five Stories” by Davis as featured on Conjunctions. I don’t know if Davis meant the five stories to be on the same page, or if that was a decision that Conjunctions made. Are they five separate stories? I’m not sure, but I’m counting them as one. I particularly love “The Mice.”

“Produce” by Sarah Gerkensmeyer features a woman who cries on the fruits and vegetables in a grocery store.

“For my Uncle Danny” by Danny Nowell on the Tin House blog – flash fiction, in which the narrator remembers his Uncle Danny, who was a paratrooper in Vietnam.

“A Conversation at the Grownup Table, as Imagined at the Kids’ Table,” by Simon Rich on The New Yorker. This is one of three pieces under the heading “The Wisdom of Children.” It’s brilliant and funny and oh so true.

“Death and the People” (sample the first few lines here), “To Make Us Whole,” and “The Dictator is Drinking Alone,” all by Amber Sparks in May We Shed These Human Bodies. This is a very wonderful story collection that I want to read in its entirety. Of the three stories, “Death and the People” was my favorite, but they are all great — surreal, filled with imagery and humor, and short but powerful. After three stories, I can confidently recommend that you buy the entire collection.

“”Twins” by Pamela Painter and “Chalk” by Meg Kearney are both from a collection called Sudden Flash Youth, a collection of flash fiction where the characters are all young people. It contains many coming of age stories, some funny, some sad. This is a book for adults, even those who don’t read young adult, but fans of literary young adult fiction will also like this. It’s a great collection to share with a teen (though I’m keeping it a secret from my own kid so she doesn’t steal it).

The bulk of the stories this week, however, come from a collection called Micro Fiction: An Anthology of Fifty Really Short Stories, edited by Jerome Stern. It’s a small paperback, and each story is under 300 words. From this book I read:

• “The Poet’s Husband” by Molly Giles
• “The Cough” by Harry Humes
• “Daydream” by Robert Allen
• “Wrong Channel” by Roberto Fernandes
• “Harmony” by Joy Williams

My favorite was “Wrong Channel,” which is a funny story about language and being misunderstood, but also says something about the world. Hunt this one down if you can; it will make you smile.

I’m doing more travel over the next 10 days, and am looking forward to more very short fiction.

There was no theme to my reading this week, and I chose my stories more or less on a whim. Aside from my classmate’s story that I had to critique, this is what I read:

The week began with “Born of Man and Woman,” an incredibly disturbing story by Richard Matheson. This book was recommended by our friend Eric Kibler. Coincidentally, I read this the day after the three missing Cleveland women were found. There are just enough similarities in setting that an indelible line formed in my mind between the story and the news. I wasn’t able to find the story online at a site that was reliably authorized to reprint, so you’ll need to find this on your own.

“Meat, My Husband” by Lydia Davis from Almost No Memory – An odd little story about a marriage. The story begins with the narrator telling us how she learned that her husband’s favorite food was corned beef.

“Jack of Coins” by Christopher Rowe at Tor.com – This was recommended to me by Gwenda Bond, author of Blackwood. (She fully disclosed that Christopher Rowe is her husband). Set in a dystopian world, a stranger appears dressed in a band-leader costume. Who is he? Where are we? This story is full of wonderful imagery, and it made me want to learn more.

“A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor. I read this one again for a class assignment, this time focusing on how O’Connor uses dialogue in such a masterful way.

“Regeneration at Mukti,” Julia Elliott. In The Pushcart Prize XXXVII (2013 edition), edited by Bill Henderson – There is so much here to admire. We meet our main character at a spa where they administer very unusual skin treatments to those who want to regain their youthful appearance. I came away believing that this place could actually exist. Maybe it does.

“Punchline,” by Erin McGraw, also from The Pushcart Prize XXXVII (2013 edition)- A priest has an existential crisis as a result of loss. Not my favorite story, but well crafted.

I know this is short and somewhat disjointed, but please know that I am still keeping up on my daily story. Some days it’s all I can do to take in the final words before my eyes close, but short stories have become my nightcap. I can’t imagine most nights without one.

At Books on the Nightstand, we’re dubbing 2013 “The Year of the Short Story.” In celebration, Ann is reading one story a day, for the entire year. We’ll also be highlighting new story collections, lit magazines, and online resources for short fiction. Below are links to all of our posts tagged “Project Short Story”

Before I talk about the stories I read this week, a few items to note:

1. The May Short Story Read-along has been posted. I suspect I may have been a bit too subtle in my post: I want you to read the story and then write one in a similar vein. Yes, that’s correct: I want you to write a short story, in honor of National Short Story month. It’s just for fun, and I think it might give some of you a chance to flex those muscles that haven’t been used since high school. You can post your stories in the comments on the post, or post a link to the story. If you’ve written a story but are too shy to post it, leave a comment telling us what the process was like. I don’t want to have to beg, but I will. Please write a story.

2. I was interviewed by Scott Porch at The Huffington Post about Project Short Story. Check it out! Thanks, Scott!

3. Michael and I had a brief discussion about Short Story Month on the latest BOTNS podcast (episode #229). Michael is reading a story a day for the month of May, and he talks about his plan.

OK, now on to this week’s reading:

For my writing class, I both read and listened to Denis Johnson’s “Emergency.” I had listened to this once before, and it was very helpful to dissect the story in a class setting. I can certainly appreciate that there is brilliance in this story, and I admire it greatly, but it’s not my favorite story. It seems a silly thing, but I can’t seem to get past the fact that my favorite scene, which involves a drive-in, will be almost impossible for my children to comprehend if they read this story in a few years. This was driven home even more strongly when my 11 year-old, poking around in an antique shop, had no idea how one dialed a rotary telephone. A little bit of Googling tells me that this story confounds more than a few – the blog “Reading the Short Story” attempted to answer the question of why “Emergency” is so popular back in 2011.

“Jazz” by Dylan Landis was assigned reading for my writing class, and we used this story as an illustration of the concept of Point of View. Landis’ collection Normal People Don’t Live Like This may be difficult to track down, but it’s on my list of books to seek out. “Jazz” is the first story in the volume, and features a teenage narrator who finds herself in a dangerous situation that she thinks is both exciting and disturbing.

“The History You’ve Been Trying to Write,” was an in-class story that we read and discussed, again in the context of Point of View. The story is very short — just one single sentence — and very powerful. It appears that the story may have originally been published under the title “All This” in the book Microfiction: An Anthology of Fifty Really Short Stories. The story is contained in this interview with author Joanne Avallon at FlashFiction.net. There are some formatting oddities in that post, but don’t let that deter you.

I also read a classmate’s story that we then discussed in class. It’s very difficult to critique a classmate’s story, especially in an open discussion forum. It’s been helpful to my reading, though, to focus on a more critical reading of the stories I choose.

“55 Miles to the Gas Pump” by Annie Proulx is another very short piece. This was recommended by reader Grace, and I loved it, disturbing thought it may be. It even more disturbing to have read this on the day the three kidnapped women were found alive in Cleveland.

“A Taste of Dust” by Lynne Sharon Schwartz, in Best American Short Stories 2005. I’ve been trying to track down old volumes of Best American Short Stories (because I want to own them all!). This is a story about a woman who has dinner at her ex-husband’s home along with his second wife, and is both funny and tense at the same time, just as that dinner must have been.

“Unseasonable March” by Birdie Rose, published at the Press 53 blog. This was a winner of a 53-word flash fiction contest, and was brought to my attention in a posting by Jodi Paloni at 365 Short Stories. Jodi posts one online story each day. I don’t always follow her links, but this one intrigued me.  Jodi’s note said that the story “…has conflict, character, place, mystery and tragedy, all in 53 words.” And here is where I struggle with flash fiction. Some of it, I just don’t really get. Unlike “The History You’ve Been Trying to Write,” I didn’t see a story here. It is a lovely scene, and beautifully written. But I’m not sure if it’s a story. I’d love to hear your thoughts … please leave them in the comments below. If you are getting this post via email, you can comment at http://booksonthenightstand.com/2013/05/my-week-in-short-stories-18.html)

Things Ann Must Do in May

1. Remember that May is Short Story month
2. Find out who decided that May is Short Story month
3. Think of a cool way to celebrate Short Story month with readers
4. Find excellent Jennifer Egan story at The Guardian
5. Marvel over Jennifer Egan’s cleverness
6. Make “To Do” by Jennifer Egan the BOTNS Short Story Read-along for May
7. Encourage everyone to read “To Do” by Jennifer Egan
8. Wonder if you could write a short story like Jennifer Egan
9. Wonder if Michael Kindness could write a short story like Jennifer Egan
10. Invite BOTNS readers to write their own version of “To Do,” or any kind of story told in the form of a list
11. Determine ways that readers can post their own stories in list form
    • In the comments at Books on the Nightstand (if it’s not too long)
    • On their own blogs, then post a link in the comments at BOTNS
    • In a Google Doc, which is free and will give a link that can be posted in the comments at BOTNS
    • any other way they can think of to post a story and provide the link in the comments
12. Remind readers that these stories are only for fun and not a competitive sport
13. Remind people that this is a fun way to stretch writing muscles which may not have been used for awhile
14. Sit back and wait for the stories to roll in
15. Remind readers from time to time about the stories (gently, don’t scare them!)
16. Celebrate the intelligence, cleverness and bravery of BOTNS readers (of course you knew it all along)
17. In a few years, discover that someone was inspired to become a writer because of this fun little exercise

There is a strong tradition of short stories in the mystery and crime fiction genre, due largely (I think) to the proliferation of mystery magazines. The Strand, which began in 1891 and ran until 1950, published (among others) Graham Green, Agatha Christie, and all of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes short stories. (The Strand has since been revived, beginning its new chapter in 1998. As a kid, I spent many happy hours with Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery magazine.

But so far, most of my reading for Project Short Story has been literary fiction. This week started out no differently. First, I read one of my classmates’ stories, which we were instructed to critique so that we could discuss it in class. I’m very thankful for my past four months of story reading, as I felt far better equipped to talk about specific strengths and weaknesses in the story than I would have been earlier.  Then I read “The Swimmer” by John Cheever. It’s a classic, and I had read it before, but it was no less wonderful on the re-read.

So it was with glee that I spent the remainder of the week reading the five short stories that were nominated for The 2013 Edgar Award. I read the last story the evening before the Edgars were awarded, so I went into all the stories without knowing which would win.

“Iphigenia in Aulis” - by Mike Carey  in the anthology An Apple for the Creature edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni P. Kellner -This story, set in an unspecified future, was both compelling and disturbing. Some might consider it to be more at home in the category of speculative fiction than mystery. Regardless of how you categorize it, it’s a very strong short story, and I want to read more from Mike Carey. I can’t really tell you what it’s about, because Carey does an excellent job of revealing only what we need to know, doling out the revelations in little bits.

“Hot Sugar Blues”by Steve Liskow - from Mystery Writers of America Presents: Vengeance edited by Lee Child. A story about blues musicians, business ethics, and karma. Though I figured out early on “whodunit,” there was still a satisfying twist at the end.

“The Void it Often Brings With It” by Tom Piccirilli - published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine - If crime fiction can be fun (and why not?) this one is, though there is also darkness. It’s an interesting tale of student and professor, and while the main character is not particularly likeable, I was rooting for him all along.

“The Unremarkable Heart” by Karin Slaughter, from Mystery Writers of America Presents: Vengeance edited by Lee Child – I an seldom truly disturbed when reading fiction. It is probably a fault, but violence and gore don’t often bother me. This story, though not graphic, gave me an almost visceral reaction. I attribute that to the skill of the author. If you’ve read Karin Slaughter before, you know that she does not shy away from brutal truths. This may not be for everyone, and I can’t say I enjoyed reading it. I do, however, admire Slaughter’s ability to tell a story and achieve a reaction.

“Still Life No. 41″ by Teresa Solana, published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine - A short tale set in the art world. I saw the ending coming from the beginning, but enjoyed imagining the scenes playing out nonetheless.

It was not difficult to choose my favorite of the five stories. On the evening of the Edgars, I was rooting for “Iphigenia in Aulis.” However, I was not disappointed with the winner, “The Unremarkable Heart” by Karin Slaughter. It is an incredibly accomplished story and deserving of the award.

If you want to learn more about the Edgar Award and the Mystery Writers of America, please listen to the most recent episode of the Books on the Nightstand podcast (#228). I interviewed Daniel J. Hale, Executive Vice President of the MWA, and we had a great conversation about the Edgars and its sponsoring organization.

At Books on the Nightstand, we’re dubbing 2013 “The Year of the Short Story.” In celebration, Ann is reading one story a day, for the entire year. We’ll also be highlighting new story collections, lit magazines, and online resources for short fiction. Below are links to all of our posts tagged “Project Short Story”

It has been a crazy few weeks between travel, world events, and some personal things, and while I have been reading, I confess that I have not kept up with the true spirit of my resolution to read one short story per day. Some days I read none. Other days, I read more (well, listened more, usually) to catch up. I have no idea if I’ve read enough stories to make up for lost days, but I’m not going to stress too much about that.

These last weeks have given me an added appreciation for The New Yorker Fiction Podcast. It was often easier to listen to a story while I was driving somewhere, or on a plane, than it was to read. I also really love the discussion about the stories that the host and guest author have on the podcast. It feels like the best kind of literature class.

Speaking of classes, I’m taking one at Grub Street, an amazing writing center in Boston. I can honestly say that this is a direct result of Project Short Story. Reading these stories has made me read differently, and I want to understand how, in many cases, the writers do what they do so effectively. So while this is a writing class, because it focuses on short fiction, it is also a reading class. The assigned stories and discussion about the craft of writing will help me to be a better reader. It also means that some of the short stories I read will be fellow students’ stories. I will not list the title or author’s name, and those stories won’t be indexed. I am, however, still going to count them as a story for that particular day.

Here’s what I’ve been reading. Please share with me in the comments any stories you’ve been reading, or stories you recommend. And a special note to Callie, who has been valiantly indexing all of the stories — no rush on getting these all in!

More Steve Yarbrough stories, specifically “Bohemia” and “Sleet” from Veneer. Steve is so good — I love his novels (especially his forthcoming The Realm of Last Chances, which will be published in August) and I am very much enjoying his early shorter work. For my writing class, I read a flash fiction piece called “Brushing Death’s Hair” by Angela Rydell (published in the Indiana Review) that I know I will think about from time to time from now forward. I read a story written by one of my classmates, and an unpublished story written by an author friend.

You may recall our guest post conversation about short stories between author J. Robert Lennon and Lori Hettler of The Next Best Book Club blog. I was thrilled to that the new One Teen Story issue is  J. Robert Lennon’s “If You are Watching This I am Dead.” I dove right in.

From The New Yorker Fiction Podcast:

• “The Indian Uprising” by Donald Barthelme, read by Chris Adrian – I did not understand this story at all. It was completely incomprehensible to me. I’m not sure if reading it (instead of listening) would make it more clear. Something to go back to later…
• “Roy Spivey” by Miranda July, read by David Sedaris – Funny, quirky, sweet and sad.
• “I Bought a Little City” by Donald Barthleme, read by Donald Antrim – now this Barthlme I loved! The language is so great, and one of my favorite things in short stories is when humor turns to darkness.
• “Bullet in the Brain,” by Tobias Wolf, read by TC Boyle – This was assigned in my writing class as a great example of characterization.
• “Dance in America” by Lorrie Moore, read by Louise Erdrich
• “Somewhere Else,” by Grace Paley, read by Barbara Rosenblatt and discussed with Nell Freudenberger
• “A Day,” by William Trevor, read by Jhumpa Lahiri
• “Last Night” by James Salter, read by Thomas McGuane – This is a fantastic story that I had read before, but was happy to revisit. I’m just about to start Salter’s new novel, All That Is.
• “Where is the Voice Coming From” by Eudora Welty, read by Joyce Carol Oates – A fascinating discussion between Oates and podcast host Deborah Treisman about the writing of this story made this a doubly-great episode.
• “Emergency” by Denis Johnson, read by Tobias Wolff – a classic that I had never read.
• “Adams,” by George Saunders, read by Joshua Ferris – Ferris does an amazing reading of this story, and there is also an interesting discussion with Treisman here about what the story might mean.
• “The Dinner Party” by Joshua Ferris, read by Monica Ali – I hadn’t read Ferris’ short fiction before, but I very much enjoyed this story of a dinner party gone awry.

I think I’m back on a “normal” schedule of one story per day now, and my reading this week is themed. More on that next week …

Have a great reading week, and don’t forget to tell me what you’ve been reading!

At Books on the Nightstand, we’re dubbing 2013 “The Year of the Short Story.” In celebration, Ann is reading one story a day, for the entire year. We’ll also be highlighting new story collections, lit magazines, and online resources for short fiction. But one of the things I’m most looking forward to is discussing stories with you, here on the blog. Each month, I will choose one story to feature, and I hope that through the comments on the blog, we can explore these stories together. In addition, there is sure to be conversation about the story at the Books on the Nightstand Goodreads group, so come join us over there, too.

Let’s get away from the darkness for a bit, shall we? I received an email this week that called my previous selections “grim,” and I can’t really argue.

Mary Fran in our Goodreads group pointed out this story back in January. I read it right away, and it has stuck with me. I shared it with some friends, and they were as delighted with this story as I was.

Simon Rich is a humorist and former writer for Saturday Night Live. This story comes from his latest collection, The Last Girlfriend on Earth and other stories.

You can read it free on The New Yorker website.

I’d love to know your thoughts on this story. Did it work for you? What did you think about the author’s choice of narrator? If you’re not usually a fan of short stories, do you feel differently about this one? And, on the flip side, if you love short stories (especially literary short fiction), did you like this?

Please leave comments on the blog (or, if you are receiving this by email, please click through to visit the blog and leave a comment).

At Books on the Nightstand, we’re dubbing 2013 “The Year of the Short Story.” In celebration, Ann is reading one story a day, for the entire year. We’ll also be highlighting new story collections, lit magazines, and online resources for short fiction. But one of the things I’m most looking forward to is discussing stories with you, here on the blog. Each month, I will choose one story to feature, and I hope that through the comments on the blog, we can explore these stories together. In addition, there is sure to be conversation about the story at the Books on the Nightstand Goodreads group, so come join us over there, too.

Elizabeth reads her short story

Last weekend I attended my very first Short Story Salon. It won’t be my last, even if I have to host one myself. A friend invited several of us over to her cozy apartment; the only requirement was that we each bring a short story to read aloud. Some of us knew each other slightly, others not at all, but it was one of the most enjoyable literary evenings I’ve ever had. First, we fortified ourselves with wine, cheese, and a bit of bourbon. Then we went around the room and read our stories out loud. Some stories engendered a lot of discussion after the reading, others not so much, but I think we all appreciated each and every story.

Vanessa started the evening with “Billenium” from The Best Short Stories of J. G. Ballard.  I’d never read Ballard before but I’ll be picking up this collection, as Ballard’s futuristic story has stuck with me since the reading. It’s one of those stories that is set in a future that contains a recognizable truth: if the population continues to grow at its current rate, there will not be enough resources, including living space. And yet at its heart, “Billenium” is a human story, and one in which most of will recongize ourselves and those we know.

Callie offered “The Case of Four and Twenty Blackbirds” by Neil Gaiman, an old-fashioned detective story featuring nursery rhyme characters that were familiar to us all. It’s available to read for free from Gaiman’s website, and also in his collection Angels and Visitations.

Noah read Ron Carlson’s “The Governor’s Ball,” from A Kind of Flying. I loved Carlson’s novel Five Skies, and was happy to discover this story collection. This tale of a man who tries to retrieve an old mattress that has fallen off his truck contains a scene that I won’t quickly forget, and one that makes me smile even now as I think of it. Also, for those of you are interested in dissecting short stories, either for pleasure or because you are a writer, Carlson has written a book called Ron Carlson Writes a Story, in which he invites the reader to look in depth at how he wrote “The Governor’s Ball.” It’s “the story of the story,” and I can’t wait to read it.

Elizabeth made us all sit up when she announced her short story: Horton Hatches the Egg, by Dr. Seuss. It was fascinating to think of this story in a new way (as a short story rather than as a children’s picture book) while we listened and watched Elizabeth read it aloud. She’s right, this is a short story, and it works for adults as much as for children.

Loretta gave us another Neil Gaiman story: “A Study in Emerald,” which is a play on the Sherlock Holmes story “A Study in Scarlet.” Read the .pdf from Gaiman’s website.

I chose Donald Barthelme’s “The School.” It’s available to read on the NPR website and also in his collection Sixty Stories. I loved this story about a class that has been touched by death in many ways, but was also surprised by how differently it came across when I read it aloud. When I read it to myself, it’s a somewhat serious story with humorous moments that brought a bemused smile from time to time. When I read it aloud, it became laugh-out-loud funny in parts (at least that’s how this audience reacted) and then took a sharp turn toward the dark that made it difficult for me to read out loud because I was still laughing. It’s hard to explain, but so very interesting to think about.

If you are interested in short stories and literary gatherings, I highly recommend a Short Story Salon. Let me know if you try it.

I did my “regular” reading this week, too, but my recaps will be short and to the point since you’re probably all off planning your Short Story Salon…

“The Fall” by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya from There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister’s Husband and He Hanged Himself. This collection is so good.

“The Madman” by Chinua Achebe from Girls at War and Other Stories. Achebe died this week, and I had never read any of his short stories. This was first published in 1971.

“Night Women” by Edwidge Danticat from The Art of the Story, edited by Daniel Halpern. I recently finished Danticat’s fortchoming novel Claire of the Sea Light, and wanted to read more. My favorite line from this story reflects what I love about the new novel: “There is a place in Ville Rose where ghost women ride the crests of waves while brushing the stars out of their hair.”

“The Cavemen in the Hedges” by Stacey Richter, in Zoetrope. When choosing my story for the Salon, I asked twitter to suggest good candidates for reading aloud. Pete from the fabulous Green Apple Books in San Francisco (go visit!) suggested this story. It turned out to be a bit long to read aloud, but it’s a fabulous story and I want to read more by Stacey Richter.

“The Lady Luck” and “Veneer” by Steve Yarbrough, from the collection Veneer. Steve Yarbrough is one of our authors at Booktopia Vermont next weekend, and I’ll be moderating a session called “Short Story vs. Novel.” I read these two stories in preparation, and can’t wait to talk to Steve about the similarities and differences in the two forms.

And hey … if you host a Short Story Salon in the Boston/Providence area, invite me, OK?