Short Writings Offer Hours Of Entertainment
As anyone who has ever attempted to write one knows, it takes a special talent to construct a short story.
At its best, short fiction represents the best that literature has to offer. It’s a form that, even with the various ups and downs of literary fashion, has never lost its audience.
The fact of that is obvious from the annual collections that are published by Houghton Mifflin. It’s also obvious from the expanded versions of short writing that the publishing house has developed over the years.
The 1997 editions include “The Best American Short Stories” (edited by E. Annie Proulx), “The Best American Essays” (edited by Ian Frazier), “The Best American Sports Writing” (edited by George Plimpton) and “The Best American Mystery Stories” (edited by Robert B. Parker).
Now available in paperback, at $13 each, the 1997 collections offer hours of reading entertainment. While the fiction collection always has been my favorite, and this year’s edition includes stories by such name writers as Robert Stone, Cynthia Ozick, T. Coraghessan Boyle and Tobias Wolff, I loved the mysteries even more.
Whether it’s James Crumley exploring the hard-boiled world of a loser football coach, Jonathan Kellerman’s surprising look at a woman’s struggle to resolve family and career, Elmore Leonard’s first character study of federal marshal Karen Sisco (who would become the protagonist of his novel “Out of Sight”) or Joyce Carol Oates’ look at the things we do in the name of love, this is one collection that is guaranteed to keep you up at night.
One story before bedtime. It’s just what Dr. Literature prescribed.
Looking ahead
Death-penalty foes, plus anyone who enjoys good writing, should circle May 10 on their calendars. That’s when Sister Helen Prejean, author of “Dead Man Walking,” will serve as commencement speaker for Gonzaga University’s College of Arts and Sciences.
“Dead Man Walking,” a memoir of Prejean’s fight to abolish capital punishment, was made into a 1995 film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. Sarandon won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance.
Gunther Schuller is known to most Spokane residents as the former conductor, and one-time saviour, of the Spokane Symphony.
But Schuller, who holds an international reputation as a composer, also is an author. He will read from his latest book, “The Compleat Conductor,” at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2, at Auntie’s Bookstore, Main and Washington.
For further information, call 838-0206.
Looking up
Reed Daugherty, president of Spokane-based Daugherty Development Services, is author of a new self-help book, “Passionate Purpose - Awakening the Inner Fire” (BookPartners, $14.95).
Described as a “beautiful journey of self discovery to find what the inner fire is for each of us,” the book offers a plan “which enables the reader to identify his or her personal overwhelming passion, act on it, and bring remarkable clarity and strong purpose to her or her life.”
“Passionate Purpose” will be available in early February. To order, call (800) 895-7323.
The reader board
Bonnie Marks Hall, author of “In Search of… Finding and Loving My Multi-dimensional Self,” will read from her book at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Auntie’s Bookstore, Main and Washington.
, DataTimes