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Ellen Murphy's avatar

I have always had a hard time with short story collections for two reasons -- 1) I am very task oriented and feel I have to complete books and 2) for some reason I think I can jump around in story collections. Reading your analysis of these three collections has changed the way I look at both these issues. I really like your suggestion to think of the stories as bedtime reading for a child. And I have suddenly realized that the stories are selected for their place in the collections for a REASON - duh! I tried out this new way of thinking with The Crane Wife which isn't exactly the same but close enough. It really helped me to get the overall theme and thinking of the author's work. Thank you! I really enjoyed reading your work and I love the way your mind work out your ideas through your fingertips on the keyboard. Keep up the conversations! We love it.

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Alice's avatar

My birth year - finally! I loved this one. I have not bought a short story book in years until your enthusiasm around this genre and Lauren Groff. But I did read tons of short stories in my teens and 20s in magazines. Mademoiselle always had excellent selections in what was otherwise a fashion magazine for young women. Now I read online newspapers - maybe the NYTs should run short story selection. At any rate, as always, you make me want to read all these books. I don't need a through line or theme, just if each story is able to grab me. I think it is very spot on to suggest perhaps we need to think of short story books as something we read slowly, digesting each selection as we go - rather than trying to devour the book like a novel. Excellent suggestion!

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