Recent Readings

I find that short stories are perhaps the most entertaining pieces of literature in existence. They are not completely encoded, like the poem, and not too lengthy to get that satisfaction, like the novel. The short story provides for the reader the satisfaction of climactic entertainment in one sitting, and also, that mysterious what happens next factor with its short, abrupt ending.

Fitzgerald I would say is a master of the short story, if not THE master. But almost so good, that you take his stories for granted. They become far too easily the norm. Anything from the sad "Babylon Revisited" to the hilarious "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" and the complicated "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" and there is half an hour's worth of entertainment at your fingertips, literally.

Introduce Katherine Anne Porter. I have now read four of her short stories, painfully, and now I think I have finally come to an understanding and appreciation for her, and perhaps how she may have exceeded Fitzgerald. She has this wonderful ability to capture the human experience. By that I mean, not just a grand, exciting event that turns into a story, but the human being in everyday life. Whether it seems to be an autobiographical woman or young girl, a young boy, or a mentally handicapped child. She has this unique insight into the person-hood that seems to unite all of mankind together.

Perhaps, in your spare time, you should pick up one of her stories.