Scott Morgan's stellar collection

One of the Kindle books I am currently reading is a collection of poetry and short stories by writer/blogger/Tweep Scott Morgan entitled Short Stack: A Collection. Morgan’s blog carries a title I LOVE—not just like; I actually want to steal this title and make it my own, so true to my own instincts it lies:

Write for the Jugular.

Yeah, baby.

But I digress. Not only is Morgan’s anthology outstanding in its own right—well-written, with tight, exacting prose that seeks only to convey, never to bully you over the head—the experience of returning to short fiction has been a really nice change of pace (I have been reading novels only for what seems like decades, but has probably only been a couple of years). Morgan himself writes that short fiction is about “moments”. I love that. Mostly because it’s true, but also because moments can be a lot more fun than eons of time (Example: Ice Age or First Kiss?).

My immediate enjoyment of Short Stack took me back to a period of time when all I read were collections of short fiction. With the help of a friend who was much better-read than I, my bookshelf was filled with great short works. I thought I would blog today and share some of the better authors of short pieces—most of these names and books were shared with me, so I am only passing along the treasure trove.

Perhaps the best short story I have ever read, was assigned in a writing course. It should be. Assigned in every writing course, that is. The short is actually the first chapter of a book, but it stood so strongly on its own that it became a “short story” in and of itself. The title of the story and the book is The Things They Carried. The author is Tim O’Brien, who also wrote hauntingly about Vietnam in his other books If I Die in a Combat Zone and Going After Cacciato.

The Things They Carried was a finalist for both the 1990 Pulitzer and The National Book Critics Circle Award. The entire book is worth reading, but the first chapter/story is beyond comparison to anything I’ve ever read.

Another, slightly lesser-known author of short fiction, is Thom Jones. Jones should not be lesser known—his writing has appeared in Harper’s, Esquire, Mirabella, Story, Buzz, and The New Yorker—but I find few people who have read his work. Jones’ three collections of short stories are must reads: The Pugilist at Rest, Sonny Liston is a Friend of Mine, and Cold Snap. Within these pages you will find tales from Vietnam to plush New England colleges—Jones writes unapologetically about the raw human condition, doing so in such a way that the writing grabs you by the hair, refusing to let you go, even when the pain is so real you almost DO want to quit.

One of my favorite authors of short works is Annie Proulx, who did win the Pulitzer and National Book Award for her novel The Shipping News. Proulx, who now lives in my home state of Wyoming, wrote several collections of short stories: Close Range: Wyoming Stories, Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories 2, and Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3. You may remember a movie made from the title story of her first “Wyoming Stories” collection, Close Range. The movie version was entitled Brokeback Mountain. Whatever the story, Proulx writes with a gritty realism that crawls down beneath the skin and burrows into your soul.

Sherman Alexie is a Native American author who penned several award-winning collections of short stories: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Ten Little Indians, and The Toughest Little Indian in the World. Most of Alexie’s stories draw on his history on the reservation—the short story This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona was adapting into a stunning, heartwarming film titled Smoke Signals. You can read What You Pawn I Will Redeem online in The New Yorker.

A final collection of short stories that I read, again at the behest of my friend, is Davy Rothbart’s The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas. Rothbart is one of my favorite contemporary authors, but notoriety has come to Rothbart perhaps more from his book-turned-magazine, Found.

From Wikipedia:

“Davy Rothbart’s magazine Found is dedicated to discarded notes, letters, flyers, photos, lists, and drawings found and sent in by readers. The magazine spawned a best-selling book, Found: The Best Lost, Tossed, and Forgotten Items from Around the World, published in April 2004. A second collection was published in May 2006, a third in May 2009. The magazine is published annually and co-edited by Rothbart’s friend Jason Bitner.”

The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas has been optioned by Steve Buscemi (Fargo, Reservoir Dogs, Boardwalk Empire), the screenplay having been already written.

Reading (and writing) short fiction can be a rewarding experience that is far different than similar devotion to longer form. For writers in particular I recommend curling up with any of the above for a nice change of pace.

Short. And sweet.

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The blank page is dead…long live the blank page.

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