Stories and Blogs

The Short Stories and their Blogs

Below is a listing of the short stories I've discussed so far in the weblog. The links in the Stories column take you to other web sites so you can read the story. The links in the Blogs column take you to the weblog archive so you can read that particular entry about the story. First some favorites:

Stories	Blogs
Various Scots	Speaking In Tongues
Mary Robison's "Coach"	"You're thinking too slow." Dream Team
Ann Bronston's "Obedience School"	Dorito Breath Fusion and Fluidity
Tobias Wolff's "Sister"	Of Kites and Frisbees Earning the Epiphany The Subtle Art of Revision Slice-n-Dice A Spanner in the Gears
Gish Jen's "Who's Irish?"	Everybody Chew Their Tough Turkey
Alan Warner's"Costa Pool Bum"	"Is he on narcotics?"
Jackie Kay's "Physics and Chemistry"	Elements of Particularization
Stacey Richter's "The Beauty Treatment"	"My thoughts: fuck, shit, etc."
Michel Faber's "Some Rain Must Fall"	Story Inertia Diverted Gaze
Laura Hird's "Routes"	Who Blew Out The Candles?
Lorrie Moore's "Agnes of Iowa"	How to Break a Rule Leeway
Frederick Barthelme's "Socorro"	The Art of the Drive-by
David Ryan's "Talent"	"Shouldn't we be looting or something?"
Steve Lattimore's"Jarheads"	Stock Scene? Duck and Run. Exit Stage Left
Aimee Bender's "Call My Name"	"That's what guys wish for."
Aaron Jason's "Ryan's Boys"	So You Want to Do Postmodern?
Glen Pourciau's "The Dangerous Couple"	Socially Unacceptable
Dan Goldstein's "A Recounting of the Iran-contra Affair in the Authentic Verbiage of the Period"	Period Parody
Steve Almond's "Him Who Lights the Way"	Him Who Pays
Brock Clarke's "The Fat"	Omniscient Grease
Chris Offutt's "The Spot"	Shown the Back
Marian Keyes's "Soulmates"	Don't Try This at Home
Lan Samantha Chang's "Broth of Heaven"	Three-course Meal
Stewart O'Nan's "Please Help Find"	Epiph This Van Gogh Intensity Slobber
Steve Almond's "The Cool Cat"	Out With the Wedgies
Tim Gautreaux's "Resistance"	Not Resisting Tradition Delay and Surprise Eavesdropper
James Lasdun's "Cleanness"	Metaphor Madness
Carolyn Ferrell's "Proper Library"	Just Read the Story
Stacey Richter's "When To Use"	En Garde

Brock Clarke's "Accidents"	Accidentally On Purpose
Larry Brown's "Wild Thing"	Southern Noir
Steve Almond's "Ode to a Greasy Earn"	"Let us say: How dare you."
Dagoberto Gilb's "The Pillows"	Pillows Aren't the Only Bedding El Paso Straddling the Border Pillow talk Engine No. 5
Chris Offutt's "House Raising"	Raising Racism More Subtle Revision
Benjamin Percy's "What Would You Rather?"	Hot Off the Servers
Steve Lattimore's "Separate States"	Paying the Bill When a Baddie Does Good
David Gates' "A Wronged Husband"	Indirection
Melanie Rae Thon's "Little White Sister"	Language Driven
Dagoberto Gilb's "L. A. Navidad"	Tension Tamer
Frederick Barthelme's "Driver"	Meaning? We Don't Need No Stinking Meaning Hiding Under Minimalism's Kilt
Connie Corzilius's "Slut Wisdom"	Narrative Honesty
Laura Hird's "Of Cats and Women"	In Extremis Surprise Payoff
Steve Almond's "Geek Player, Love Slayer"	Live Narration Casting for Types Sitcom Averted
Mary Gaitskill's "Secretary"	An 80's Thing Handy Dialogue
Brock Clarke's "Plowing the Secondaries"	Seamless Storytelling Look Who's the Bad Guy
Todd Sandvik's "The Note"	Everything Is Permitted
Stacey Richter's "The Ocean"	Narrative Strait-jacket
Various Raymond Carver stories	Killer Carver Hooks
Raymond Carver's "Are These Actual Miles?"	Carver Kraftwerke Is This the Actual Title? Values of a Witness Sowing Suspicion Adding Drama to Life From Poem to Story Don't Flatter Yourself
Adam Johnson's "Trauma Plate"	Nobody Gets Shot in the Heart Twice Get that Point of View Some Body Armor Back on Trauma
Christine Schutt's "Springerle"	Eternal Questions
Vicki Hendricks' "Gators"	Belle of the Noir When a Pat is not Just a Pat Putting the Reversal in Gear
Scott Southwick's "#1"	Narrative Drive
Steven Carter's "Mr. Good"	Don't Pawn the Opening
A. C. Koch's "Some Kind of Blue"	The Ride
Anne Donovan's "Hieroglyphics"	It's English to Me
David Beaver's "Zeno's City"	But Can He Beat Achilles
Kelly Elayne's "See Jane"	Freud, Jung, Lacan—Anyone?
Julie Orringer's "Care"	One Pill Makes You Smaller, One Pill...
Allison Carter's "I Have Obne Video"	I Have One Clue

Tom Barbash's "The Break"	Slap Happy Mirror, Mirror
Brock Clarke's "A Widespread Killing Frost"	A Little Bit of Sufferin'
Thom Jones' "Rocket Man"	Shadow Boxing The Future Not Seen
Hester Kaplan's "Goodwill"	Of Sweat Stains and Truth
Barbara DeCesare's "The Vasectomy Cartoon Family"	Jock Itch
Steve Almond's "Among the Ik"	How Much Love Can You Afford
Steve Almond's "Run Away, My Pale Love"	Meet the Emotional Atom Bomb Where There's Smoke, There's a Triangle
Christine Boyka Kluge's "Rapunzel's Mustache"	Let Down Your Hair
Kristin Henderson's "A Day in the Life of #315-62..."	No Flub-a-dub Here
Suhayl Saadi's "Bandanna"	The Gangsta of Language
Alicia Erian's "When Animals Attack"	Narrator Behaving Badly
Alicia Erian's "Lass"	An Unlit Fuse
Kevin Fanning's "Emails From Dead People"	He Emails Dead People
Josh Capp's "Dealing"	Making a Surprise Inevitable
Adam Haslett's "Notes to My Biographer"	Loose Solder
Tom Paine's "The Spoon Children"	I'm Like, Dude
Chris Spain's "Scaring the Baddest Animal"	Impoverished by Sight
Steve Almond's "The Evil B. B. Chow"	A Prop with Meaning Structured Chow
Hillary Commins' "Room 81"	The Pleasure of the Enigma
Sara Powers' "Dating a Dead Girl"	Home Sweet Home Creative Gift from the Dead
Raymond Carver's "Vitamins"	"Nelson nothing"
Raymond Carver's "Cathedral"	Seeing with His Eyes Closed
Raymond Carver's "Chef's House"	Carver's in the House
Raymond Carver's "Where I'm Calling From"	Twitch, Twitch, Twitch. . .
Stacey Richter's "Rules for Being Human"	Being Seen by Dead People
Laura Hird's "The Happening"	The Horror
Tim Gautreaux's "Dancing With the One-armed Gal"	If Characters Were People
Stacey Richter's "What She Wanted"	Hidden Structure
Russell Banks' "Sarah Cole: A Type of Love Story"	Stuntman
Raymond Carver's "Popular Mechanics"	Master of Menace Title Your Way to Meaning The Art of Revision No Tricks
Bob Thurber's "Masquerade"	Fun with Costumes
Raymond Carver's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love"	When What They Talk About Isn't Love
Owen Cecil's "Rack Hard"	Read Hard
Stacey Richter's "The Girlfriend"	On Cat-feet She Writes
Scott Wolven's "Eight Ball"	A Slice that Smuggles
Anjali Banarjee's "Satin and Lace"	Catch and Release
Raymond Carver's "Fat"	Putting Meat on Those Bones
Steve Almond's"Shotgun Wedding"	How to Create a Character in 8 Paragraphs Extra Onions on That Cheesesteak They Know Nothing, Nothing
Steven J. McDermott's "My Summer Vacation"	Beware the Intentional Fallacy
Stacey Richter's "Cavemen in the Hedges"	An Absurdist Smokescreen

Beth Keegan's "Mr. Bliss"	Every Breath You Take
Daniel Wallace's "A Night Like This"	Here's Looking at You
Ron Carlson's "The Potato Gun"	A Shed Full of Sharp Tools As Easy as Mashed Potatoes This Little Piggy
Michael Chabon's "Werewolves in Their Youth"	Of Fantasy and Friends Songs of Their Youth Interlocking delays
Kelly Pilgrim's "Interlude"	Left Right Left Right
Sarah Manguso's "Things I Remembered in 2002"	Arc of Defeat
Ann Scott Knight's "Impossible with Nancy"	Peaking
Lisa Gabriele's "Thirteen One-night Stands"	Rock Me All Night Long
Elizabeth Rollin's "The Boy"	A Bark That Bites
Raymond Carver's "Night School"	School of Nada Narrative Efficiency
Raymond Carver's "Neighbors"	Being a Boon to Critics Oh, Behave Self-voyeurism
Raymond Carver's "The Father"	Father? Who's a Father?
Steve Almond's "Life in Syndication"	Sit-com Fever
Maile Meloy's "Aqua Boulevard"	All the Old Tricks
Richard Ford's Rock Springs (collection)	In Any Canon
Richard Ford's "Rock Springs" (story)	Packing Heavy
J. Michael Slama's "Volatile"	Weighty Objects
Todd Shaddox's "The Hidden Art of Scatology"	A Dangling Hook
Steve Almond's "The Law of Sugar"	A Sweet Slice Without Sugar
Lee K. Abbott's Dreams of Distant Lives and Wet Places at Noon	Two by Lee K. Abbott
Raymond Carver's "How About This?"	Characters In A Bind Building upon a Hook How About That Subtext?
Leelila Strogov's "Fatso"	Suspending Disbelief
Raymond Carver's "The Idea"	Naive Like A Fox
Connla Stokes's "The Splurgy Shore"	A Stranger Comes to Town Skimming Tension In Closure We Trust
Elizabeth Kerlikowske"s three short-shorts	Exploring Short-short Stories
Peter Markus's two short-shorts	Metaphors Posing as Stories
Karen L. George's Lifty	Need to Know Basis
Madison Smartt Bell's Parallel Lives	Perilous Parallels
Bryn Chancellor's At the Terminal	Going Terminal
Robert Lopez's Shall We Run For Our Lives	Unwriting to Find Voice
Matt Leibel's Paper Girl	Getting Cut
Tom Perrota's The Smile on Happy Chang's Face	Getting on Human Base
David Bezmozgis's "Natasha"	Beanbags in the Basement
Josh Capp's Bus	Ominous Voices Like Elephants
Carolyn Hiler's To Do List - Week of March 14th	Check This Out
Lee K. Abbott's Youth on Mars	Planet Claire or Private Idaho? Immersion or Abrasion? Writer on Mars
Niall Griffiths' "Coming of Age"	Got Voice
Katie Arnsteen's Long Ride Home	Slice of Menace
Amy Hempel's "Today Will Be a Quiet Day"	Loud and Clear
Charles D'Ambrosio's Her Real Name	A Real Beginning Structure or Stricture Off the Grid
Ann Cummins' "Where I Work"	Working at Voice
David Foster Wallace's "Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature"	Nature and the Mirror of Philosophy
Jessica Anthony's "The Rust Preventer"	In Rust We Trust
Melanie Westerberg's "Watermark"	When the Shark Bites
Steven J. McDermott's "Tools"	Welcome to the Jungle
Rebekah Cotton's "Paper Swallows"	Finders Keepers
Kirby Gann's "Tether""	As Kurt Sang, Memoria
Connie Corzilius' "Shut-ins"	Pitching a Shut-out
Raymond Carver's "Why Honey?"	Why, Carver?
Steve Almond's "The Darkness Together"	The Shadow Knows
Steve Almond's "Pornography?"	Elevate Your Slice
Scott Ford's "Axl Rose is my Dog"	Pedal to the Metal
curt duffy's "tragic metafiction volume one"	tragically hip
Steven J. McDermott's "Oxygen"	Ode to a Billion Urns
Mike Richardson-Bryan's "Career Days"	Guess I Missed That Memo
Holley Korby's "Resignation of a Ringtone Designer"	Guess I Missed That Memo
Katrina Denza's "Tracks"	Tracks that Heal
Jai Clare's "Bone on Bone"	A Tune He Can No Longer Carry
Brock Clarke's "The Price of a Haircut"	Shave and a Haircut, Six Bits
Sean Adam's "Minor Renovations"	Infinite Rooms in my Head
Evan Harris' "The Spit"	Spitting Image of a Mascot
Chris Offutt's "Booth 13"	Infinite Rooms in my Head
Magnus Mills' "The Good Cop"	"We will ask the questions!"
Ed Rowland's "Ed Got a Job"	Of Billy Clubs and Guns
Vicki Hendricks' "Purrz, Baby"	Cat got Your Tongue?
Stephanie Dickinson's "Postcard from the Rape Hotel"	No Retreat
Brock Clarke's "The Ghosts We Love"	Crossing the Deleware Told the Show
Alison Carter's "I Have One Video"	I Have One Clue
Mark Richard's "Strays"	Lap this Up
Mark Richard's "Happiness of the Garden Variety"	Horse-heaven
Stacey Taylor's "A Vicki Kind of Girl"	What's in a Name?
Benjamin Percy's "The Whale"	Vacationing in the Whale's Belly
Mark Richard's "Plymouth Rock"	Sink the Mayflower
Maud Casey's "Dirt"	A Broom for the Heart
Benjamin Percy's "Getting the Most Out of Your Weekend"	It's All About You
Samuel Beckett's "Fizzle 3"	Giddiup Godot
David Means' "The Gulch"	Meanwhile, Back at the Gulch
Benjamin Percy's "Crash"	X Marks the Spot Green Pastures of Grief
Peggy Duffy's "What It Is to Say Goodbye"	1980's Redux?
Antonya Nelson's "Strike Anywhere"	Earning a Gold Star
Colleen Mondor's "Our Missing Aviator"	Gone But Not Forgotten
Elizabeth Ellen's "Chosen"	The Breaking Heart Chooses the Story
Connie Corzilius'"Mary Beth"	Gone But Not Forgotten
Steve Almond's"A Happy Dream"	Blind Date
Matt Thorne's "Inside Out"	No fixed Abode
Lara Vapnyar's "Puffed Rice and Meatballs"	Oh My - O. Henry
Kevin Sampsell's "Sharon Calls"	Cold Calling
David Means' "Sault Ste. Marie"	Livewire
Terese Svoboda's "'80s Lillies"	When Language Flees the Bomb
Neela Vaswani's "The Pelvis Series"	Between Us and Them
Charles Bukowski's "Kid Stardust on the Porterhouse" and "The Beginner"	Buk-idote
Dave Housley's"What the Cadillac Knows"	White Line Fever
David Means' "Blown From the Bridge""	A Nudge Is All It Takes
Steven J. McDermott's "Fresh Sludge"	Late Entry, Early Exit
Anthony Neil Smith's "Backslide""	A Kiss Is Just a Kiss
Michael Horner's "Notebook 366"	Still Flapping on the Hook
Tim Horvath's "The Understory""	Disassembling the Understory
Charles McLeod's "Western Union"	Landfill or Bust
Catherine Elcik's "How to Be Sure You Want to Be a Farm Girl"	Home is Where the Calves Are
Dianne McKnight-Warren's "Hush Little Baby"	Get Some Polio
August Tarrier's "I Hold You Harmless"	Squawker Jay to the Rescue
Raymond Carver's "Sixty Acres"	Who Is It The Usual Themes Snatching defeat from Victory Sixty Acres of Icebergs Sixty Acres of Criticism Not In Carver's Pasture
Rachel Sherman's "Two Stories; Single Family; Scenic View"	Losing One's Voice
John Colvin's "Rock"	Rock, Paper, It
Justin Taylor's "Amber at the Window in Hurricane Season"	Tape-less
Jimmy Chen's "The Wall and The Wilderness"	I-I-I-Impressionism
Aaron Gilbreath's "The Ducks of Santa Nella"	Duck and Run
Seth Harwood's "Don Flamenco's Finest Round"	When Losing Is Winning
Seth Harwood's "When They Were Calling You in for Dinner"	The OC��Master Class
Dean McFarlane's "Grocery store violation"	45 Seconds from a Comedy Routine
Peter Wild's "Ruckus"	Voice
Adam Cushman's "Rope"	Roped In
Kay Sexton's "Titties"	Bump on the Noggin
Raymond Carver's "Signals"	Showing Signs
Seth Harwood's "What Happened To Everything"	When the Gaze Happens