Thursday, August 6, 2009

The Beauty and Convenience of the Short Story

No I'm not talking about writing them because a beautiful short story is a challenge indeed. I'm referring to all the reading I've done in last few months. I'm not quite sure how but I managed to get through 21 years of life without reading a single book of short stories by my own choice. And now I can't stop.

It started around January when I was ready to revisit Hunter S Thompson, as I always go back to my favorite authors at least once a year, but was not sure where to turn. I landed on
The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967, which I'm still reading yet feel no guilt about it. Usually if it takes me this long to get through a book the 14-year-old that's still finishing up the paragraph in her social studies book while the teacher begins talking about it (our countries school system has a bias against slow readers) creeps up forcing me to feel ultra "special". But I've maintained confidence in my reading skills with this book because I go at my own pace. There are no plot twists, or character arches rushing me along at the end of each chapter. I can start and stop at my own liesure...whoda thunk it! So I read it a little while I was still in school and after finishing up my semester have since started 3 others books of short stories, only one of which I've finished. I like bouncing from one authors voice to another and encourage every reader to do it. Below are the four books of short stories/letters/lectures/articles I've read in the last few months- varied in style and content yet equally satisfying.

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