Short Story Writers - David Sedaris, et al.

[Scotch78]

For living Americans, I like Nell Freudenberger and Michael Chabon.

Scott

[The DaveR]

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Raymond Carver is probably my favorite short-story writer.

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Me too.

[Blarg]

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I graduated with a concentration in Creative Writing. Call me annoying, but I'd rather read a Hemingway story than most of the newer stuff.

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So would I. Reading every short story he ever wrote isn't that hard, and might be one of the better ways to learn how to write them -- what you like and don't will become much more clear.

[Blarg]

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Chekhov is the best short story writer without question.

A lot of good contemporary short fiction is to be found in those "The Best American Short Stories 200x" compilations.

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Agreed. Those compilations will have a clunker here and there, but they are very reliable overall. There are a few of these collections put out every year, but this one is my favorite.

[Blarg]

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Raymond Carver is probably my favorite short-story writer.

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Me too.

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Me too. Carver's favorite was Chekhov, btw. For those who haven't tried Carver yet, start with Carver's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" collection to get what I think is by far the best of him. Carver's stories can actually astonish me with their perfection. Some of them I wish I could pass on as some sort of emotional heirloom.

I also really like Heinrich Boll very much, and Italo Calvino. Both can be brilliantly creative and even fantastical, but still anchor even their wildest stuff rock solidly in keenly felt, real feelings and sometimes pitiless observation.

Paul Bowles has also put down a masterpiece or two.

[MikeNaked]

Try Joyce Carol Oates and Jhumpa Lahiri (Interpreter of Maladies)

Hemingway's also the [censored], esp. "The Short Happy Life of Francis McComber"

[The DaveR]

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Hemingway's also the [censored], esp. "The Short Happy Life of Francis McComber"

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I don't think Hemingway gets any better than the second sentence of "A Clean Well Lighted Place."

[Boris]

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If I remember correctly, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace was half awesome/half unreadable, but since they are short stories you can just skip the ones you don't like. However I read it a while ago and I could be wrong (i.e. it could be bad) but I'm prertty sure I enjoyed some of it.

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I like pretty much all of the stories. Highly recommend this book. Not that it matters but I'm not a big fan of Sedaris.

[Triumph36]

Chekhov and Carver ftw.

Of course these aren't at all in the vein of David Sedaris, but what can you do - Sedaris is a unique writer.

[EYEWHITES]

dnnis johnson - Jesus son

not about jesus, just about a herion addict, the first story in the book is great.

hakuri makuri, one of my fav novelist writes quite a few short stories, but i have never read them.

i really like dylan thomas's short stories but not alot of people do