Short Story Writers - David Sedaris, et al.

[TheBlueMonster]

If you take the first chapter of "The Emmigrants" by W.G. Sebald as a stand-alone short story I'd say it ranks among the greatest of all time.

[dogdrool]

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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.

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Man, I love Carver.

How about his story where his wife's old blind friend comes to visit. At first the husband is apprehensive, but eventually it all goes well when they get stoned together and the old man has him describe what a cathedral looks like.

Another story that I like is where two old buddies and their wives have a bbq. The guys head out on a beer run and see a couple young girls walkin along. In a classic way that only Carver can do, he quickly describes how they follow them and one of the dudes kills one of the girls with a rock to the head.

I love his hazy way of casting his stories through the light of being drunk, sad, bored, or stoned.

[Bobb]

Read Richard Ford.

[imthaifool]

Sedaris is funny.

[Blarg]

Why Don't You Dance? and What We Talk About When We Talk About Love are two big favorites of mine. I think the one about the guys killing the girl is "So Much Water So Close to Home." I really like the one about how he screws up his life by screwing the housekeeper in a dingy motel he's keeping. Can't remember if that one is "Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?" or not. He had so many really excellent ones.

I think there was one where his wife really lays into him about his basically horrible habits and nature and what a jerk he is, and he tries to come back with one devastating riposte, and it ends with something like, "And then, he couldn't possibly think what it was." It might have been called something like "Just One More Thing," but I dunno. Just popped into my head. He does it better than me though. It was pretty powerful. Even his stories that are virtual throwaways can really smack your brain up good. He does have the occasional miss, though, but not too many, and his direct emotional hits and the absolute virtuosity of many of his stories are incredible.

[Bartman387]

Men and Cartoons by Jonathan Lethem is a great collection of his short stories.

Pastoralia and Civilwarland in Bad Decline by George Saunders are two great short story collections as well. He also released another collection lats spring, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

[octopi]

Oh man, Sedaris is someone I will laugh out loud to, no matter how many times I've read the book or where I am.

I find that some of these other suggestions are short stories, but not necessarily in the same vein as Sedaris. For this, I would recommend David Rakoff. Same sort of satire and observations about family and life.

[JaBlue]

I thought sedaris was way overhyped. In the book I read, every story had the same format. THE SAME FORMAT! Also didn't find him to be that funny. The stuff that he did and that happened to him was great but I didn't think it translated to paper very well. If I saw him do stand up I bet I'd laugh my ass off.

I'm reading Dubliners - short story collection by James Joyce - right now and so far I like it though I feel like I dont "get" a lot of it.

[Wondercall]

Tonight I read:

The Sparkling Bitch - Pauline Melville

and

Two Kinds - Amy Tan

I enjoyed the Sparkling Bitch much more than Two Kinds.

[pryor15]

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It's been a while since I read his stuff, but Andre Dubus is great.

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that's an understatement, actually. he's commonly referred to as America's Checkov.