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Passions that Know
I recently made my way though Volume 1 of Viking’s early 1970s version of the Collected Short Stories by D.H. Lawrence. I've been reading Lawrence for 30 years. As a mystic-college student, I responded to Lawrence's idea… -
My Summer of Reading Colonialism Continues
Orwell is mainly remembered for Animal Farm and 1984 so it’s instructive to read his first novel, Burmese Days. The descriptions of the flora, fauna, and climate ring true because Orwell worked for five years as a police… -
Tough Indians, Hardy Women, Gentle Cowpokes
I read Indian Country by Dorothy Johnson for the Short Story Challenge The ten years after WWII were a good time to be a reader. Mass circulation magazines like Colliers and The Saturday Evening Post printed vibrant shor… -
Realistic Vision of War
This anthology War Stories and Poems by Rudyard Kipling has stories from three main groups: border and frontier fighting in India and Burma, the Boer War, and WWI. Excitement aplenty and respect for the squaddies ("grunt… -
The Girl Can’t Help It
The Little Disturbances of Man (1959) was Grace Paley’s first collection of short stories. She was born in 1922 in the Bronx to Russian-Jewish immigrants, so the funny story of the Jewish kids drafted into their school’s… -
Tough to Read
I recently finished off a challenging collection for the Short Story Reading Challenge. They took a little time because I had to steel myself to read them.Issac Babel was the Russian Jewish writer that introduced moderni… -
Scoreboard
I can’t think of the next one to read for the Short Story Challenge. This is a sign of fatigue however much I’ve enjoyed it so far. I’ve never had a couple of months when I deliberately selected short stories and articl… -
Dear Old School Story
Stalky & Co. is probably being read today because Rowling revived the school story with her Harry Potter books. Read by adults, that is. Hard to imagine minors of either gender getting off on this one and not just be… -
High Journalism
For those into high journalism and crime reporting as literature, Train of Powder is a collection of six of Rebecca West’s best post-WWII essays. The subjects vary: white South Carolinians on trial for lynching an Africa… -
Western Short Stories
Elmore Leonard learned how to be a writer by crafting short stories. The collection Complete Short Stories (read for the Short Story Challenge) presents tales that are fast, thrilling, and plausible. The characterization…
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