Short Stories – Page 67 – Cannonball Read 17

The Socratic Method

Walkin' The Dog by Walter Mosley

July 6, 2020 by Jake Leave a Comment

Read as part of CBR12 Bingo: UnCannon. Walter Mosley is black. This book continues what I believe to be Walter Mosley’s best work: these series of small, wrenching looks into the life of Socrates Fortlow, an ex-con trying to make a new life for himself in Watts, Los Angeles. He lives with the mentality of one who is permanently imprisoned. Every step is a hazard, every chance encounter a threat. His actions are extremely measured and guarded. This was written when Mosley’s talent and ambition […]

Short story review dump (Part IV)

Cuisine des Mémoires by N.K. Jemisin

Valedictorian by N.K. Jemisin

Blur by Carmen Maria Machado

Staying Behind by Ken Liu

Recitatif by Toni Morrison

The Foster Portfolio by Kurt Vonnegut

July 5, 2020 by ingres77 1 Comment

This is something new I’m trying this year, where I review short stories as stand alone stories, not part of anthologies or collections. Here are parts I, II, and III. Cuisine des Mémoires by N.K. Jemisin (5 stars) This little experiment of a short story read every day (which I’ve already failed at) has led to some wonderful discoveries. Along with Ken Liu, N.K. Jemsisin (who I’ve long wanted to read) are definitely at the top of the list, though. A man is taken to […]

Mary hoped that the rotted front tire would not burst.

The Love Object by Edna O'Brien

July 5, 2020 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

A long, but curated story collection by the Irish writer Edna O’Brien, who like many who came before her (and I think Mavis Gallant is the best analog more so than an Alice Munro) split a lot of her time writing short fiction cataloging both the local from her own life and the international or cosmopolitan in her travels as a writer. In the opening introduction by John Banville, she is compared to Henry James in her international sensibility, and there’s not much to find […]

New treasures from Octavia Butler

Unexpected Stories by Octavia Butler

July 2, 2020 by MarkAbaddon Leave a Comment

Some days, the gods just smile on you. I was walking into Dreamhaven Bookstore in Minneapolis (and if you are in the area, check it out, one of the best places for Neil Gaiman/anime/science fiction stuff in the upper Midwest) when I saw an entire shelf devoted to the works of Ms. Butler. I had read Lillith’s Brood many years before and loved it but loaned out my copy and it was never returned. So I purchased a number of works and started with Unexpected […]

The Big Short

If It Bleeds by Stephen King

July 2, 2020 by Caesar's Wife 2 Comments

If It Bleeds is ostensibly a new collection of short stories by the master storyteller, Stephen King. But it didn’t read like a collection of short stories to me, as King deftly compacted the richness of a novel into each short tale. He confidently weaves whole worlds together between each page. The first story, Mr Harrigan’s Phone, tells a story of a small-town teenager who strikes up an unlikely friendship with a reclusive retired billionaire. Mr Harrigan introduces teenager Craig to the world of Hemingway, […]

Imagine learning to talk from recordings rather than people.

Because Internet by Gretchin McCulloch

To Marry Medusa by Theodore Sturgeon

Come Closer by Sara Gran

The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey by James Lecesne

Coming Out Party by Nikki Levy

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

An Act of God by David Javerbaum

Unexpected Stories by Octavia Butler

Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith

Henrietta and Eleanor by Libby Spurrier

Love that Dog by Sharon Creech

Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech

Break Shot by James Taylor

June 26, 2020 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

Because Internet: 4/5 Stars A book whose title and public relations/previews made me really not want to read, this ended up being a) much different from what I thought it was going to be and b) a lot better as well. This is not an amateur at language in a way that may very well be accurate enough, but would also be facile or shallow. Instead, Gretchen McCulloch writes an interesting analysis of language for amateurs, but using the tools of her work as a […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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