Tag Archives: BASS

This time I’ve placed the author in the post title rather than the title of his story, and if I could festoon it with flowers and candles in a semblance of altar I would; I would indeed honor him. Sometimes … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Surprised by the inclusion of this story by Joseph Epstein, surprised by its publication in The Hudson Review.  It’s too stable a story, too interesting, very much character-based and a reflection of life and family.  In other words, a good … Continue reading → Continue reading →

By Joseph Epstein, a short story written in the traditional manner of laying out character by character. Even as the first person narrator of Lou tells the story of his brother Eli who is a writer, the telling is more … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This short story by Randy DeVita is very well put together.  Opening with a scenario of a father getting up in the night to check on his young son, it goes into recall of the man’s own relationship with his … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The title of this story by T. C. Boyle refers to a dog of that name and the story of its adventure that Angelle’s father read to her when she was younger.  The story opens with Angelle being primed by … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Ah, I don’t know.  I’m beginning to think that Stephen King made this issue an homage to a few well established, well published, well credentialed authors and while of course the stories are good, I’m not exactly jumping up and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This short story by Louis Auchincloss rather surprised me; I thought I was reading something from the era of Dorothy Parker.  It is of that style, of that era, yet written I believe fairly recently.  The storyworld is one that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

A friend suggested I read this story by John Barth because she was really impressed by the turnaround in the ending.  Since I had just received the collection via UPS about fifteen minutes prior to her phone call, it took … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This particular issue of the Best American Short Stories collection has been an overall delight.  Which leads me more and more to the notion of seeking out one of the guest editor, Michael Chabon’s own novels if these stories appealed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

David Means’ The Secret Goldfish (p. 288) is a tricky little story that can be read as a view into a family relationship, but with the metaphorical story within it of the resistance of the family goldfish to its environment … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Most of the stories in this collection are strongly geared toward the development of character, the protagonist facing conflict that does drive them to face decisions that are moral crossroads that may take them in a different direction than they … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I have just about finished the stories–only the last two to read–but have been absolutely uplifted by one in particular:  Tim Pratt’s Hart and Boot.  Totally caught up in it, I loved the characters, totally fell into the state of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I believe that’s what it’s called–braiding–and it is applied in Cory Doctorow’s Anda’s Game, by the reality of Anda and the online game she plays which is your pretty typical slash ’em and fight your way to points and status … Continue reading → Continue reading →