Comments on: The art of the book club

By: Kim

Kim — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:30:19 +0000

I read Geraldine Brooks’ PEOPLE OF THE BOOK for book club (insert bad Chuck Palahniuk joke here) and when I saw she had edited the last Best American Short Stories anthology, I had to buy it. Her observations on the state of short fiction in the intro is, to me, right on target.

By: Rachael

Rachael — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:37:12 +0000

In an undergrad journalism course, my instructor assigned us each a narrative journalist to read and profile. I was assigned Gay Talese and read “Thy Neighbor’s Wife.” I’ve been a major Talese fan ever since.

By: Tamara

Tamara — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:45:24 +0000

Oh! I was assigned to read The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett for my reading list exam. What lovely book. Right up there with To Kill a Mockingbird.

By: Mark Koltko-Rivera

Mark Koltko-Rivera — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 06:29:44 +0000

Back in high school, I was assigned to read stories and novels by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I never thought that I would love it as much as I did.

From Hawthorne–who addressed some rather creepy topics for his time–I moved, in some of my recreational reading, to more outright horror fiction, and then to the backstories to the horror fiction, and so on and so on.

Result? Now, when I put my non-fiction to the side for a moment, I work on screenplays about Cthulhu and Aleister Crowley.

Wherever they are, I hope my high school English teachers are proud.

By: ryan field

ryan field — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 05:14:42 +0000

I recently promised an author a blurb, which I don’t like doing because I have to read a book I normally wouldn’t. Turned out I loved everything about the book.

By: Kristin Laughtin

Kristin Laughtin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:05:36 +0000

A good number of my favorites started out as required reading in high school or college! SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE; CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY; THE NAME OF THE ROSE, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE; THE CAVES OF STEEL… There are probably more that I just don’t remember right now, because I don’t think of them as “school” books, just books I happened to read first for school and ended up loving. I imagine this is somewhat typical for twenty-somethings who didn’t hate school, though.

It always seems most sports-related books or movies don’t end up being about the sport, though. They end up being about a dream or teamwork or friendship or fighting the odds, etc.

By: Nicole McInnes

Nicole McInnes — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:55:18 +0000

Is it sort of like how Jerry Maguire isn’t a movie about football? I’ve heard great things about the Art of Fielding, and I’m going to add it to my Goodreads list. Ron Hansen required those of us in his Short Story course at UC Santa Cruz in the late 80’s to read a compilation called The Art of the Tale (speaking of art). I still love that book, and I’d consider using it for the short story courses I teach now. Don’t know if it’s still in print, but what a keeper.