In her prose piece, "Ocean of story" (my post), Christina Stead wrote that It is only when the short story is written to a rigid plan, or done as an imitation, that it dies. It dies when it is pinned down, but not elsewhere. It is the million drops of water that are the looking-glasses … Continue reading Carmel Bird, Love letter to Lola (#BookReview)
Review – Short stories
Mary TallMountain, Snatched away (#Review)
Mary TallMountain's "Snatched away" is the ninth story of fourteen in the anthology, Great short stories by contemporary Native American writers, that I've been working through this year. It, like the previous three, was published in the 1980s, in 1988 in this case. Mary TallMountain Anthology editor Bob Blaisdell provides minimal information about her. He … Continue reading Mary TallMountain, Snatched away (#Review)
Rayna Green, High cotton (#Review)
With Rayna Green's short story, "High cotton", we pass the halfway mark in that anthology I've been posting on over the last few months, Great short stories by contemporary Native American writers. We are also getting closer to the anthology's publication date of 2014, so these chronologically listed stories are starting to bunch up in … Continue reading Rayna Green, High cotton (#Review)
Chris Flynn, Here be Leviathans (#BookReview)
I am not one of those readers who shun weird narrators. Indeed, you'll find several in this blog, including a skeleton, a dead baby, a foetus and a mammoth fossil. The critical thing for me is not who the narrator is, but whether that narrator is convincing and offers a perspective that engages my mind … Continue reading Chris Flynn, Here be Leviathans (#BookReview)
Jack D. Forbes, Only approved Indians can play made in USA (#Review)
The title of the next story in Great short stories by contemporary Native American writers is almost as long as the story itself. Well, not quite, but, occupying just two pages in the anthology, it is a short short story. It was first published the same year, 1983, as the previous story, "Turtle meat" by … Continue reading Jack D. Forbes, Only approved Indians can play made in USA (#Review)
Joseph Bruchac III, Turtle meat (#Review)
I'm continuing to work through the stories in Great short stories by contemporary Native American writers. With this post, we jump from 1968 to 1983, which mens we are getting close to contemporary territory. The story is "Turtle meat" by Jospeh Bruchac III. Joseph Bruchac III As before, I'm using anthology editor Bob Blaisdell's intro … Continue reading Joseph Bruchac III, Turtle meat (#Review)
Tuesday Atzinger, The River (#Review)
Back in January I reviewed two stories from Ellen van Neerven and Rafeif Ismail's anthology Unlimited futures: Speculative, visionary Blak+Black fiction for Bill's (The Australian Legend) Australian Women Writers Gen 5 Week. The stories I reviewed were the second and third in the anthology because they were the first two by Australians in it. The … Continue reading Tuesday Atzinger, The River (#Review)
Leslie Marmon Silko, The man to send rain clouds (#Review)
After a two-month hiatus, I return to my reading from Great short stories by contemporary Native American writers with a three-decade jump from D'Arcy McNickle's 1936-published "Train time" to Leslie Marmon Silko's "The man to send rain clouds", which was published in 1968 . Leslie Marmon Silko Again, I'm using anthology editor Bob Blaisdell's brief … Continue reading Leslie Marmon Silko, The man to send rain clouds (#Review)
William Trevor, The dressmaker’s child (#Review)
I knew, when Kim (Reading Matters) and Cathy (746 Books) announced their "A year with William Trevor" project, that I had a little book containing some William Trevor short stories but, could I find it? Nope. It was a little book after all. And then, voilà, just the other day while I was doing my … Continue reading William Trevor, The dressmaker’s child (#Review)
D’Arcy McNickle, Train time (#Review)
Continuing my reading from Great short stories by contemporary Native American writers, we now jump a decade from John M. Oskison's 1925-published "The singing bird" to D'Arcy McNickle's "Train time" which was published in 1936 . D'Arcy McNickle As before, I'm using both anthology editor Bob Blaisdell's brief intro and Wikipedia's article to introduce this … Continue reading D’Arcy McNickle, Train time (#Review)
Whispering Gums 