Mar
13
In effort to improve the relationship between bookseller and customer, I have initiated a revision of the staff picks section at the store. Each bookseller is to construct a little display with an introduction paired with reviews of their picks and a portrait of some kind. This is the introduction I've come up with, detailing two of my life loves: short fiction and desserts.For me, there is nothing more gratifying in the world of literature than a well-crafted short story. To break a heart in fewer than 8,000 words is no easy feat, yet some writers succeed with less than two full pages. Short stories share the imagery and precision of poetry, yet don’t hide behind aesthetic ambiguity. They are bold and provocative, but above all, concise. They are the intriguing, thoughtful intellectual who rarely speaks, or the skinny kid with a strong punch. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be fun. Short stories are to the written word what cupcakes are to baked goods: a masterful balance of beauty and substance, the perfect size to whet an appetite, yet somehow too oft-forgotten. From Borges to Calvino, Kafka to Twain, and J.D. Salinger to Flannery O’Connor, I could easily consume them all.
