Some of David Means’ stories are worth their own book club meeting.
The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li
There’s a wonderful distinction in "The Book of Goose" between game-real and the fearsome reality of the world. “Game-real” is when your gameplay is so intense it feels real. Only it isn’t. Only the changing world is real, and in this novel, it eats up people alive.
If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery
I’ve read novels, widely praised, by contemporary authors whose prose seems watery next to the lexical richness of ""If I Survive You".
A Calm and Normal Heart by Chelsea T. Hicks
She starts her stories when her heroines are at a turning point, whether leaving a relationship or beginning a new one, fleeing a city or returning home, and shows that changing their situation gets them to where they need to go. Often her characters look to their heritage to lead the way, and a strong part of their heritage is language.
Theodore Dreiser’s Short Story “Free”
In reality, Dreiser went looking, searching, and I can’t say if he found what he was looking for in a woman. He had so many, one wonders if his search proved somewhat futile.
Suburban Hell
Do authors still care what readers think? Are they writing for an audience? Is this “novel writing business” still about entertainment? I guess. Whatever. Consider me entertained, just make it Cormac McCarthy dark. If I ever meet the man, I’ll thank him for his contributions to the literary canon and like Mr. Franzen remind him it’s not his fault Oprah picked him.