The Danforth Review
asked 21 writers what curriculum they would bring to class, if they were asked to teach an introductory level course on "the short story." (via
Bookninja)
For my
introductory fiction classes I've used
On Writing Short Stories, which has most of the usual suspects. I use:
Hills Like White Elephants (Hemingway) * Bullet in the Brain (Wolff) * Everything That Rises Must Converge (O'Connor) * A&P (Updike) * Cathedral (Carver) * A Rose for Emily (Faulkner) * The Lady with the Little Dog (Chekhov) * Sonny's Blues (Baldwin) * The Things They Carried (O'Brien) * Lust (Susan Minot)
I supplement this list with a packet of short-shorts:
Marin (Sandra Cisneros) * Reconstructed Transcript of Mr. Walter D. (“Walt”) DeLasandro Jr.’s Parents’ Marriage’s End, May 1956 (DFW) * Girl (Kincaid) * The School (Barthelme) * Borges & I (Borges) * The Old Dictionary (Lydia Davis) * All-American (Diane Williams) * On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning (Haruki Murakami)
I'll use another story for the mock workshop day. Last summer it was Jonathan Lethem's "The Spray"; I may use that one again, or I may go with someone else.
# posted by
Gerry Canavan @ 9:07 PM
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