Dear readers,
Is it just me, or does May also feel to you like a month to focus on completion?
In April, I had so many Post-It notes going I wore them like a To-Do List suit on all my errands without fear of arrest. As soon as one was done, I replaced it with another.
But the ones that followed me into this month are losing their stickiness. I’m letting them fall like I think someone’s going to start throwing me $20 bills.
These days I just want to finish what I start and breathe a little before taking on any new commitments.
Yes, the fact that my occupational rhythm has been pegged to the northern hemisphere academic calendar for a solid 20 years likely has a lot to do with this senioritis-like feeling. This year I may also be particulary weary from a vigilant effort to stay informed (buzz! ping!) about events beyond my control, the kind requiring months or even years to play out to a resolution. It’s so unsatisfying.
So: May calls for some low-page-count reads. Many short stories can be read beginning to end over a cup of morning coffee or on the patio in the 20 minutes it takes for the mountains to deepen from sunset pink to azure blue. I can absorb a satisfying novella in a single afternoon.
This month I challenge you join me in enjoying compact reads for the satsifaction of completing a narrative arc in a single sitting, sans scroll breaks. If it feels good, repeat.
Originally, this was a long list of short books. But in the spirit of starting only what I feel certain I have the runway to complete, I cut it in half. In reverse chronological order of publication, here are some suggestions:
Our Strangers
Lydia Davis
Bookshop Editions
Oct 03, 2023 | 304 pages
Short stories (single author), Humor, Literary
I realize 304 pages is not really a short work. But trust me. This book is stocky in a 5 x 7 format and the over 100 stories it contains pithy, as those familiar with Lydia Davis might expect. For example, just in time for Mother’s Day:
I bought this book when it came out because I was intrigued by the concept of Bookshop Editions, an imprint of Bookshop.org in collaboration with Microcosm Publishing designed to publish authors who don’t want their works sold by Amazon. Our Strangers is available only from indie bookstores, libraries or Bookshop.org. I haven’t read much of it yet but I’ll likely have more to say about this unique aspect of the book in a later missive.
The Missing Morningstar
Stacie Shannon Denetsosie
Torrey House Press
Sept 12, 2023 | 144 pages
Short stories (single author), Native American, Literary
Tommy Orange blurbed this National Endowment for the Arts Award-winning collection of stories as “an absolute thrill to read.” Kirkus gave it a starred review, calling it “propulsive, complex.. a gorgeously written debut.” While on a panel at the Tucson Festival of Books, Stacie Shannon Denetsosie invited the audience to consider that all Native American fiction is post-apocalyptic. The first story, the mother-daughter themed “Dormant” which I read over breakfast this morning, cleverly thwarted its own expectations in a way that fit the bill.
By the way, you know who buys books? Festival goers. I stood in a sigificant line to pick up my copy of this one. You know who else buys books? Libraries. Because short stories tend not to be as popular as other genres, before adding this book to my list I checked for accessibility. My library has 7 copies. All were checked out. Beyond the American Southwest I don’t know if it will be as available, but if your library does not have it you might be able to request it.
Foster
Claire Keegan
Grove Press
Nov 1, 2022 | 104 pages
Literary, Small Town-Rural, World Literature, Coming of Age
I read the abridged version of this international bestseller about a nameless young girl left with a foster family in rural Ireland for a summer in the New Yorker a dozen years ago, before it was published as a book in the U.S. My memory of the plot is vague, but I remember feeling awed by how much feeling Keegan conveys between the characters even as few words pass between them. I’ve heard so many good things about the book, most recently from
who included it in her own love letter to books under 100 pages or “Tinies” as she calls them. I’m excited to finally read it this month.
A Perfect Cemetery
Federico Falco Translated by Jennifer Croft
Charco Press
April 6, 2021 | 175 pages
Short Stories(Single Author), Small Town-Rural, World Lit— Argentina, Black Humor
In making sense of The Extinction of Irena Rey, one of the books included in my April provocation, I went down the Jennifer Croft wormhole. In addition to authoring her own books, she’s largely credited with the discovery of 2018 Nobel Laureate Olga Tokarczuk by readers beyond Eastern Europe as she advocated fiercely for publishing contracts for her translations of Tokarczuk’s work.
In an interview I read, she mentioned that Argentine writer Federico Falco’s novel The Plains is her favorite thing she’s translated. This intrigued me— I studied Latin American literature but had never previously heard of Falco before. That translation won’t be available until October 2024, so in the meantime I look forward to familiarizing myself with his version of rural Argentina through these stories. I read a sample of one delivered via the Libby app, and it left me on a cliffhanger as I wait for my turn with the book.
In addition to minimal page count, I have a bit of a theme going this month with writers who stand up to the publishing world. In 2021 Jennifer Croft took a stand on the bird site that got her featured in The New York Times.
Is that something you’d like to hear more about?
The Hour of the Star
Clarice Lispector, Trans. Benjamin Moser
New Direcctions
Nov 11, 2011 | 128 pages
Literary, Women, World Literature— Brazil
Yes, I’m on the Lispector bandwagon. In college, I read some of her work under the guise of learning Portuguese. I find this a bit humorous, in English her work requires me to summon a willingness to slow down and parse sentences, underlining and returning to them again. The marketing copy promises The Hour of the Star “cuts away the reader's preconceived notions about poverty, identity, love and the art of fiction” and that sounds worth it.
This pick makes two books here blurbed by Tommy Orange— I added this particular title, her last, to my list after Orange mentioned it to Gilbert Cruz on The New York Times Book Review podcast as the book he has re-read most often.
So there you have it. Five books, clocking in under 900 pages for the whole set. Lots of opportunities to experience a beginning and an end without having to read every page.
Do you have any shorties on your own list this month, or might you pick up one of these? What else are you ready to find completion with this month?
As mentioned…
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I’m reading Near to the Wild Heart now (the bandwagon apparently has unlimited seating!) and it’s short but is taking me a lonnngggggg time to get through it is a bit mind boggling !
Now, this is interesting - especially intrigued by the Federico Falco.