Short story addiction

Let’s face it; I’m addicted to short stories. They’ve always been a favorite genre. Some authors I follows are Alice Munro, Ann Beattie, Sandra Cisneros, Flannery O’Connor, Annie Proulx, and Junot Diaz to name a few. The other day, when I should have been working on the next chapter of my new book, I picked up the December 17 issue of the New Yorker and couldn’t resist reading Marisa Silvers’ story “Creatures.”

A father and mother are meeting with a fat teacher who’s reporting on the aggressive behavior of their young son Marco. “It’s the gunplay I’m concerned about,” she said.

“You have guns here?” he asked.

“Of course not. I’m talking about Marco’s guns.”

In the first paragraph the mother had chided the father for making fun of the teacher’s fatness and changed the discussion to the more serious subject that “we shouldn’t judge people by their looks because what counted was on the inside.”

When I read her statement, I suspected it might have later significance. And as the story unfolded I sensed approaching darkness. At the end the reader understands how much what’s inside us does count.

“Creatures” is a good read.

For more information about Ms Silver and her writing, visit http://marisasilver.com