Clyde Edgerton

I read a great short story last night called, "Send Me to the Electric Chair" in the anthology BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 1997 ed. Annie Proulx, a Deering High graduate. Edgerton made the short story into a novel called WHERE TROUBLE SLEEPS. It is certainly a novel I'm am going to read in the near future.

Short Stories

I am all over these short stories featured in the Best American Short Stories Series. I am reading through the 2001 edition right now. I've read portions of the 2007, 2005, and 2003 editions and have been introduced to some incredible authors that are not right at the front of all the bookstores. In my opinion, the authors at the front of the stores, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, and Stephen King, do not write as well as some of the authors I've read in these collections like E.L. Doctorow, Andrea Barrett, and Rick Bass. I'll be raving about these stories all summer, but I just wanted to give props to these writers that really should be the bestselling authors, which some are, but are not appreciated by the book-buying public like they should. If you haven't read any of these yet, I encourage you to do so. You might want to start with the 2007 edition edited by Stephen King. King picked out some truly memorable reads.

"Servants of the Map" by Andrea Barrett

On a better note, I'm currently reading a short story and am blown away by it. The writing is superb and the plot is captivating. It is so deep and detailed. I highly recommend it. It so far reminds me of Abigail and John Adams letters to each other.

"Old Friends" by Thomas McGuane

There's no question I have ADD when it comes to many things, but especially reading. I skip around from story to story. Today, I read a short story called "Old Friends." The story first appeared in THE NEW YORKER, but I read it in The Best American Short Stories 2005. For someone like me, that ADD I talked about before, short stories are great. I read them for a few minutes or an hour and BOOM done. Move on to the next thing. If it's a disappointment, well at least you haven't invested a bunch of time. I don't feel my time was wasted on "Old Friends," but I was a little disappointed. It caused me to think about it for a bit, which is one trademark of a good story, but I wasn't blown away by it. If anyone is looking for a great short story, stay in the same book and read the first one by Tom Bissell called, "The Smile on Happy Chang's Face." Great Stuff.