Today the winner of The Story Prize, a prize established in 2004 to honor short story collections, was announced.
- Battleborn, by Claire Vaye Watkins
The other two finalists were:
- Stay Awake, by Dan Chaon
- This Is How You Lose Her, by Junot Díaz
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Never read her. Read the other finalists though. This is how you lose her was quite good.
Oh no, Steve, we’re going to differ again. I didn’t read all of This Is How You Lose Her, but I just cannot get into Díaz. I also haven’t read Battleborn, but it looks interesting. I’m planning on digging into it soon.
So which “short story writers” do you get into? Curious.
My favorites — and I know it’s a bit cliche — are Alice Munro and William Trevor. Those two have actually had a tangible influence on my life as I live it.
I am also a big fan of Steven Milhauser, Maile Meloy, Tessa Hadley, Alan Heathcock, Thomas McGuane, Javier Marias, Tobias Wolff, Lydia Davis, Deborah Eisenberg, Alistair MacLeod, and Georges-Olivier Châteaureynard. Some I’ve liked in the past but haven’t been thrilled lately are Chris Adrian, Karen Russell, and George Saunders.
And as for those who have gone, I can think of none better than Flannery O’Connor and Eudora Welty, but I also love Checkov, Salinger, John McGahern, and Isaac Babel.
I’m sure I’m leaving plenty off of those lists. How about you?
I just discovered Richard Yates and he is highly underrated as a short story teller. It’s unbelievable he never published a story in The New Yorker. Check out one of his collections. A few of my favorite short story writers, old and new: Nabokov, Carver, Updike, Roth, Salinger, Bellow, Baldwin, Lahiri, Diaz, Edward P. Jones, McEwan, Mueenudin, Chabon. These are just the ones that come to mind quickly.
I like Munro and Trevor, they are legendary and they focused on short stories a lot in their career, but I just appreciate Nabokov and Carver more.
I love Richard Yates and read and wrote a very tiny bit about his collection of short stories here some time ago. I haven’t read anything from Liars in Love or from his uncollected stories (which have since been collected). It’s been nearly five years since I read anything by him, so it’s time I get back to one of my favorite authors. You mention several others I admire too, particularly Nabokov, Lahiri, and Carver. I have Mueenudin’s collection and have heard great things about it, but I haven’t read it yet. I’m also sad to say I’ve never read Edward P. Jones’ collection, and that’s a big deal I need to fix. I don’t necessarily consider Roth a short story writer, but I do like the ones he published.
Very glad to meet another lover of short stories, Steve, even if we differ in some areas. Hope you feel welcome and will let us know your thoughts on many!
Yeah, Roth and Baldwin aren’t really short story writer’s but I loved “Going to meet the man” and “Goodbye Columbus.” Cool, I’ll check out your blog from time to time.