I know a lot of you have ordered this collection and are already reading it, but I promised Rick Ollerman, the editor, that I would try and mention it now and then. Rick is ill and cannot do the events to promote it. So if you guys could talk it up a bit, maybe we can do Bill proud (and Angela and Rick and Down and Out Books).
Both of the two stories I read were excellent. At first I was put off a bit by the ending of William Kent Kruger's Innocence but then I realized he had done something really different with his story. He had made, you, the reader, a mark. Like the woman in his story. A man and his daughter roll into town and seek help from a local waitress, newly widowed. I will say no more.
Joe Lansdale's, (Promise Me) was more conventional, but just as good. It's about two guys hired to bring down a mild-mannered accountant who inexplicably has stolen money from his boss. Although you see the ending coming, watching it played out in such skillful lands is a pleasure.
I also enjoyed Angela's words about her father. And I think they are not so different from what my kids would say about their Dad. That he was a bit of an enigma to them. Always available, but he played his cards close to his chest. Shy in a crowd. Kind, and gave more than he took. Stood out in his field. Devoted to his wife. These men don't come along often. That's why they are missed so dreadfully.
20 comments:
I'm glad you're talking this one up, Patti. I really do want to read it, and it does sound great.
Yes, very true. And I liked Angela's story quite a bit too. I finished the book yesterday. With authors including Krueger and Lansdale plus Patricia Abbott (very good story), James Reasoner, Angela Crider Neary, Sara Paretsky (also very good), James Sallis, S. J. Rozan (another fun story about Lydia Chin's mother) among others, and a few heartfelt comments about Bill, this is a must-have anthology.
I read 33 stories this week, most in this and the Santlofer anthology mentioned last time. So far, 101 in January and 77 in February.
Jeff, you are amazing! I might read 33 short stories in a month!
I have to admit, my mind could not focus on that many narratives back to back. After I read a short story, I need at least or day or two to absorb it. I guess you need to practice.
For whatever reason, I have been reading mostly shorter works so far this year. I read one, check out blogs and newspapers for a few minutes, then go on to the next one. I am trying to read more novels, but don't know why it has gone this way. And every day I keep getting more stuff in! George generously sent two huge Race Williams collections, I got the new Crippen & Landru collection by Freeman Wills Crofts, and new suggestions (by you people) keep me checking the library, Amazon, and ABE.
One thing I've found with anthologies is, you can read a story by a new (to you) author and think, man, this is really good. I need to read more of their stuff.
Also, if you think about it, it isn't that much. For the first ten days of February I was reading two stories a day. If they are 10-15 pages each, that's not that much. And if you take a break between them, or read a "heavy" story followed by a lighter one, it is easy. Since then I have read a lot more, but most are relatively short stories. Once you start reading stories that are, say, 25 pages or longer, I tend to only read one a day. And, of course, some writers have very short stories, so the totals can add up. I only read ten books in February, three of them short story collections. It's a matter of balance and how you feel at the time, I guess.
I guess for me it is trouble in changing gears from author to author especially. It is easier to read an anthology by a single author than the mix.
I bought a print copy which arrived here yesterday. My first thought when it arrived was the fact that unlike a magazine of short stories which I tend to read in one sitting, I will need to break up my reading a bit when I do this one.
I do want to mention two more stories from IT OCCURS TO ME THAT I AM AMERICA, that stand out along with Sara Paretsky's "Safety First." They are S. J. Rozan's "If They Come in the Morning" and Richard Russo's "Top Step."
Sounds like a antho worth getting.
Boy, I could not read a magazine in one sitting either.
I'm almost through it, and it's terrific, especially liked your story. The ending of Kent's story bummed me, but I detected a ray of hope, maybe? An excellent anthology everyone should own.
It was a difficult ending but clever that it made me realize how easily fooled a person might be by a man with a child asking for help.
I have my copy of BULLETS AND OTHER HURTING THINGS now, and I will read from it soon and do a post on the book.
I also have two books of science fiction short stories that Rick just sent me to read soon: COSMIC CORSAIRS (space pirates!) and MINISTRY OF DISTURBANCE AND OTHER SF.
So I am set for a while. I find I can read 3 or 4 stories from a collection, then take a rest and let it soak in. Sometimes I don't like a short story the first time, then I go back and see it differently.
I really do need to read science fiction stories!
The link to Kevin's went bad.
https://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/2021/03/short-story-wednesday-review-thuglit.html
Ah, well, my comment, with a typo I meant to fix, now gone.
I sure am dealing with some beat-down computers here.
Unless I push myself, as for some recent Weds., or am on a roll for some other reason, I'm usually a short story per day person...one of the few life-prescriptions I tend to agree with "Lester Del Rey" about...you might not want to blur stories together too much.
Thanks for cheerleading for the Crider memorial book...given the circumstances you cite. It's past time I ordered it. (Unlike the Go-Go's book, where I think I might've made a useful contribution, I'll grant that I might not've done anything up to the standards of the book you all have come up with.)
Of all the kinds of science fiction there are, are you looking for any particular kind of sf to dig into? There are certainly enough stories, new and old, that could put one off, even as there are items of more than passing brilliance. Sometimes both. (I'm always surprised, and probably shouldn't be, when someone expresses annoyance with Joanna Russ's metafictional effects...perhaps I should nudge more toward her earlier, and often more straightforward, horror fiction, or her contemporary mimetic writing in the little magazines.)
I’m still awaiting my copy and can’t wait to read it. I’m overwhelmed by Rick’s organization, the writers’ contributions, and, of course, the readers’ support and comments. Dad would be blown away.
Thank you, Jeff. Hope you and Jackie are well.
Post a Comment