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6 Essential Collections To Celebrate Short Story Month

Good morning and welcome back to the L.A. Times Book Club newsletter.

I'm Jim Ruland, a fiction writer, punk historian and a longtime contributor to the Los Angeles Times, and this summer I'll be writing the L.A. Times Book Club newsletter.

In addition to being Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, May is Short Story Month and I've got a ton of recommendations of new, recently published and forthcoming short story collections for you.

Once a staple of newspapers and magazines, short stories have few outlets to call home these days. With every magazine that goes out of print, there's less space for short fiction. Short story collections are less likely to receive coverage than novels. That means readers looking for a good story have to seek them out.

Unlike National Poetry Month, which was launched in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets, Short Story Month hasn't been around for very long and does not have the support of a national organization. It started in April 2007 and is the brainchild of Dan Wickett of Emerging Writers Network and is celebrated by those of us who love the form.

I once believed the advent of the internet would lead to an explosion in the form — it seemed the perfect venue for stories you could read in one sitting. I was wrong. Now our attention span has been obliterated by social media. How can the genius of Anton Chekhov compete with short video clips of pets (and their humans) exhibiting all manner of questionable behavior?

One thing we can all agree on is that few short story writers did it better than Alice Munro, who passed away this week at the age of 92.

Munro devoted almost her entire career to the art of the short story, penning innovative tales that widened the lens of short fiction. She published her last collection of stories in 2012 and was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature the following year.

When news broke Tuesday of Munro's death, novelist and short story writer Laura van den Berg wrote on X: "I've learned an endless amount from Munro's refusal of clean resolution & her embrace of unfurling possibility. The quiet art of wrestling w/ the big questions."

Lit Hub's Emily Temple penned a short remembrance and Granta removed the paywall for four of Munro's stories.

(Please note: The Times may earn a commission through links to Bookshop.Org, whose fees support independent bookstores.)

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Recommendations for recent, new and forthcoming collections

Although Munro didn't need a translator, her short stories opened up the lives of rural Canadians to the rest of the world. No other art form lets you inhabit the consciousness of another with such immediacy. I especially love reading translated stories from other parts of the world, and there have been some outstanding collections this year:

"My Documents: Stories" by Alejandro Zambra and translated by Megan McDowell (Penguin, February 2024)Originally published in English in 2015, Zambra's stories drew comparisons to his countryman Roberto Bolaño. The new edition features five new stories and a foreword by Megan McDowell, who has translated virtually all of Zambra's work into English.

"Through the Night Like a Snake: Latin American Horror" edited by Sarah Coolidge (Two Lines Press, March 2024)Short stories are still one of the best ways for readers to discover new voices. This collection brings together powerhouses like Argentina's Mariana Enriquez and rising stars such as Ecuador's Mónica Ojeda.

"Ghost Years" by Barry Gifford (Seven Stories Press, April 2024)The author of '90s novels "Wild at Heart" and "Perdita Durango" is still cranking out his signature style of quirky, dialogue-heavy epiphanic tales. In recent years, his work has centered on a boy named Roy with a glamorous mother and a gangster father in 1950s Chicago that bears a resemblance to his own upbringing.

"The Novices of Lerna" by Ángel Bonomini and translated by Jordan Landsman (Transit Books, May 2024)Regarded as one of Argentina's untranslated treasures, these stories were originally published 50 years ago. A peer of Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortazar, Bonomini's strange and captivating stories are worth the wait. Read the story "Aromatic Herbs" here.

"Mouth" by Puloma Ghosh (Astra House, June 2024)With stories ranging from the speculative to the surreal, Chicago writer Puloma Ghosh takes readers to the edge of the known world and pushes them over the edge.

"You Are the Snake" by Juliet Escoria (Soft Skull Press, June 2024)Cult favorite Juliet Escoria left San Diego for West Virginia and is back with a new collection of stories full of razor-sharp insights.

The Week(s) in Books: Rock Renaissance?

Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre in Pasadena on April 10.

(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)

Even though it's getting harder to find rock 'n' roll on the radio — harder even than finding an actual radio — rockers from the '80s and '90s are telling their stories. The result? A plethora of rock memoirs that are a welcome break from the struggle-stardom-recovery template of so many rock tomes of the '70s.

This week Michael Malone interviewed Serj Tankian, the lead vocalist of System of a Down, whose new book, wait for it, "Down With the System," was released on Tuesday. "I was very honest because that's who I am," said Tankian. "I'm an activist, and without being honest, there's no activism." Preach.

Earlier this month, Lauren LeBlanc profiled Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre about her new book, "Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk." You can still get tickets to see Hanna in conversation with Amy Poehler on Monday, May 20, at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in an event presented by Book Soup.

Mike Magrann of the L.A. Punk rock band CH3 will read from his autobiographical road novel "Miles Per Gallon" at the Cerritos Library on June 5 at 6pm. The event will be followed by a performance of CH3 songs.

Meanwhile, the music industry continues to mourn the death of legendary musician, producer and Gen X pain-in-the-ass Steve Albini. Mikael Wood assembled a list of 12 essential songs Albini wrote, recorded and/or produced that changed rock music.

Also this week, Jessica Ferri talked to Miranda July about her new novel "All Fours," a kind of portrait of the artist at mid-life: "It's only getting weirder and weirder!"

Bookstore faves

Every few weeks, we check in with an L.A. Bookseller or librarian about what books they're loving. This week it's Alexandra Jade, a bookseller at Stories Books and Café.

Stories carries a mix of new and used books and has a cozy little cafe and an outdoor patio in the back where it holds readings and conversations between writers. Jade sent me a list of some of the staff's favorite writers of short fiction:

"When We Cease to Understand the World" by Benjamin Labatut and translated by Adrian Nathan WestA genre-bending hybrid of fiction and narrative nonfiction told in a style that Labatut has made his own.

"Terminal Boredom" and "Hit Parade of Tears" by Izumi Suzuki with multiple translatorsSpeculative short stories from the legendary Japanese storyteller.

"Tales of Falling and Flying" by local author Ben LooryThere are two kinds of readers: those who love Loory's strange stark stories and those who haven't encountered them yet.

"Blow-Up and Other Stories" by Julio Cortazar and translated by Paul BlackburnFifteen stories in which unsuspecting characters stumble into scenarios at odds with the normal rules that govern reality.

"The World Goes On" by Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai and multiple translatorsAs unforgettable as it is unusual, a narrator relates a series of tales that showcases the writing of the winner of the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.

Stories also reported considerable interest in these new releases:

"Alphabetical Diaries" by Sheila Heti, who deftly rearranges her diary entries in such a way that imbues them with new meaning and arresting insights.

"My First Book" by Gen Z sensation Honor Levy, who celebrated her first collection at Stories last night.

Stories is a stalwart supporter of indie lit and carries a number of titles by local independent publishers, including Archway Editions (an imprint of powerHouse Books) and Dream Boy Book Club, "books for people who don't read books."

That's it for now! I hope the rest of your weekend is full of books that are everything you want them to be.

Alice Munro: Five Classic Short Stories

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Nobel-winning Canadian writer Alice Munro was best known as a master of the short story. Here are five from her celebrated trove:

In one of her earliest stories, Munro delved into what would become a signature theme: the complex, often fraught transition to adulthood.

Set on a fox farm and told from the point of view of a young girl, "Boys and Girls" explores gender conventions in 1940s small-town Ontario -- Munro's birthplace and home, and the setting for much of her writing.

The story was included in her first book "Dance of the Happy Shades" (1968).

This story is about daily family violence in a rural Canadian town begins with stepmother Flo's threat to administer a "royal beating" to her fiery teenaged stepdaughter, Rose.

The girl's imagination is sparked by the term, and she imagines chariots, horses and kings, but she discovers a far more brutal reality when her father beats her with his belt.

Munro would delve deeper into the world of Flo and Rose in "Who Do You Think You Are?" (1978), a collection of interlinked stories about the two women that was nominated for the Booker Prize.

Reminiscing about growing up, the 30-something real-estate agent Euphemia ponders her parents' dysfunctional marriage and her decision to run away from home and reject all they stood for.

Love in the course of the story does not progress so much as it congeals and becomes intermingled with recrimination, and through Euphemia's conflicted feelings, Munro's explores how emotions evolve.

The characters "so resemble ourselves that reading about them, at times, is emotionally risky," wrote Joyce Carol Oates in the New York Times in 1986.

Sadness pervades this story about a man who loses his wife to Alzheimer's, with Munro unflinching observation of the devastating details of the disease as it erodes memory, language and personality.

It was adapted for the screen in 2006 as "Away from Her" by Canadian compatriot Sarah Polley and with Julie Christie as the ill-fated wife, earning two Oscar nominations including best actress.

An expertly rendered central deception in this story dupes reader and protagonist alike, showcasing Munro's careful and intricate weaving of storylines in deceptively banal settings.

Corrie, a young wealthy woman who seems destined for spinsterhood, embarks on a years-long affair with an architect, Howard.

When he tells her a mutual acquaintance has discovered their secret and is blackmailing them, Corrie agrees to pay a monthly stipend to keep the potential snitch quiet.

But, years later, she discovers this was a lie and Howard had been pocketing the money all along.

Munro, who liked to revisit and tweak her stories even years later, changed the ending for the version of "Corrie" that appeared in her collection "Dear Life" published in 2012.

For Munro, her stories "cause second thoughts," said Margaret Atwood on The New Yorker Fiction podcast in 2019, "she liked rethinking things and wondering whether she got it right the first time".

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'A Great Gay Book' Provides Compelling Short Stories, Essays, Graphic Panels And More

The exciting anthology, "A Great Gay Book: Stories of Growth, Belonging & Other Queer Possibilities," publishing May 21, is edited by Ryan Fitzgibbon, founder of the now defunct "Hello Mr." magazine. This 432-page volume collects more than 50 interviews, poems, short stories, essays, graphic panels and more. The entries are compelling enough to enjoy back-to-back-to-back, but they are also worth savoring as Fitzgibbon has compiled selections "to encourage reflection." The arrangement of the pieces often allows readers to consider an idea or topic such as connection, and how we interact with others, to religion's impact on queer lives, to ideas about gender. 

The book certainly lives up to its title. "A Great Gay Book" opens with an article that originally appeared in Fitzgibbon's "Hello Mr." magazine entitled, "On Writing a Great, Gay Book." Hanya Yanagihara, author of "A Little Life," interviews Garth Greenwell, author of "What Belongs to You" about what it means to be a gay writer and write a gay book. This is bookended by "Saying Hello to New Queer Voices," in which Colby Anderson, in conversation with Yezmin Villarreal, considers opportunities for queer women and nonbinary and trans writers and content creators.

The design playfully changes type and color in ways that make many entries inviting to read. Most of the stories are short, and Fitzgibbon wisely juxtaposes text and images, so the flow of the book never feels too dense. He includes naughty photo essays such as "Fire Island" by Robert Andy Coombs, and "Screen Test" by Daniel Shea, as well as poems, such as the deliberately designed "Good Dick Is a Myth" by Mack Rogers, to provide nice breathers between some of the wordier selections.

"A Great Gay Book" feels like a big classy zine at times which is quaintly appealing. (Brontez Purnell's "Fag School #6 ½," included herein, literally is a republished zine.) Most of the pieces originally appeared in Fitzgibbon's publication, and a section devoted to each of the cover models from the ten published issues of "Hello Mr" makes it feel like a greatest hits collection.

But such self-indulgence can be forgiven as some of the republished magazine pieces are beneficial to new readers. They also provide some of the best entries. "Kehinde Wiley in 3D" by Antwaun Sargent, is exceptional in how it unpacks visibility. "When you look at me, do you see me?" Wiley asks unflinchingly. Likewise, "The Recording" by Khalid El Khatib, which recounts the author's tense coming out to his Muslim Palestinian father, is a very moving selection. Equally impressive is "He Opened Up Somewhere Along the Eastern Shore," by Jason Hanasik, a gay man who has an unexpectedly poignant encounter with a straight man during a road trip they reluctantly take. And "The Mother, The Son, and The Holy Spirit," by Dany Salvatierra, is a fantastic piece about a gay man who visits his religious mother and has to navigate her world without completely denying his. It is valuable that these entries are now available to reach a wider audience.

There are several memorable essays and interviews that are original to this volume. Chief among them is "Anal Fisting: A Case Study of the Mental and Rectal Elasticity of the Human Male," in which Sam Finkelstein recalls his fascinating experience performing the titular sex act on a very willing and encouraging stranger and how the encounter impacted each man. "Blurry Soles," by Mathew Rodriguez, begins with a discussion of a diabetes exam and leads to a consideration of the author's unabashed foot fetish. Rodriguez's candor is terrific. And "Back to Start: The 'Lady' Bunny," is Martin Beck's illuminating conversation with the drag superstar that showcases the performer's integrity as well as her disdain for political correctness. The book's biggest misfire, however, is "Shut Up After You're Thirty: Charles Rogers in Search of John Waters's Approval," in which the co creator of the series "Search Party" meets his filmmaking idol and tests the readers' patience with his anxiety. 

"A Great Gay Book" also includes some superb fiction that was originally published elsewhere and is reprinted here. Former PGN editor's Jason Villemez's haunting story, "All These Cats Have AIDS," recounts an activist looking back on a defining moment in his life. It contains vivid imagery, such as sarcomas that "looked like islands [countries]." Likewise, "The House of the Sleeping Beaus," by John Better Armelia, is an evocative story about a young man who finds work in a brothel in Columbia and is surrounded by a palpable atmosphere of sex.

Fitzgibbon also includes brief entries featuring key queer voices in contemporary gay literature. Bryan Washington's ("Lot," "Memorial") entry, "How to Talk to Strangers," provides darkly amusing advice, and Ocean Vuong ("On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous") is represented by "Notebook Fragments," a poem in notebook form from his collection "Night Sky with Exit Wounds." 

One of the book's highlights is "Clear Constellations: Mapping the Cultural Pinpoints of Critic Wesley Morris," a profile of the Philadelphia native who is a Pulitzer Prize-winner, a podcaster, and a writer-at-large for the New York Times. As J Wortham interviews him, Morris discusses hearing Nina Simone for the first time, or why he hates the film "Carol." The engaging conversation ends too soon because one feels Morris has so much more to say. 

And "A Great Gay Book" leaves readers wanting more. Hopefully, Fitzgibbon will produce another volume in the future.

"A Great Gay Book: Stories of Growth, Belonging & Other Queer Possibilities" is available May 21.

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