"Fifty Best American Short Stories", Edited by Martha Foley

I love short stories, and I consider the short story to be the best form of all writing in literature. It has almost no room for error. Even the simplest little changes can either make a short story truly great or turn a potentially great short story into something very ordinary. I have read and studied the short story form ever since my high school days which were a mighty long time ago. I also write and have published about 20 short stories in at least 12 states in a variety of both college and university literary journals and some of the better online websites. I published my first short story in my twenties. But I don't pretend to be an expert on the short story, and I surely don't pretend to be a great short story writer. I do profess to be a good short story writer, and I believe the significant number of editors and/or editorial committees who have accepted and published my stories is some level of proof of their agreement with me about my self assessment. The best way to become a good to great short story writer is to read stories by the authors whom other people who understand the short story believe to be the best in the world. Everyone has their own opinion of what a great short story is, and there is room for some disagreement since the idea of stating what is a good to great short story is very subjective. It should also be very objective and sometimes editors are more subjective than objective. I remember one story I submitted to a book project in Texas, as I recall, and I got a handwritten rejection from the editor who had rejected it which said something to the effect that "This story really doesn't fit our project goals, but it sure is an interesting story." Did that editor mean that "interesting" was a good thing or something less. Since he bothered to send me a handwritten rejection, I assume he liked the story. You never know in a case like that. But to get to the point of this blog post, I am actually supposed to be writing about the book of stories which I recently finished by reading one stor a day from the book with my wife. This particular book, "Fifty Best American Short Stories" Edited By Martha Foley, was published in 1986 and contains stories from 1915 to 1964. It contains short stories from several of my favorite authors although the stories the editor chose are sometimes not my favorite stories by a particular author. It also contains some stories from people whom I had never read who might not make anyone's top ten or top fifty list of short story authors which speaks to that subjectivity of which I spoke earlier. But it is overall a very good book of short stories and well worth reading. The authors in this collection whom I had already placed on my list of favorites includes Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Ray Bradbury, Flannery O'Connor, and Shirley Jackson. Interestingly, the editor did not include the story I consider to be each of those writers' best. She might have been bowing to copyright restrictions on what she considered their best but included another story from each of them in a bow to what she considers their overall greatness. Or maybe we just have differing opinions, hence subjectivity rears its head. If you can find a copy of this old collection, buy it, read it, and make up your own mind while trying to be totally objective about the process.

"Bradbury Stories" by Ray Bradbury, Thoughts On Reading 100 Short Stories By The Master

This massive collection of Ray Bradbury's short stories was first published in 2005, seven years before the author's death, and contains an introduction by Bradbury himself. The book is 893 pages and contains stories which Bradubury wrote and published in a multitude of magazines and a few of his own books roughly between the years of 1945? and 2000. Much of the world, even the literary world, think of Bradury as a "science fiction writer" which he was having written two of the best novels ever in that genre, "Farhenheit 451" and "Something Wicked This Way Comes". But Bradury was much more than just a science fiction writer or even "one of the best science fiction writers". It is much more accurate to say that Bradury was "a writer", period, the end. He wrote in many genres, and nearly all genres of stories appear in this collection. If you love the short story as I do, you need to read this book. In terms of time from the first published story in the book to the most recently published story, it covers roughly sixty years in the development of the American Short Story. In terms of genres of short stories, it covers science fiction, mystery,suspense, coming of age, humor, and nearly every generally accepted type of short story in the American oeuvre. My wife and I often read the same books together with me reading aloud while she washes the dishes in the morning, and then I rinse the dishes becasue it requires more motion and she is in a wheelchair. We usually take turns choosing a book to read in the mornings which is customarily a novel with an occasional work of nonfiction. But we have also, of late, decided to read a single short story after supper each night, sometimes from an anthology, sometimes from a complete collection by one author such as this one. This is the most massive collection of stories we have ever attempted and, at one story a day, it naturally took nearly four months since sometimes we are out and about and just don't have time to read a story when we get back home. But this collection was well worth that time. It contains many of the Bradury stories you might have heard or seen mentioned in magazines, books, and on television as being among his best. It also contains some others of his best which don't usually get mentioned in those common settings. In the introduction, Bradury specifically mentions several which I assume he considered among his best, or simply his favorites. One of those is "The Laurel And Hardy Love Affair" about a man and woman who both love a particular scene in a Laurel and Hardy movie, The Piano Movers Scene as it is generally known. They reenact some of their favorite moments from the work of Laurel and Hardy as a part of their love affair and that love for the two comedians helps bind their love for each other together. Actually, Bradury's love for Laurel and Hardy is the subject matter of more than one of his stories. Other stories also highlight parts of the lives or works of other Bradbury heroes, great writers, great actors, great politicians, and all of the stories which fall into this subset are among his best. There are also seveal stories which fall into a genre known as Coming of Age Stories in which teenage boys are the protagonists. Those stories, much like the novel "Something Wicked This Way Comes", leave you believing that Bradbury must have had a wonderful childhood. One of those stories, "All On A Summer's Night", is about a young boy who lives in his grandmother's boarding house with a broad collection of both men and women; some young, beautiful women; some single men who often buy gifts for those young, beautiful women; and one somewhat older, less attractive, female librarian who has helped the young boy to enter the wonderful world of books. That story is typical of several others in the collection which are set in the literary world or feature literary authors or their worksHe watches the older males buy gifts for the beautiful young women on the Fourth of July, heads off to the store to spend his savings on fireworks for the night's celebration, and changes his mind after he gets to the town's commercial district. He decides to spend his savings to buy the ignored librarian some perfume and to ask her to go out with him on the town that night to observe the celebration. It is a touching story and one of Bradbury's best. There are also several stories set in an Irish pub owned by a man named Heber Finn and peopled by a group of local men who typify the Irish whom Bradbury met during time he spent working in Ireland on a movie script. They are a fine group of local characters including a well offman with a fine collection of wine who directs in his will that the wine be opened and at his burial and poured into his grave. Heber Finn and his customers, including the local priest, find a way to both carry out the man's directive and subvert it simultaneously. The humor of the Heber Finn stories is among Bradury's best. The book contains stories which have been published in "Playboy", "McCalls", "Collier's", "Saturday Evening Post", "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction", "Harper's", "Weird Tales", "The New Yorker", "Esquire", and at least a couple of dozen others. Few writers in American literary history can say that they have been published in such a wide ranging collection of magazines. But then Bradbury wrote and published over 600 short stories in his life. Who else can say that?

"Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury--Reflections On A Science Fiction Classic

 

When I was in my high school years, I used to read a lot of science fiction, and westerns, at least for a few years, and have read most of the early classics.  For some reason or other, I missed out on "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury but read and loved his other classic novel, "Fahrenheit 451" which is actually solidly in the field of dystopian literature and less of a pure science fiction novel.  In fact, I had reread "Fahrenheit 451" with my wife in April of 2019 and wrote about it in the post linked above.  At that time, I was reading a lot dystopian literature because of the terrible political disaster which had been unfolding in America since June 16, 2015, and which is still unfolding before our eyes.  But somehow, I never had taken up Bradbury's other classic, "Something Wicked...".  

 

A few weeks ago, I decided to correct that error in my reading and ordered a copy of the 2017 Special Edition whose cover is pictured above.  I am truly glad I did.  I also read this one with my wife in a practice we have carried on for several years now in which I read out loud to her each day as she washes the dishes.  In addition to the original text, this edition of the book also has a roughly 70 page section of "History, Context, and Criticism" at the back of the novel.  It is well worth reading, both for the classic work itself and for the section of "History, Context, and Criticism".  The book apparently took Bradbury several years to bring it to fruition, first as a short story, and then as a novel in which he greatly expanded the text, renamed key characters, merged at least one character into another already in the text, and turned what must have been a pretty nice short story into one of the best known and loved novels in all of science fiction.  The novel does have some detractors who primarily quibble about the style which is unique.  But, in my opinion, that style is one of the best aspects of the book.  Most of the chapters are very short with only a few exceptions, usually in the later sections of the book.  The writing style is very crisp, short sentences, rapid interchanges between characters, and little extraneous narration or description.  But it is a wonderful book.  I do remember in the first few chapters that I also questioned the style but as I began to fully understand what Bradbury was accomplishing with the style I came to love the book.  It is every bit as good as any other classic science fiction or fantasy novel I have ever read.  It is better than most.  In fact, I will go so far as to say this novel is better than many highly praised novels in the greater body of what we sometimes droolingly call "great literature".  

The three protagonists are two twelve year old boys and the father of one of those boys who is 53 or 54 years old and, to his son, seems to be incredibly old and unlikely to be understood.  I laughed when I saw the writing about this age difference in light of the fact that my own father, whom I loved dearly and still do, was 64 when I was born but saw me grown before he died and will always be a major influence on everything I do, or have ever done.  The boys, on a forbidden midnight jaunt in the neighborhood, see a carnival hauled by an ancient train, pull into and set up in a meadow near an abandoned railroad crossing at the edge of their sleepy little Midwestern town.  They become fascinated by the carnival and its owners Cooger and Dark, who are, naturally, the villains in the novel.  As the story progresses, the boys realize that the carnival is evil and on a mission to destroy them and anyone else with whom it comes into contact.  Finally, Will's somewhat aged father, Charles Halloway, joins the boys in their effort to save themselves and the town from the carnival and its evil proprietors.  Two mechanical portions of the carnival also play heavily into the suspense of the story.  The merry go round and the hall of mirrors are tools which the proprietors use to practice their evil on their unsuspecting victims.  Charles Halloway, his son Will, and Wills' best friend Jim learn the truth about the carnival and manage to snatch their collective bacon out of the fire just in time.  Bradbury builds the suspense throughout the novel in a way that is slow, methodical, relentless, and terrifying.  It is a masterful piece of work.  I won't spoil it for you by divulging too much of the plot.  But take my word for it, it is well worth your time and money. 

"Fahrenheit 451" By Ray Bradbury--Book Review

Ray Bradbury--Photo by britishfantasysociety.org

Reading "Fahrenheit 451" represents a return to reading dystopian literature for me which I have done intermittently since November 8, 2016.  In that time span I have read and posted about "1984" and "Animal Farm"  by George Orwell.  I have also attempted to maintain my regular reading list of Appalachian and general great literature but it has become increasingly more difficult to do so as the current illegitimate occupant of the White House has steadily veered farther toward compliance with his Russian Owner Vladimir Putin's wishes and attempted to force the country into a dystopian and Fascist bent in line with his own craving for illegitimate power and in response to his own seriously dangerous mental illness.  In many ways, this rereading of "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradury has been a pleasant return to a genuine classic of American Literature which I first read in my youth more than fifty years ago less than a decade after its original publication.  But the necessity of reading dystopian literature which has been forced on me and millions of other Americans by a treasonous band of Russian Agents who have managed, with the assistance of Vladimir Putin and his hackers, to seize the US White House has been a terrifying experience which those of us who actually value American Democracy have lived every day since November 8, 2016.  

But let's just get to the book in question and why it is a book you should also be reading with particularly close attention today.  "Fahrenheit 451" is a classic American novel which has generally been considered to be within the broad field of science fiction since its author, Ray Bradbury, was an acknowledged master of science fiction.  But it is bigger than one genre, any genre, since it has truly become one of the most important novels in the much broader field of American Letters.  It is also one of the acknowledged most important books in the much narrower field of dystopian literature.  As Bradbury says in an interview published in the Del Ray 50th Anniversary Edition of the novel, it did not start out, on its initial publication in 1953, as a bestseller or a potential classic. The hardcover first edition sold only 5,000 copies and the simultaneously published paperback sold about 50,000 copies.  Bradbury also sold a shorter version of the story to "Playboy" in the summer of 1953 for only four hundred dollars.  But over time, readers worldwide, especially politically and socially cogent readers turned it into one of the most widely read and bought books in all of American Literature.  It's place in all three of the genres I have mentioned above has been literally written in stone over the course of the last seven decades.  It is one of the greatest books in both science fiction and dystopian literature and will forever be solidly ensconced in the classics of all American Literature.  

Dystopian literature, especially dystopian fiction, is literature which examines the problem of governments which manipulate, control, and minimize their citizens often with overbearing, destructive, and invasive laws whose intent are to give the government absolute power and to homogenize the citizenry into a class of people without the power to resist the desires and goals of those in control of the government.  In "Fahrenheit 451", (the term is actually the temperature at which book paper burns), the United States has become a country in which books are banned, libraries have all been destroyed, and the people are mindless minions of the government whose lives are controlled by constant projections of government propaganda into their homes which often have every wall completely covered by large screens.  It is a crime to own and read books and the only job of the firemen, in a world where homes are all fireproof, is to find and burn books along with their owner's domiciles and, at times, even the owners.  The protagonist, Guy Montag, is a fireman who eventually begins to steal books from the homes which he is sent to burn, hides them in his home, and begins to read them.  Eventually, his wife and neighbors report his crimes and his own commander at the firehouse, Captain Beatty, brings the firetruck and firemen to burn Montag out.  But Montag manages to kill Beatty and escape into the countryside where a few well read resistors live on the lam constantly moving in small groups and working to memorize and save as many books and as much knowledge as possible.  The novel ends in a nuclear war which destroys the cities and leaves these resistors with their memorized knowledge to save the world.  This memorization of books and the knowledge contained therein is a reminder of the Polish Resistance during World War II who formed what they called Living Rosaries in which each member attempted to memorize as much of the Bible as possible in case the Nazis controlled the entire world and outlawed the Bible.  It is said that Pope John Paul II, known then as Karol Wojtyla, managed to memorize the entire Bible. 

Ray Bradbury was a masterful writer and this novel is composed of alternating uses of long, flowing complex sentences and other periods of short, staccato phrases which pop like gunfire or walnuts falling on a tin roof.  It is a wonderful use of the language to tell a story which must be told on a daily basis in a world rapidly veering toward the governmental terrorism which it relates.  While some less astute readers tend to read the book simply as a work of science fiction describing a world which will never occur, the thinking reader will find it to be just as terrifying as anything written in the last two hundred years in America.  Bradbury wrote the book less than decade after the end of World War II and in many ways it is a response to the Nazi attempt to gain control of the world via the Blitzkrieg and the Holocaust.  But he also foresaw the world of helicopter televised police chases more than forty years before O. J. Simpson was able to illegitimately seize America's attention in a white Ford Bronco. Bradbury also built much of the book out of his knowledge of how effectively the World War II resistance movement helped in the defeat of the Nazis and Adolph Hitler.  The resistors who memorize the books and hope to teach them to others are also rooted in groups of WWII resistors who formed secret groups to memorize the Bible in case the Nazis won the war.  One of those resistors was the future Pope John Paul II, Karol Wojtyla, as discussed above.   This is a book which every person should read and most can since it has been translated into more than thirty languages.  It is a book which has direct bearing today on what has happened in America since November 8, 2016, and should be seen as a lesson in just how rapidly a group of amoral, power hungry criminals can distract, divert, and destroy democracy even in the greatest country in the world.