A list I shall not quibble with. Shocking, I know. I would add to your honorable mentions: Shirley Jackson, Edith Wharton because I love a twist ending more than almost anything, and my admiration for Wharton knows no bounds.

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

Ha! I have read far too little of Jackson (just "The Lottery") and Edith Wharton (two novels).

One collection of stories that had a lasting impact on me is The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

That is a great book, but I always think of it as a novel.

thanks for mentioning Lorrie Moore! I have looked at many "Top Ten Short Story Writers" on youtube and you are the first I've found that includes her on any list Her stuff is so unique and original and the writing is breathtaking I'm baffled as to why she isn't massively famous

@BookishTexan

8 ай бұрын

I agree completely about Moore. She is a great writer.

I won't turn down the opportunity to mention Alice Munro. I enjoyed your list. Makes me want to set aside my current reading for something else!

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

I have never read Munro though her work has been recommended to me quite often. I will get to her work, I will.

Proves I watch a lot of your videos, anticipated a few and knew who was going to be first. Thank for sharing. Kind regards

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

Thank you. My list is pretty predicable and I forgot a few that would have made the list even more predictable.

Love this and am sorely tempted to put together my own response to it. Like you I read fewer short stories than I used to, but I do like to revisit the form which was one of my first entry points into reading. Too many on your list that I have never read... challenge accepted.

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

Look forward to seeing your list. I don’t know why I stopped reading as many short stories. I blame George Saunders

This is the first I have seen on your channel. I really enjoyed this video. I really love short stories and found your list very interesting. I am so happy that you named William Trevor as the top of your list. I really love his short stories as well as his novels. My favorite collection of his is the Hill Bachelors. In fact, I find that some of the best short story wriiters are Irish. Some of the writers that I like are Mary Lavin, Elizabeth Bowen, Benedict Kielty, Liam O'Flaherty and Joseph O'Connor.

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

Trevor is one of my favorite authors full stop, but his short stories are glorious! Some of the best writers in general are Irish. Thank you for the list of recommended authors and for your comment.

I love reading the book named the fog by James herbert .

@BookishTexan

5 ай бұрын

That is not a book that I was aware of. I'll have to look into it. Thank you.

I think O'Connor would get a kick knowing of the canine depredations of your copy of her work (which is absolutely great).

@BookishTexan

8 ай бұрын

Ha! Maybe, but I’d have to keep my aversion to peacocks a secret.🤓

@barrymoore4470

8 ай бұрын

@@BookishTexan She was reportedly fond of chickens as well, so anyone with a taste for poultry might have been okay in her book! (As long as they didn't consume her own--I've read she even knitted sweaters for them). By the way, there was a special frisson in hearing your mention of Alief. I made countless visits to Sugar Land when my grandparents lived there, and heard of the area sometimes through its proximity.

James Joyce! Alice Munro! Henry James! Joyce Carol Oates! Richard Ford! Mavis Gallant! Harold Broadkey! Isak Dinesen!

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for the recommendations. I had intended to include Joyce, but when I pulled the books from my shelves I forgot him. I really should script my videos a bit more.

Good list! And I was sure Trevor would be top! Two others I was surprised not to see are Alice Munro and Tobias Wolff - I really like them both.

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

I will get to Munro and Wolff. I will!

I used to have a habit of reading a short story every day. That was long before BookTube. I should revisit that habit.

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

I had/ have a tendency to binge on an authors short stories and then depending on the author I just stop.

The short story! I have a bunch of unread collections around and so many favorites. The other day Shawn mentioned the writer Alice Elliott Dark who has just published a novel and a commenter mentioned that she wrote stories. I looked her up and sure enough she was included in the Best American Short Stories of the 20th Century, chosen by John Updike. So I did read that story, In the Gloaming, which was about a mother and her adult son as he was dying. Anyway, all that to say I read a story on a whim and it was fun. (I also bought Dark's novel and it was excellent.) I like your list and I have still never read anything by Trevor.

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

I have a bunch of short story collections too and almost none have been read all the way through. I'm not sure I have ever really heard of Alice Elliot Dark, "In the Gloaming" sounds powerful.

Great list. Thanks for reminding me that I have Up In The Old Hotel on my shelf. A couple of my faves are How To Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa and All The Acorns on the Forest Floor by Kim Hooper. 😊💙

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

Thank you. I love Mitchell’s writing. I have read How To Pronounce Knife but not the book by Kim Hooper. Thanks for the suggestion.

Shopping for a BookTube "soulmate" and this Top Ten list tells me I've found a match. Read all but two of these authors and love your judgment. Now to explore your "hodgepodges." Thanks for being here!

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

Thank you

Omg, I love short stories! I have at least 60 books of them, but seem to go through phases when it comes to reading them. I probably should just put a volume on my nightstand and tackle them all one at a time. My oldest is (I think) an 1874 copy of Balzac's Droll Stores from the Abbey's of Touraine, illustrations by Gustavo Dore. I ought to read it, but I don't want to wreck it. Dumb huh?! I do love Wm. Trevor, Flannery O'Connor, John O'Hara, and others, but would like to try Cheever, Carver, Jean Stafford, and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings among others. There's just too many. My senior brain is boggled!

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

I didn't feel like I had read enough John O'Hara to put him on the list, though I have enjoyed some of his stories. I have the exact same experience with short stories. I used to read alot of them, now I just have a bunch of volumes of short stories with bookmarks stuck half way to three quarters of the way through.

Oh, this was fun! I could guess a couple of the ones you picked, but not most of them! .👍 And on that note, I think I'll go and read a short story.

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

You would think I would have been inspired to pick up a short story book, but so far . . . . not so much.😁

I enjoyed hearing about your top 10 short story writers, Brian! Now, I might have to make a response video...🤔

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

Thanks. Look forward to your response.

I need to reread Raymond Carver. I remember being enthralled through the entirety of Where I'm Calling From. Same for John Cheever (a Pulitzer winner!). It's interesting that both of those were compilations but it seems they worked better than Welty's. I need to read Welty, McCullers, Trevor. and O'Connor. I've never read a Hemingway novel but I have read a good chunk of his stories.

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

Welty's second and third collections of stories (included in the complete stories edition) were thematic and somewhat experimental. It was a bit jarring after the first collection.

I haven't read all of these. I definitely agree with Garcia Marquez. I'll mention some you haven't listed. My two favorites are the Australian writer David Malouf (the four novels of his I've read are also amazing), and Graham Greene. I also recommend Somerset Maugham, Ursula K. LeGuin, Tom Hanks (the actor: he really is good with getting you inside the characters) and John Crowley.All of these are known for their novels (some of them much better known for their novels) but their short works are as good, I think.

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

I didn’t even know that Tom Hanks wrote. I love GGM’s stories. I dont think I’ve read stories by any of the others. Thanks for the recommendations

Great selection! I don’t read many short stories I’m afraid… but I recently read a couple by Erskine Caldwell (from his collection, Georgia Boy). Have you read his work? If so, what did you think of it? Thanks.

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

I don't think I have ever read Erskine Caldwell but I had another comment recommending his work. I have some short story anthologies and I bet there is at least one story of his in one of them. I'll definitely look for it and give Caldwell a try.

I love short stories and actually have a spreadsheet to keep track. I've got everybody on there at least once from Voltaire to Chekhov to Annie Proulx. The list is something like 2200 stories long so far and still growing. Two of my favorite short story writers are Tim Gautreaux and Richard Matheson. Tim Gautreaux's "Easy Pickings" from his Welding with Children anthology caused me to embarrass myself by getting me to laugh out loud in a crowded McDonalds during lunch. His characters generally live in a shotgun house along Highway 90 and are lovingly drawn souls living on the edge of modern American. Richard Matheson had many of his short stories turned into episodes of Twilight Zone including the famous "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" but my favorite is "The Nearly Departed." They might not be the most 'serious' of authors, but they excel at the craft and are very entertaining.

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

2200 short stories read! That is impressive. Thank you so much for the recommendations. They sound great. Despite possible appearances I don't put much stock in the idea of "serious" authors anymore. 😁

@edwardmeade

Жыл бұрын

@@BookishTexan I follow the Duke Ellington Rule which applies just as much to literature as it does to music. "There are simply two kinds of music [stories], good music [stories] and the other kind the only yardstick by which the result should be judged is simply that of how it sounds. If it sounds good it’s successful; if it doesn’t it has failed." 🙂

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

@@edwardmeade Duke was a wise man.

Loved this! I have read exactly 0 lol so this was helpful

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

Thank you Fraser.

My favorite short story ever Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

Weirdly, I have never read anything by Dahl

@CestKevvie

Жыл бұрын

@@BookishTexan Woah! I know he's best known for his children's stuff, but Lamb to the Slaughter is definitely NOT for kids! It's about an ingenious way to get away with murdering a spouse. It's only like four pages, so I'd recommend just looking it up on line!

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

@@CestKevvie I will look for the story. It sounds creepy good

@edwardmeade

Жыл бұрын

@@CestKevvie Totally agree. Not that some of his kid's books aren't kind of creepy but his short stories for adults are really good and really creepy. You should try reading some Richard Matheson. He and Dahl were brothers of other mothers.

Glad to see Raymond Carver up here. "Cathedral" is one of my all time favorite short stories: a smoking blind guy talking about art ... I had Carver's autograph on a his story, "Pheasant," once. Ive not read much Welty nor O'Connor, yet. I _know._ I need to rectify that ... same goes w Mr Trevor. I *know.* I suggest Vonnegut's _Welcome to the Monkey House,_ a recent read of mine (w Stephanie and Greg) that I bet youd really like. But, Brian, my friend, how could you forget: _Dubliners._ "Eveline" or "Two Gallants" or "The Dead" or--your favorite--"Araby?!?" 😂😳😆 Good one, Brian. Like Greg said, here, in his comment: I think IMA V.R. to this 👍

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

Aaaaargh!! I forgot! I had Dubliners on my original list but when I went to pull the books I didn’t grab it. Damn!

@bighardbooks770

Жыл бұрын

@@BookishTexan yes Yes YES I said yes. That great "Anniversary Edition," that I like. Mine's "in a box in Phoenix" plus? Plus, this'll give me something to talk and tease you about in my v.r. 😆😳😂

I love this list. Some I’ve read and some I want to get to but I cannot disagree with Raymond Carver and Gabriel Garcia Marquez on this list. Marquez was just a vivid writer so I’ve been enjoyed both his long books and his shorter works

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Karen. Marquez is definitely underrated as a short story writer.

Hawthorne, Lovecraft, Borges, Harlan Ellison, Maupassant, Paul Bowles, Steinbeck.. Only mentioning ones I don't see otherwise mentioned, and I'm not sure how I would compare these with others already mentioned. Lots of great mentions here.

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

I have a book of Maupassant stories but I haven’t read a single story.

@barrymoore4470

8 ай бұрын

Bowles is a superb storyteller, though his tales can be very disturbing (e.g., "The Delicate Prey" and "Pages from Cold Point").

You can't beat Cheever, Trevor, and O"Connor! (I secretly hope my face ages as spectacularly as Trevor's did). I would add Tobias Wolff to this list, and if you haven't his collections, you must!

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

Trevor's face seems like a story of its own. Someone else suggested Wolff so he is definitely going to be someone whose stories I look for.

Apparently, Falkner never wrote a short story. Tee Hee. Ted Chiang's Exhalation is brilliant. Stephen King's Different Seasons with Shawshank Redemption and The Body (Stand by Me) movie screenplay is excellent. Ray Bradbury the Martin Chronicles is very imaginative and well written. Annie Proulx's Close Range has great western stories. And yes, the old dead white guys and gals you mentioned had some pretty good stories also. Some are just standard fair though.

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for the recommendations. Of the author you listed I have really only read Proulx's short stories and that was because I had a subscription to the New Yorker long ago. So many of Faulkner's best stories were later folded into his novels that I didn't think about him as being a great story writer. Of course he does have some great stories. Maybe with Faulkner in August involving three Faulkner books in three months I was a little burned out.

What do u think about George Saunders

@BookishTexan

28 күн бұрын

I be think he’s a good writer, but I don’t enjoy his stories very much. I thought Lincoln in the Bardo was good, but my favorite thing by him was his book about writing.

thoughts on Denis Johnson ?

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

I don't think I have ever read him. Thanks for the suggestion.

Nine Stories Salinger

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

Another oversite on my part. _For Esme With Love and Squalor_ is one of my favorite stories.

John O'Hara,Alice Adams, Alice Monroe, Stephen King

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

I have read an liked a few O'Hara stories, but not enough where I felt comfortable putting him on my list. Thank you for the other suggestions and for your comment.

@barrymoore4470

8 ай бұрын

Even though I'm dubious about King's talent overall, "Children of the Corn" is assuredly a superb short horror story.

Borges, o. Henry, Anton Chekhov? Seems you don’t know what you’re babbling about when you omitted them.

@BookishTexan

Жыл бұрын

Hey thanks for setting me straight. I must have mistyped the first line in the show notes where I said I had based these choices on my own criteria and not the criteria of ograro. You know what you should do? Make your own video in which you talk about your top 10 favorite short story writers.