reading notes

100 Anecdotes
by J. Robert Lennon
ISBN: 9781555975234
These extremely short pieces read like overheard stories, or feel like they could just as easily start with “did you hear about the guy who…” They are easy reads, and though some might have a bit of a sting or offer something deeper that stays, mostly the effect is like [...]

by Kevin Wilson
ISBN: 9780061579028
This is the kind of book I’m always hoping I’ll find when I’m poking around in bookstores. Which is to say, it turned out to be something magical and necessary and I’d never even heard of it before.
Wilson writes stories that are emotional in a squeeze your internal organs kinds of a [...]

by Lydia Davis
ISBN: 9780374281731
There’s a weirdness with formats going on here that I liked, the sense that “that is a story” and so is that, and so is this even though what I’m reading is a kind of transcript or is so short it isn’t even haiku, it’s all sorts of stuff.
Davis is also a [...]

44 stories
by James Tate
ISBN: 9781933517353
Tate is a poet (and kind of a big deal) but I hadn’t read anything of his until I found this book. Maybe you aren’t supposed to judge books by their covers, but a snappy title that is easy to focus on sure helps. I mean, it’s got robots in the [...]