I'm currently reading LOSING MUM AND PUP: A MEMOIR by Christopher Buckley, which got me thinking about the file in one of my office drawers called "Writing Samples -- Faves," which contains exactly that: favorite stories and articles that I've kept over the years, either because they're inspiring, or just so much fun to read. These are by no means all of my favorites, but they're a good start. In no particular order:
1. "The Paperhanger" (short story) by William Gay. The darkest and most delicious story EVER. (Appeared in THE O. HENRY AWARDS 2001 PRIZE STORIES)
2. "A Life Without Left Turns" (essay) by Michael Gartner. Funny, poignant -- a love story, essentially, detailing Gartner's parents' philosophy that you'll live a lot longer if you never make a left turn in front of oncoming traffic. (Appeared on usatoday.com, 6/15/2006)
3. "The Cavemen in the Hedges" (short story) by Stacey Richter. A clever, crafty, hilarious story about a woman who crosses the line. With cavemen. In the hedges. (Appeared in Zoetrope: All Story)
4. "Another Manhattan" (short story) by Donald Antrim. The exquisite unraveling of a man named Jim. (The New Yorker, December 22, 2008)
5. "Royal Pain" (short story) by Christopher Buckley. Rich Renard, PR exec extraordinaire and dealer of, well, royal pains. "It's in some ways an aimless existence. The Prince's only job, really, is to become King when his mother dies. But the women in his family live longer than Galapagos tortoises." (The Atlantic Monthly, April 2004)
6. "Them Old Cowboy Songs" (short story) by Annie Proulx. Archie and Rose McLaverty encounter a series of seriously unfortunate events in 1885. (The New Yorker, May 5, 2008)
7. "The Pig's Butler" (essay) by Thorhallur Vilhjalmsson with Jeffrey A. Kottler (gads!). "When an Icelandic Student went to work as a butler for novelist Danielle Steel, he never expected to end up as a manservant to her pet pig, Coco." (Talk magazine, Dec/Jan 2001)
8. "Reflections on Creative Writing Class: The Teacher; How to confront 30,000 words a week of teenage angst and ecstasy" (essay) by Frank McCourt. "The last thing writers need is answers -- the end of thought and the dream." (The New York Times, April 14, 2002)
2 comments:
I have a similar file, although many have been scanned and are on my harddrive. A favorite is "In Defense of Omniscience" by Richard Russo, from the book Bringing the Devil to His Knees. Another is Ann Beattie's short-short "Snow."
Wouldn't this make a great Writers' chain letter type of thing? Passing along favorite essays, stories, et cetera?
It would make a great chain, Michelle. I'll have to get a new printer, though. My former HP (printer, scanner, fax) is in Steve's office, and my new laser printer does nothing BUT print. Mistake. What was I thinking?
Anyway, I will definitely give your suggestion some thought. It's a winner!
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