Review of 'The Penguin Book of American Short Stories James Cochrane Editor' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Get in the time machine and hit that "random" button!
This is what reading this collection of short stories felt like. Turn a page and you're in the Wild West. Or postcolonial New England. During a cold snap in the Yukon Territories. A painter's studio in [checks notes] London. A dinner among neighbors.
You never know what you're gonna get. What you can rely on, however, is that this book contains "well written" stories, at least to me. The topics vary wildly, but the writing is always engaging, and at the end of each story I thought "Huh, now that's something!" (usually in a good way).
Importantly, the diversity among the authors is minimal: They're middle aged men, most of them, as was customary in large portions of American literary history. These sure are "the classics", with the usual limitations of that term. Older stories also carry their era's stereotypes …
Get in the time machine and hit that "random" button!
This is what reading this collection of short stories felt like. Turn a page and you're in the Wild West. Or postcolonial New England. During a cold snap in the Yukon Territories. A painter's studio in [checks notes] London. A dinner among neighbors.
You never know what you're gonna get. What you can rely on, however, is that this book contains "well written" stories, at least to me. The topics vary wildly, but the writing is always engaging, and at the end of each story I thought "Huh, now that's something!" (usually in a good way).
Importantly, the diversity among the authors is minimal: They're middle aged men, most of them, as was customary in large portions of American literary history. These sure are "the classics", with the usual limitations of that term. Older stories also carry their era's stereotypes and prejudice against various minoritized groups, making for an unpleasant but also instructive reading experience.
If this doesn't hold you back, fire up the figurative time machine and get ready to be swept away.