SHORT STORIES ARE THE BEST SUMMER READS

As summer is fast approaching, I thought I’d give my readers a jump-start on some great new books.
 
I’m into short stories and novellas! In fact, I have three wonderfully diverse books of short stories that I can heartily recommend.
 
“Johnny Too Bad – Stories” by John Dufresne. In this new collection of 18 stories, the author explores the difficult “lives we live and the better lives we hope for, the apparent lives we spend in public and the secret lives we cherish --- where everything we value, everything essential, runs its course.”

Dufresne stories are for people caught unaware ---by trouble or opportunity --- in the act of going about their daily lives. A romantic young woman, involved with her married boss, is proposed to by a Bulgarian on a visa in search of a green card. She must choose between a wedding and a love affair. A handsome doctor, who has already murdered two women, escorts a young woman home to tell her about his rage and her foolishness. A man leaves his wife and children for his lover and is found dead the next day. It’s up to our literary hero, Johnny, and his beloved dog, Spot, to solve the murder mystery. Julia Glass, author of “The Three Junes”, winner of the National Book Award says it best: “How happy I was to see these new stories---because here he is, at it again, somehow capturing in fiction itself, just how much stranger than fiction our lives really are.”

“The Pacific and Other Stories” is by Mark Helprin, who was educated at Harvard, Princeton, and Oxford. He served in the Israeli Army, Israeli Air Force, and British Merchant Navy. Critics have compared him to Joyce, Kafka, Poe, Mann, and Tolstoy. After reading the short bio on the book’s end flap, I thought, “Boy, is this guy for real?!” But, having read other works by Helprin, I knew this collection of 16 stories would display all the qualities that have come to be Helprin’s signature: remarkable scope, incomparable wit and deft prose. A British paratrooper jumps into occupied territory in order to reconnoiter enemy positions and direct artillery fire. A roof breaks his fall; physically shattered and totally alone, he must decide the extent of his devotion to his mission. The 1958 New York Yankees gain an unexpected teammate in a puny, teenage Hasidic Jew whom God has called to rescue the “House of Ruth.” A September 11 widow receives an astonishing gift from the contractor working on her new apartment.
 
“Carol Shields Collected Stories” with an introduction by Margaret Atwood. You might recall “The Stone Diaries” a novel by Carol Shields was an Oprah Book Club selection. Her work won many prestigious awards, among them the Pulitzer Prize and the Orange Prize for Fiction. Her final novel, “Unless”, was short listed for the Booker Prize. She died in 2003

That said, I’m excited to introduce her short stories --- she was a remarkable talent--- and this definitive anthology contains the previously unpublished story “Segue,” her last work. Carol Shields had an aptitude for finding the absurdities and miracles that grace all of our lives. Many of the short stories certainly point that fact out --- loud and clear. “Carol Shields Collected Stories” is a treasure trove. Take some time; relax by sitting in your favorite chair. Read any one of her stories, you’ll find it very difficult to put the book down!

Summer reading is an art. Here is some unsolicited advice --- short stories are absolutely perfect for that car trip, airport layover, or the beach---pack one of the recommended collections of short stories.