short stories

I'm kind of a sucker for short stories. I used to love those reading books we had in elementary school, with all of those stories from a variety of authors. I would read way ahead and usually finish everything there was well before we went through things as a class. It had nothing to do with trying to be smart, rather I just love a good story and for some reason, if you can tell a good story in a small number of pages, you've got my respect. I think it may have all started with Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery", and if you haven't read it, google it now, immediately, and read it. Dark, nasty, crazy...it's all those things wrapped up in a great short story.

Anyway, it's summer and I typically enjoy using some of my time off from seminary to head to my local library and pick up some books. I usually try to find at least one book of short stories just to see if I can find a gem. I've exhausted my supply of Stephen King short story collections (and the man can write a great short story), so I've just grabbed what looked mildly interesting and gone from there. I picked up two books/collections this week; 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill and Presence by Arthur Miller. I like a good suspense/horror short story so I grabbed Hill's book and I've always loved The Crucible and Death of a Salesman so discovering that Miller had written some short stories piqued my interest. I finished Hill's book today and I have to give a little credit where it's due before I start Miller's.

There is a story within called "Pop Art" that is really just a wonderful little tale, a joy to read, genuinely touching, and weird all at the same time. The basic premise is a first person narrative where the main character is a middle school aged boy who's best friend is an inflatable boy named Art. He's a real live boy who happens to be inflatable. It sounds ridiculous but is just a good story. Obviously you just have to go with the weird plot but it unfolds like a strange Wes Anderson movie (like there's another kind); humor, heart, and weirdness all rolled up into one. The other stories were all rather good (some a bit gory and some ended better than others) but this one was great, in my humble opinion that is. I am very glad that I came across it and recommend it to anyone, even those who don't like horror as there is nothing particularly horror oriented in this story.

I'm looking forward to Miller's book now. Should be an interesting read.

I've been reading East of Eden and am about halfway through. Absolutely brilliant, which I assumed based on my prior Steinbeck experiences, and enthralling, but I had to set it down for a few days. It is just so, for lack of a better word, heavy. The emotion, atmosphere, everything is just heavy and I find myself tired after reading in it, getting so caught up in the story. I found a good stopping point and thought I'd go with a little lighter fair before finishing.