The New Yorker: The Man in the Black Suit
by Stephen King

Stephen King’s “The Man in the Black Suit” felt like a conflict between two genres. On the one side is the magical realistic perspective of a child; the other is the science fiction questioning of what if. The use of both genres ultimately creates an [...]

[Read more →]

East of the Web: The Daughters of the Late Colonel
by Katherine Mansfield

Katherine Mansfield’s “The Daughters of the Late Colonel” explores the dynamics between a father and his two daughters. Gender issues ensue as Mansfield entails the notion of the inactive woman in a patriarchal society.
Daughters Josephine and Constantia have devoted their entire lives to “looking [...]

[Read more →]

Fiesta, 1980
by Junot Diaz

Before Junot Diaz received acclaim for “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” he was better known in fiction circles for his short stories about immigrants and the American dream. In “Fiesta, 1980,” Diaz writes about the struggles of an immigrant family as they wake up from a nightmare in Santo Domingo [...]

[Read more →]

Grace Paley: “Wants”

Through the course of three decades, American writer Grace Paley grabbed reader attention by writing about the lives of Jewish, Hispanic, and black families of New York.
The women of Paley’s stories often live in the same diaspora—the lone woman abandoned by a man. “Wants” is no different, trailing a divorcee narrator who has [...]

[Read more →]

North Dakota State University: Cathedral
by Raymond Carver
If simple plots in stories really are the most evocative then Raymond Carver has always hit the mark with his highly regarded piece “Cathedral.” First published in 1981 in Atlantic Monthly, this story is essentially about emotionally inaccessible people who manage to find a strange yet genuine connection.
“Cathedral” [...]

[Read more →]

Ghoti: Shoot into the Crowds
by Grace Talusan
Grace Talusan’s “Shoot Into the Crowds” is a moving, masterpiece of a short story. In two short pages, she crafts the main character of Pepito with exceptional depth and skill.
The story focuses on Pepito, a poor young boy longing to escape the Philippine barrio. The character development, as demonstrated [...]

[Read more →]

Ghoti: It Just Died
by Mike Boyle
Mike Boyle’s “It Just Died” is a spunky, down-to-earth tale loaded with gritty, blue-collar gusto–but in the end it’s not sure where it belongs.
Two lovers, Jack and Samantha, make their way to a beach for a relaxing getaway. When their car breaks down, they encounter an old couple, Paul and [...]

[Read more →]

Ghoti: Two-Story Bars
by Valerie Lynn Watson
Valerie Lynn Watson’s “Two-Story Bars” has the potential to become a great story, but ultimately surfaces as a romantic retrospective that doesn’t quite scratch the surface of what it intends to become.
The story concerns itself with a young woman reflecting on a semester in London a decade ago. Happily married, [...]

[Read more →]

The New Yorker: Awake
by Tobias Wolff
I was highly impressed with Awake by Tobias Wolff all the way through the read. It catches you initially by reminding you of the days when you too had to struggle through the Odyssey. The fumbling while reading through chapters and the flash when the light bulb finally goes [...]

[Read more →]