“When a book, any sort of book, reaches a certain intensity of artistic performance it becomes literature. That intensity may be a matter of style, situation, character, emotional tone, or idea, or half a dozen other things. It may also be a perfection of control over the movement of a story similar to the control a great pitcher has over the ball.” ~ Raymond Chandler, novelist and screenwriter
I love the intensity of a good short story, the kind of short story that leaves me speechless and that I can digest in a single sitting–or, thanks to The New Yorker’s Fiction Podcast, in a single walk.
Each month, New Yorker fiction editor, Deborah Treisman, introduces a current fiction author who reads and then discusses a favorite New Yorker short story. The podcasts are usually 25 to 35 minutes in length, perfect for a walk around the neighborhood. The readers include such well-known authors as Joyce Carol Oates, Paul Theroux, and Louise Erdrich. The chosen stories include classics such as Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” (which appeared in The New Yorker in 1948) as well as more current gems such as the 2004 story “Adams,” by George Saunders.
The Fiction Podcast is a wonderful way to listen to stories old and new and to learn some background information about the authors and new ways to understand their works.
One of my favorite podcasts is Jonathan Lethem’s reading and discussing James Thurber’s short story “The Wood Duck,” which first appeared in the magazine in 1936. The story is appropriate for older children as well as adults, and it is a terrific introduction to the inner workings and intensity of a good short story’s deceptive simplicity, especially for teens who have already read Thurber’s widely anthologized “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”
“It was a small, trim duck, and even I, who know nothing about wild fowl, knew that this was not barnyard duck, this was a wild duck. He was all alone. There was no other bird of any kind around. Not even a chicken. He was immensely solitary.” ~ “The Wood Duck,” by James Thurber
