Extreme Fiction: Fabulists and Formalists / Edition 1

by Robin Hemley, Michael Martone

Overview

This anthology surveys the most thought-provoking and noteworthy “non-traditional” short stories written by American and international writers over the past 100 years. KEY TOPICS: The works collected here represent a rich, while often overlooked, tradition of stories that seem to break the rules of short fiction. These stories, by well-known writers as well as by refreshingly new voices, demonstrate a wide-range of stylistic and narrative diversity. They expand our perceptions of what constitutes a well-written short story and underscore the unlimited techniques writers use to achieve a desired effect. The Introduction provides an historic and cultural overview of the “non-traditional” short story, and author headnotes provide further insight into the aesthetic and craft choices that the authors featured in this text employ in their stories. MARKET: Anyone interested in short fiction or creative writing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780321179722
Publisher:	Pearson Education
Publication date:	11/04/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.95(d)

About the Author

Robin Hemley is the winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work on DO-OVER!. He has published seven books, and his stories and essays have appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, Chicago Tribune, and many literary magazines and anthologies. Robin received his MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop; he currently directs the Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa and lives in Iowa City, IA.

Table of Contents

Preface v

Introduction 1

PART ONE: FABULISTS

At the End of the Mechanical Age, Donald Barthelme 15

Water Liars, Barry Hannah 22

A Conversation with My Father, Grace Paley 26

In Dreams Begin Responsibilities, Delmore Schwartz 31

Opium, Rikki Ducornet 39

The Sin of Jesus, Isaac Babel 44

The Aleph, Jorge Luis Borges 49

Pastoralia, George Saunders 61

The Art of Forgiveness: A Fable, Janice Eidus 102

Liompa, Yuri Olesha 107

Cat's Eye, Luisa Valenzuela 111

John Duffy's Brother, Flann O'Brian 115

The Fall River Axe Murders, Angela Carter 120

Bloodchild, Octavia E. Butler 138

Order of Insects, William H. Gass 156

PART TWO: FORMALISTS

Milk Is Very Good for You, Stephen Dixon 165

Rondo, Susan Neville 176

Cornsilk, Randall Kenan 181

Is It Sexual Harassment Yet?, Cris Mazza 198

Plan for the Assassination of Jacqueline Kennedy, J.G. Ballard 215

Story, Lydia Davis 218

Innocent Objects, Diane Schoemperlin 221

The Elevator, Robert Coover 239

The Fifth Story, Clarice Lispector 249

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality: A Diagnostic Test in Two Parts, A. B. Paulsen 251

The Writers' Model, Molly Giles 258

Second Story, R.M. Berry 261

Can This Story Be Saved?, Michael Wilkerson 271

Wild Desire, Karen Brennan 281

Scissors Kick, Sandy Huss 298

Five on Fiction, Janet Kauffman 304

Click, John Barth 317

Credits 339

Index of Authors and Titles 343