I write short stories (even had a few published). I read short stories. I critique short story collections (for the The Short Review, www.theshortreview.com). I imagine several dozen if not close to a hundred pass my eyes each year.
“Another Manhattan” by Donald Antrim is one of the best short stories published in the last […]
I write short stories (even had a few published). I read short stories. I critique short story collections (for the The Short Review, www.theshortreview.com). I imagine several dozen if not close to a hundred pass my eyes each year.
“Another Manhattan” by Donald Antrim is one of the best short stories published in the last five years. I would say “ever” but I don’t want to be one of those “instant classic” types. Saying almost anything about this story would be saying too much unless you’ve read it. So I will only repeat here what I wrote to the author on his Facebook page:
“Every time I read it, I feel those characters vibrating on a Richter scale of their own undoing. ” I should have added, from the opening sentence.
Of course, take my bias into consideration. Look at the photo on the home page of this blog. Unequivocally, I am a miserable failure at trying to think of myself as an ex-New Yorker. Still, this story could only be set in Manhattan. And if you’ve ever spent time there, lived there, or dreamed of there, I think you’ll know what I’m talking about.
I’d like to avoid a one-way opinion piece on the story. I would like to “talk” about the story with others. It was published in The New Yorker (December 22 & 29, 2008). Read it (http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2008/12/22/081222fi_fiction_antrim) and, if you don’t mind, come back and let me know. If you’ve read it, blog away!
This guy is worth your time.
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