Saturday, June 20, 2009

Short Stories

Today I was in a bookstore and I picked up these three books. It was only at the cash that I saw the similarities and the theme I was working with. It seemed like a punchline. What we have here is....
























... the midlife crisis of a guy with a short attention span.

7 comments:

Paul D Brazill said...

Great choices though! And 'The Sprotswriter' is a wonderful book, if you want to stretch your attention a tad.

Dana King said...

Don't all men get short attention spans during mid-life crises? That's why they go for fast cars, so they can get where they're going while they still remember where it is.

There's a whole long thing we could get into about mid-life crisis, short attention spans, and younger women that I probably shouldn't get into just now.

John McFetridge said...

I loved The Sportswriter when I first read it, but I'd just gone through a divorce myself.

It's funny about that book, though, I've never met a woman who liked it. Maybe Richard Ford is the male version of Margaret Atwood, only appealing to the same gender.

John McFetridge said...

"probably shouldn't," Dana?

I think that's something we can be certain about, don't you ;)

pattinase (abbott) said...

I have all of them and love them, too.
I'm reading Cheever's bio right now. He was one f***** up fellow. But he wrote some great stories. I like all of Ford and Carver too. Rock Springs are great short stories. I haven't read LAY OF THE LAND. I steer clear of cancer narratives mostly.

John McFetridge said...

Well Patti, you're the first woman I've ever met who liked The Sportswriter.

You never know, you might start liking Neil Young.....

pattinase (abbott) said...

An article today in Newsweek about Neil Young made me think I need to keep at it. Acquired tastes often turn out to be the best ones.