New Short Story Collections at MPL
By Mary Swabb, Learning & Information Services Supervisor
Stories are diverse and varied, but all seek to make something tangible to the reader. It may be a feeling, a place, an experience, or something else. Traditionally, the medium of the short story seeks to portray a story in fewer words (less than 30,000), with fewer characters (one or two), and with a single basic plot. Fewer words to depict a story means that particular care has to be given to each one. Many authors go so far as to see how few words they can utilize to render a story, which is called short, micro-, or flash fiction. Lydia Davis is one author who dabbles with sentence long stories. Other author’s continue to evolve the medium by playing with, different motifs, styles, and genres. Regardless of the type of story that intrigues you, there exists a short story for you. Manhattan Public Library has an assortment of short story collections available to fulfill readers’ interests. Here are a few that came out within the last year:
In her book “The Sound of Holding Your Breath,” Natalie Sypolt illuminates fourteen tales of small town life in present-day Appalachia. Sypolt’s characters live in a small town called Warm, “a place where no one cares if you live in a trailer,” and they struggle with secrets, losses, and the complexities of family. Tragedy and violence coerce Sypolt’s characters into wrestling with who they are in a challenging world. In “Stalking the White Deer,” a woman attempts to come to terms with the life she’s chosen, the man she’s chosen to be with, and the town that they will never leave. Other characters in “The Sound of Holding Your Breath” include siblings who struggle with the death of their sister-in-law, who’s been killed by their brother; a teenage boy who loves his sister’s husband; and a pregnant widow who spends the holidays with her deceased husband’s family. “The Sound of Holding Your Breath” is a collection of haunting stories that deal with emotional conflict depicted through powerful imagery.
Kimberly Lojewski has written eleven bittersweet modern fairy tales about growing older in her debut short story collection entitled “Worm Fiddling Nocturne in the Key of a Broken Heart.” Lojewski’s tales feature evocative imagery and elements of magical realism and bildungsroman. In her titular story, Lemon, a young girl who lives in the swamps with her uncles, seeks the attention of her best friend, an alligator wrestler named Sweets, who only has eyes for an albino beast called Swamp Ghost. In “Baba Yaga’s House of Forgotten Things,” authoritarian grandmas, who “sit on their porches and rock through the night, setting a hair-raising rhythm with the clickety-clack of their knitting needles and the wet, juicy chomping of their toothless gums,” run a summer camp that supposedly reforms juvenile delinquents. “Worm Fiddling Nocturne in the Key of a Broken Heart” is a collection of enchanted stories of change featuring mainly female protagonists.
“Death at Sea” by Andrea Camilleri showcases Camilleri’s famous character, Inspector Montalbano, in eight new mysteries set in the fictional town of Vigata, based on the author’s home town in Sicily. Montalbano is a middle-aged, easily annoyed man who is passionate about food, and extremely loyal to his ragtag police team. Camilleri’s stories feature tricky situations and crimes that are not always solved by traditional police work. This short story collection is a fine introduction to readers new to Camilleri’s work.
A debut short story collection by Maxim Loskutoff illustrates an alternative present where an armed occupation of a wildlife refuge is escalating to civil war led by libertarian Western Separatists. In twelve linked stories, Loskutoff illuminates a rural northwest experience where nature and violence exist in a symbiotic relationship. “Come West and See” showcases the tension between civilization and nature and explores the loneliness, fragility, and heartbreak inherent to love. Fans of dystopian works may be intrigued by this collection. The modern short story continues to evolve, encompassing a variety of motifs and styles. These are just a few of the varied short story collections to be found at Manhattan Public Library. If short stories do not interest you, do not worry – as always, the library has numerous lengthier tomes to delight your interests.