Jim Manis on Most Anything

Jim Manis can formulate an opinion about a good many things, including those about which he has little knowledge. (And some dude named "Lazlo.") Visit The MagicFactory.

Saturday, February 08, 2020

The O. Henry Prize Stories 2019The O. Henry Prize Stories 2019 by Laura Furman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The usual high quality work and, keeping with the trend of the past few years, with more diversity than ever. This not only includes a diversity of authorship but of national origin and notably of narrative voices. There was a time when distinguishing between authors almost required one to look frequently and the header on the page to see that the author's name was different from the one in the preceding story. This is no longer true. I can't decide whether the stories are actually any better or if the quality is the same. Maybe even slightly worse? If there is a difference, it's marginal at most.

A good many years ago, one of my students asked me who my favorite authors were. "Once you reach 40," I told him, "if you've done a diligent job of reading, and you've been thoughtful in your selections and challenged yourself, you no longer have favorites." Or as I've heard many mature writers say, it's who you're reading at the moment.



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