March 2011 Book Picks

Well I must say, it looks like the short story is making a comeback. With writers like Alice Hoffman and Colm Toibin recently contributing to the genre, along with newbie Tom Rachman, whose novel The Imperfectionists is a collection of thinly disguised linked stories, it appears that the pastime of story writing so popular in the days of Salinger and Vonnegut may be making a reappearance. E.L. Doctorow and Jim Shepard are now joining them, but not to fret if you’re a lover of longer stories because a couple of great novels have also made the list.

All the Time in the World: New and Selected Stories by E.L. Doctorow
The celebrated author of Homer & Langley: and Billy Bathgate, offers a collection of previously unpublished and published short fiction. These stories focus on people who find themselves out of their element, including a man who forages in the affluent suburb in which he used to reside and a college graduate who becomes entangled in a criminal operation after agreeing to wed an illegal immigrant for money. Doctorow’s usual mastery of intrigue will resonate with fans and make new ones of first time readers.
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