A GOOD READ by Anthea Goffe

Short stories offer fiction in short, powerful doses, so often more memorable than whole novels. And only truly great writers can master the short story, as not a word can be wasted.

Guaranteed to spark lively discussions, short stories are perfect for those book club meetings where not everyone has time to read a complete novel.

The following are a few of the authors I’ve read lately who do an admirable job in this genre, roughly organized by the landscapes that inspire them.

Some of the most innovative and best short story writers today are from the United States.

Thomas McGuane’s Gallatin Canyon contains bittersweet and quirky tales unfolding in the landscapes of small-town Montana, Michigan and Florida. In “Vicious Circle” a hapless man aids an alcoholic young waif, then watches her life take flight and leave him behind, underlining the longing and oddness that runs through all of these 10 tightly written stories.

The Secret Goldfish by David Means, a collection of linked stories set in Michigan, offers a likewise off-kilter but decidedly more violent and obsessive view of America, a country that could “eat anything, absolutely anything, up.”

For a bit of weirdness, try Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower. Most stories are set in modern-day America about misfit men facing a multitude of terrors, including leopards, carnival freaks and their own crazed psyches. The stunning title story, however, concerns a group of Viking marauders who start to question the joy of raping and pillaging — in turns grotesque, hilarious and life-affirming.

American in focus but set everywhere from Florence to New Orleans to Disney World, How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer is an impressive debut collection. With stories that range from the shocking (“Pilgrims”) to the cringingly familiar (“Note to Sixth-Grade Self”), Orringer writes in a very readable, hard-to-put-down style. I found “What We Save” the most moving, where 14-year-old Helena, in the oddly juxtaposed backdrop of Disney World, is coping with her mother’s cancer, looking after her younger sister and fighting off the cloddish advances of her mother’s ex-boyfriend’s twin sons. Funny and poignant.

The hot, sprawling and remote landscapes of Australia lend themselves to Tim Winton’s lyrical tales of longing and discovery in The Turning. In the title story, a young trailer park resident in an abusive relationship becomes obsessed with her new neighbours, and the apparently idyllic couple’s life sends her on a voyage of self-discovery, ending shockingly and brutally. These are linked stories, with characters weaving in and out, yet each stands alone in delivering a punch. Twice nominated for the Man Booker prize, Winton has developed his craft to near-perfection.

How, over to vibrant and chaotic contemporary Pakistan for In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin: These tales wander from large cities to rural villages, with characters ranging from the socially powerful to the lowliest servant. All are roughly tied together by the feudal system and mentality that prevails today, and characters and locations weave seamlessly between the linked stories.

And, of course, the landscapes of home often have the most resonance. Nowhere is the sense of place so strong as in Alice Munro’s uniquely Canadian fiction, from Ontario to BC., as stated in “Face,” from her latest collection, Too Much Happiness: "In your life there are a few places, or maybe only the one place, where something happened, and then there are all the other places." These are stories where whole lives are lived out, remarkably in only 30 pages or less, and yet you never feel like anything is missing. Enjoy.

A Good Read is a column by Tri-City librarians that is published every Wednesday. Anthea Goffe is a community librarian at Terry Fox Library in Port Coquitlam.