This exciting anthology by one of America's finest storytellers provides over ninety works of narrative art. With the reading list for her writing seminar at Princeton University as a model, Joyce Carol Oates chose pieces that will inspire beginning and experienced writers alike. Here are classics and relative unknowns, short vignettes and long genre fiction, tragic tales and humorous character sketches--models for just about any writer. Section introductions and an Afterword on the writing workshop provide a glimpse of Oates's own understanding of the storyteller's craft.
"Every book, every story, every sentence we read is a part of our preparation for our own writing," suggests Joyce Carol Oates in her introduction to Telling Stories, "so it's wise to choose our reading carefully." Easily said. But apart from sticking to the classics and canceling that subscription to People magazine, how does one go about choosing wisely? One way is to find a reliable anthologist, and in Oates we have just that. Prolific a writer as she is, Oates also teaches creative writing at Princeton, and she uses many of the stories, prose pieces, and poems collected in Telling Stories as material for her writing workshops. Among the nearly 100 authors included in the volume are Anton Chekhov and Lydia Davis, Ovid and Angela Carter, H. P. Lovecraft and Stephen King, Gish Jen and Thom Jones. A rich stew it is indeed, and a terrific jumping-off place for those writers who wish, as Oates recommends, "to read widely, to read with enthusiasm, to read for pleasure, to read with an eye for another's craft." --Jane Steinberg
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Best reading assignments ever...:
If you are looking to take a writing class, save your dollars and buy this book, read your eyeballs out, and turn yourself loose on the personal style you are going to be so amazingly aware of... A ton of great reccommendations, and as always she writes with an ease and flow that is bewildering...
A wide and incisive collection:
I've used this text for my Writing Fiction 281 class, and it's fantastic! I especially like the "flash fiction" section in the beginning. If you're looking for a reader that includes cannonized authors as well as fresh young voices, this is a solid choice.
This is an excellent collection of stories but...:
don't buy it if you're looking for guidance on writing-there is very little about craft here but there are some excellent examples of different types narratives and they're grouped in an interesting way. One section, for example, has stories that retell fairy tales, bible stories etc. using modern story lines. Other sections cover such genres as dramatic monologues, miniature narratives and memoir. Useful if your looking for positive examples, but be prepared to draw your own conclusions.
An excellent anthology for creative writers and readers.:
Joyce Carol Oates combines the best of classic literature by Kafka and Faulkner with contemporary works by Garcia Marquez and King. Each story and poem exemplifies a writing technique or strategy. An example being the two versions of James Joyce's short story "Sister;" the first his original draft and the second a revision. "Telling Stories" is a wonderful anthology for anyone wishing to broaden their knowledge of literature from Homer to today.
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