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The Leader of the People by John Steinbeck
The Red Pony (1933) by John Steinbeck is described as an episodic novella, or interconnected short stories. “The Leader of the People” is the final work in the four interrelated stories in The Red Pony (1937, 1945). I really enjoyed this story from The Golden Argosy collection (as recommended by Stephen King), as it still…
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The Killers by Ernest Hemingway Analysis
“The Killers” is a short story by Ernest Hemingway, first published 1927. Dorothy Parker goes on record as declaring “The Killers” the best short story of 1929.
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The Gingerbread House In Hansel And Gretel
When artists choose to illustrate a single narrative moment, they make a choice of lasting importance, because their illustration creates a memorable impression for an entire story, one that visually anchors an impression of that story in its reader’s memory. Illustration history is full of such memorable moments. In the illustration history of Grimm’s Tales,…
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Paul’s Case by Willa Cather Analysis
“Paul’s Case” is a short story by Willa Cather, first published in McClure’s Magazine in 1905 under the title “Paul’s Case: A Study in Temperament”. As a New Zealander, I have a longterm interest in Katherine Mansfield. I’m coming late to American Willa Cather, but the first thing I notice is that she was writing short…
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A Rose For Emily by William Faulkner Short Story Analysis
“A Rose For Emily” is a short story by Mississippi born William Faulkner, first published 1930. I didn’t know of the short story when I listened to the podcast Shit Town.
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Dump Junk by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“Dump Junk” is a short story by Annie Proulx, included in the Bad Dirt collection (2004). This is a revisioned fairytale based on The Magic Porridge Pot and similar. Proulx’s shorts stories in many ways allude to, cite, and subvert a number of myths, legends, fairy tales, and folktales converging as common cultural patrimony. Annie…
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Stories We Tell About Women Who Kill Short Story Analysis
There is a strong audience for stories about women who kill men. Storytelling seems to be going through the Age of the Woman Killer right now, with the popularity of Dirty John (podcast and TV series) and a much publicised movie about the Lorena Bobbitt case, which originally happened in the early 1990s. On Netflix…
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The Wamsutter Wolf by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“The Wamsutter Wolf” by Annie Proulx is a short story included in the Bad Dirt collection (2004). The title of the collection comes from this story. SETTING OF “THE WAMSUTTER WOLF” This particular setting can be geolocated. Wamsutter is a town in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 451 at the 2010 census. Wikipedia As of this…
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Big Blonde by Dorothy Parker Analysis
“Big Blonde” (1929) by Dorothy Parker is a short story in five parts, included in various collections. We can read it for free online. The ‘Good Sport’ girl is the grandmother of Gillian Flynn’s ‘Cool Girl’. When Gillian Flynn published Gone Girl, our culture had a new phrase to describe the kind of woman who…
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Why ‘Toxic Masculinity’ Is A Problematic Phrase, But Only Grammatically
A few weeks ago Gillette dominated social media for producing an advertisement criticising what is now more widely known as ‘toxic masculinity’. In academic circles, ‘toxic masculinity’ has been used since the 1990s and refers to ‘… the constellation of socially regressive male traits that serve to foster domination, the devaluation of women, homophobia, and…
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The Contest by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“The Contest” by Annie Proulx is a short story from the Bad Dirt collection, published 2004. Like Larry McMurtry, Proulx writes two main types of stories — comical stories similar to those found in dime novels (in McMurtry’s case) and in hunting and fishing magazines (in Proulx’s case). “The Contest” belongs to the comical class,…
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The Sexism Behind Top Ten Lists
Stephen King’s list of top ten ALL TIME favourite books is doing the rounds, because anything Stephen King has ever said regularly does the rounds. That’s why I’m going to focus on Stephen King as just one example of a wider trend: Men don’t count women among their favourites. STEPHEN KING’S DECLARED FAVOURITE BOOKS 1. The…
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Storytelling in Apple’s Advertisement “Share Your Gifts”
“Share Your Gifts” is an Apple commercial, of interest because it is a complete story in three minutes. Classic story structure can be found in anything, from songs to narrative poems to advertising campaigns. Compared to when I grew up with free-to-air television only, and a commercial radio station that was always on, I’m rarely…
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Poof and Worm-Hoop Part One
Poof The Old Lady is a graphic novel created by two neurodiverse ten-year-olds. The running gag is that an old lady by the name of Poof goes Poof! at the end of each story. But she comes alive before the next. The creators are best friends at school, and they both like to read and…
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Creating The Setting For A Comedy Series
Before writing a comedy series, especially one with a wacky world, the writer must be clear about the rules of that setting. These rules subsequently seem intuitive to the audience. It’s easy to forget the amount of work writers have to do to create them in the first place. Even if these rules are not written…