Writers Jim Shepard and Ron Hansen had a unique idea for a short story anthology--rather than selecting the stories themselves, they asked contemporary writers to pick one story that "you've got to read." The stories themselves are wonderful, but the passages that introduce each are what sets this anthology apart. Each writer explains why he or she chose a particular story, providing insights you won’t find anywhere else. Fully a third of the authors picked "the story that made me want to become a writer," and their introductory essays are as fascinating as the stories themselves. Many of the stories are classics, while others are lesser known. In this 12-week SDG, we will be encountering a diverse range of voices, time periods, experiences and styles, but all with a common devotion to story.
Week 1: Mary Gordon introduces “The Dead” by James Joyce
Tim O’Brien introduces “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities” by Delmore Schwartz
Week 2: Annie Dillard introduces “A Mother’s Tale” by James Agee
Russell Banks introduces “No Place for You, My Love” by Eudora Welty
Week 3: Kenneth A. McClane introduces “Sonny’s Blues“ by James Baldwin
Amy Hempel introduces “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olson
Week 4: Oscar Hijuelos introduces “The Aleph” by Jorge Luis Borges
Julia Alvarez introduces “The Smallest Woman in the World” by Clarice Lispector.
T. Coraghessan Boyle introduces “The School” by Donald Barthelme
Week 5: John L’Heurex introduces “A Distant Episode” by Paul Bowles
Joy Williams introduces “A Day in the Open” by Jane Bowles
John Hawkes introduces “The Star Café” by Mary Caponegro
Week 6: David Leavitt introduces “Labor Day Dinner” by Alice Munro
Jane Smiley introduces “The Interview” by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Week 7: Tobias Wolff introduces “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver
Charles Baxter introduces “Greatness Strikes Where It Pleases” by Lars Gustaffson
Week 8: Eudora Welty introduces “Gooseberries” by Anton Chekhov
Jim Shepard introduces “Spring in Fialta” by Vladimir Nabokov
Week 9: Deborah Eisenberg introduces “The Daughters of the Late Colonel” by Katherine Mansfield
Lorrie Moore introduces “Packed Dirt, Churchgoing, a Dying Cat, a Traded Car” by John Updike
Week 10 : Allan Gurganus introduces “Goodbye, My Brother” by John Cheever
Amy Tan introduces “Pie Dance” by Molly Giles
Janet Kauffman introduces “Wants” by Grace Paley
Week 11:: Louise Erdrich introduces “Helping” by Robert Stone
Robert Coover introduces “Reflections” by Angela Carter
Week 12: Ron Hansen introduces “Master and Man” by Leo Tolstoy; Wrap up
You've Got to Read This: Contemporary American Writers Introduce Stories That Held Them in Awe
Edited by Ron Hansen and Jim Shepard • Publisher : Harper Perennial; Paperback Original edition (September 17, 1994)
• ISBN-10 : 0060982020
• ISBN-13 : 978-0060982027