Author(s): Dave Eggers & Sarah Manguso & Deb Olin Unferth

Short Stories

This set brings together three works by the short-story genres most exciting writers: Eggers "How the Water Feels to the Fishes"; Sarah Mangusos "Hard to Admit and Harder to Escape"; and Deb Olin Unferths "Minor Robberies." Each authors work comes in its own hardcover volume.

McSweeney’s know how to make intriguing and innovative books. One Hundred and Forty-Five Stories in a Small Box is just that. The box with artwork by American artist Jacob Magraw-Mickelson draws your attention before you even notice the three small cloth-covered hardback books sitting within. In green, cream and puce, each volume contains a collection of short-short stories from three authors. All have a gift for this form, and pull in the absurd, the very funny and the affecting to great cumulative effect. The writing is pungent yet also sparse, nuanced yet light - breathless and meaningful in their single gulps. The authors Dave Eggers, Sarah Manguso and Deb Olin Unferth each have their particular style, and these writings butt up against each, as well as spring off each other successfully. (I've been reading them a volume at a time, but I'm curious to go back and intersperse the authors' writings). The volumes are titled Minor Robberies (Unferth), Hard to Admit and Harder to Escape (Manguso) and How the Water Feels to the Fishes (Eggers). After picking up the Manguso volume in the bookshop and reading a few, this collection of 145 stories quickly convinced me that it had a place on our home bookshelf, and I’ve been enjoying exploring these short-shorts ever since.

{STELLA}