57 Borges, Munro, Davis, Barthelme – All About Short Stories (And Long Ones Too)

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Arts, Books

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2016

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What makes a short story a short story? What can a short story do that a novel can’t? Can a story ever be TOO short? The President of the Literature Supporters Club stops by to discuss the length of fiction, with some help from Lydia Davis, Donald Barthelme, Edgar Allan Poe, Alice Munro, Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Roberto Bolano, Georges Simenon, Alberto Moravia, Augusto Monterroso, Jonathan Franzen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Saul Bellow, and Franz Kafka. Show Notes: Brand new! Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature. You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com. Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766). Music Credits: “Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA). “Spy Glass,” “Sweeter Vermouth” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. Since you're listening to The History of Literature, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding literature, history, and storytelling like Storybound, Micheaux Mission, and The History of Standup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglamorate Network and LIT Hub Radio.
0:07.0	Hello everyone, this is Jack Wilson, the host of the History of Literature Podcast.
0:14.0	I'm so glad you're here and welcome to the show.
0:17.0	One quick note before we begin, you have found one of the oldest episodes in our archive.
0:23.0	The show doesn't discuss literature in chronological order,
0:26.2	so you won't be missing anything if you start with the more recent episodes
0:29.6	instead of the earliest ones.
0:31.4	And, let's be honest honest the show's quality has improved
0:34.4	quite a bit since these early days. But of course where you begin is up to you and
0:39.4	if you'd like to give this one a try please be my guest. All of the episodes in the archive are yours to enjoy for free.
0:47.0	I definitely expect any novel to be boring at parts.
0:55.0	I never forget a short story.
0:59.0	If it's boring.
1:00.0	Yeah, like I get furious.
1:02.0	And I've started so many New York or short stories and just thought,
1:07.0	who's this guy? What's this scene? What's this scene about?
1:11.0	You know, and here I am reading like Bolanos 2 666 and there's like the 37th
1:16.8	description of a mutilated body. And I'm like, well, this mutilated body was described differently.
1:25.0	Hello, I'm Jack Wilson.
1:29.0	Welcome to the history of literature.
1:31.0	That clip was her old friend Mike, the president of the What can short stories do that novels can't? What do we expect from short stories?
1:46.6	And how does that affect our experience as readers?
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jacke Wilson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Jacke Wilson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.