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Boots!

Where would we be without boos?

Where would we be without good?

No, Tender.

It's a rhetorical question, sir, but where would we be without books? From KCRW and KCRW.com, I'm Michael Silverblatt, and welcome to Bookworm. Today, my guest is Jane Gillette. Well, this is a very wonderful story. Having been writing stories since she was

in her 20s, she is now 74 and has published her first book of short stories.

It's from a brand new press, and they are very excited to be publishing her book, The Trail

of the Demon and other stories as their very first book.

The press is the Missouri Review Books. As I say, this is their first book. You can find the book online. I particularly recommend getting in touch with the outfit called Small Press Distribution because they give access to lots and lots of books

that you don't know about and you might as well know about small press distribution.

The great thing about the Trail of the Demon and other stories

is, you know, many people, let's face it, grow old and sentimental.

Jane has grown old and wicketer.

She was always wicked.

I've read her short stories here and there over the years.

But it's really a thrill to have a book of short

stories by someone who, well, I'm going to use the famous quote from Jane Austen's Pride and

Prejudice, for what do we live but to make sport for our neighbors and laugh at them in turn?

You can see that in all of Austin's novels.

How does it work when writing in a short form, like a short story?

Well, I think that the short story is a marvelous form for repetition enhanced, so that I like to think of what I write as a garbage can with a rat in it.

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