Vintage Ford

by Richard Ford

Vintage Readers are a perfect introduction to some of the great modern writers presented in attractive, accessible paperback editions.

“One of the country’s best writers. . . . No one looks harder at contemporary American life, sees more, or expresses it with such hushed, deliberate care.” — San Francisco Chronicle

An accomplished practitioner of the short story and the "Babe Ruth of novelists," ( Washington Post Book World) Richard Ford is the first writer to receive both the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for a single book, his 1995 novel Independence Day .

Vintage Ford includes an excerpt from that novel, along with the stories “Communist,” and “Rock Springs” from his collection Rock Springs ; “Reunion,” and “Calling,” from A Multitude of Sins , which won him the 2001 PEN/Malamud Award; “The Womanizer,” from Women with Men .

Also included, for the first time in book form, the memoir, “My Mother, in Memory.”

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

197 pages, Paperback

First published January 6, 2004

About the author

Richard Ford, born February 16, 1944 in Jackson, Mississippi, is an American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel The Sportswriter and its sequels, Independence Day, The Lay of the Land and Let Me Be Frank With You, and the short story collection Rock Springs, which contains several widely anthologized stories. Comparisons have been drawn between Ford's work and the writings of John Updike, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway and Walker Percy.

His novel Independence Day won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1996, also winning the PEN/Faulkner Award in the same year.

Reviews

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This slim volume contains four stories from three previously published collections, a selection from one of Ford's novels (all of which I'd already read and two of which I own) and a previously unpublished essay, a memoir of Ford's mother. Because of the former, I balked at buying this, but it was the only way to read the latter, a piece called "My Mother, In Memory." It was ruminative and moving without being sentimental (like all of Ford's work). And I found it particularly interesting after just reading Wildlife.

I'm not sure to whom this kind of volume appeals. I guess I am too compulsive of a reader to ever want to read a selection from a novel, but my rating is based on the content, not the idea of this, which I'm speculating might've arose from the publisher wanting to keep Ford's name out there in the public eye while they waited for The Lay of the Land to be finished.

[Carlos Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In terms of big R realism Ford is in the like 99th percentile for me. This was my introduction to him and the breadth of the stories, I have to say, work well. The last story is an autobiography-ish piece about Ford's life, in close orbit with the life of his mother, who was apparently a very important figure in his life. His prose is penetrating and so thoughtfully concise in its expression that it's a bit startling at times. The kind of unexpected candidness that puts you back on your heels but is refreshing and in most cases much needed. In terms of pure craft he demonstrates utter mastery. One can't really criticize him beyond his literary milieu, meaning that in terms of the aforementioned big R realism he is just a real, genuine badass.

[Nadia King · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would have liked to have found a quote from this collection but I have chosen not to. If you can, read this book. There is something so perceptive, so beautifully knowing about Ford's writing that pierces the reader. The final piece, My Mother, In Memory is an interesting and sensitive piece with which to finish the collection. One that picks up the threads of the other works and knits them together so you can clearly see the thread of voice of the author in the preceding works. Flawless work.

[Alison Hardtmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hodge-podge collection of Richard Ford's writing, consisting of mostly short stories, from both early and later collections, a magazine article about his mother and an excerpt from his most famous novel, Independence Day. I'd never read anything by Ford, and this seemed a good way to see if I would like his writing.

The first few short stories, written early in his career, were very much in the Raymond Carver-Hemingway vein; manly men, or boys trying to become men, in difficult circumstances. They were well-written and the settings were vividly drawn. It's the later stuff that shines, though. The later stories holding more subtlety and depth than I had expected, with each character, even those given only a few sentences in passing, fully real and complex.

The best part of this collection was the article that Ford wrote about his mother. It's the story of an understated love between mother and son that was no less strong for the space it gave both of them to live their lives. Ford's language here is understated and perfect.

This was a good introduction to an author I should already have some familiarity with. I'm inclined to read his later stuff first, with Canada, Women with Men and Independence Day at the top of my list.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

My opinion lines up with others here. Ford is a meticulous writer, often using the perfect word I would not have thought to use. If I didn’t have dozens of unread books on my shelves, I would buy more of his.....

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short stories: "Communist"