12 Short Stories and Their Making

by Paul Mandelbaum (Editor)

Here is a fascinating and enlightening book for fiction readers and writers alike. Written by some of our most powerful contemporary authors, the twelve stories gathered here were selected as striking examples of one of the six elements of the craft: character, plot, theme, structure, voice, and setting. They draw the reader into worlds that seem miraculously whole. How was this accomplished? In interviews that center on the aspect of craft each story exemplifies, the authors describe the challenges they faced and reveal the often disorderly process behind the seamless finished work.The volume includes stories by and interviews with Sandra Cisneros, Kim Edwards, George Garrett, Ellen Gilchrist, Gail Godwin, Allan Gurganus, Charles Johnson, Walter Kirn, Jhumpa Lahiri, Ursula K. Le Guin, Elizabeth Tallent, and Tobias Wolff.

Genres: Crafts, Short Stories, Writing, Fiction

356 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2005

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book - it's so good. The interviews and the 12 short stories: really engaging. I want to assign this to every fiction class I teach from here on in but I think it's out of print. Which is criminal!

[Hans Otterson]

About half of the stories are astonishingly good; the other half are fine. All twelve sections where the authors discuss process are invaluable. More of this, please! Highly recommended to the writer of fiction.

[Chris - Quarter Press Editor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I was rather disappointed by this one. I'm an addict when it comes to actual writers talking about the nitty-gritty details of their process, which I thought this book would offer. Instead, we get the author's story--only about half of which did I find good/enlightening--followed by an interview between them and Mandelbaum.

Sure, some of them were rather instructive, but often, I just wanted the author to have a chance to express themself fully. I don't know, maybe I'm just picky. Or perhaps I was just expecting something else.

If you've read these stories before, I don't feel like the commentary--with the exception of one or two--is worthwhile. If you haven't read the stories, than a few of them are worth your time, just not the price of the book. Check this one out from your library--or simply ignore it.

[Catherine Wylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this collection of short stories and interviews with the editor regarding various aspects of short story writing craft.

While I didn't adore all of the stories 100&, most of them were right up there in terms of what I consider to be very masterful stories from authors of various backgrounds. Many of them seem to be or have been teachers of creative writing at the college level.

The book is divided up into sections denoting one aspect of craft (structure, character development, etc...) that the reader can pay attention to in the couple of stories that follow.

However, I honestly got so caught up in the stories, or they were not explained afterwards very well in terms of these points of craft, that I often couldn't identify a major difference between one point of craft from another. Maybe if I read this book again, I could focus more.

Still, the interviews with the authors were really great. The big take away I got is that most writers write to find out what will happen next or they start out with a few elements in mind and then the story takes on a life of its own. Maybe this is common knowledge to all writers, but since I have not written a short story in many years, it was nice to listen in on these interviews regarding the seemingly mystical path of the writing process.

Ultiamtely, I read this book hoping to learn something and be inspired to write out a few short stories I've beeen holding in my heart for years. Even if I never get around to starting any of them, I learned that I enjoy reading short stories and will be looking for more books that also review the stories.

[Thomas Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some really great stories, and, as promised by the blurb, the interviews in which the authors are questioned about their processes and ideas bring up some very interesting answers and a lot of worthwhile analysis. It's also interesting to see their different approaches to writing - some very deliberate (and within that, some a little pretentious), and others very frank about starting writing and seeing where it takes them, without trying to contrive a particular message or stimulate a particular reaction. The editor has made an excellent selection of stories and then asked many incisive and thoughtful questions.

[Holly Stovall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent selection of stories and interviews that inspire the creative process.

[Roux Stellarsphyr · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent compendium with wonderful authors. Personally, my top three stories from this collection is Lahiri's "Third and Final Continent," Johnson's "China," and Garrett's "A Record as Long as Your Arm," but all are worthy of a read.

The editor, Paul Mandelbaum, arranged the stories into pairs with each pair exemplifying character, plot, POV/voice, setting, structure, or theme. Of course, all good stories will address all of these, but some highlight areas more predominantly than others.

Whether you're a reader looking for some excellent stories with high re-read value, or a writer looking for some tips (each story comes with an interview with the author and how they wrote the story), this book is a delightful edition to any short story collection.

[Hannah Goodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the stories I didn’t care for like The Story of My Life Kim Edwards, who wrote The Memory Keepers Daughter. I felt like it was contrived and after I read it, there was a section about how she wrote it and she said she took it right from a headline. I read this because it was supposed to be a story that had a tight plot. It totally bored me. I loved the Sandra Cisneros piece, even though it was a little confusing to follow. I like the idea behind this anthology. That we get the author's "behind the scenes" perspective on each piece.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the interviews came down to "I hadn't really planned that. It's just how the story came out." when asked about a piece of imagery, etc. Still, I found all of the stories at least mildly entertaining, and the interviews somewhat informative.

I recommend finding it at the library unless you're hardcore about writing and plan on marking it up.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great collection, but only if you're a writer seeking out information on the short story format. For anyone else, the stories are compelling, but you'll find the writer interviews extremely tedious and dull.

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great book for writers. You get 12 solid stories and interviews with their authors about their creation. While some are a bit erudite for my taste, there is much to be gleaned about the creative writing process, both the mystery and deliberation of crafting a memorable short story.

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

So far some of the stories seem more competent and topical than enduring.

[Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories were good, but the interviews with the writers were great because I got to see the techniques the writers used with varying degrees of success.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's always great to read interviews with authors, just to see where their head was at and what their processes are. As a writer it helps to understand all these variations on craft.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed the interview portions; quite enlightening.