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Doubletakes: Pairs of Contemporary Short Stories
Selected by celebrated author and professor T. Coraghessan Boyle, PAIRS OF CONTEMPORARY SHORT STORIES gives readers the opportunity to enjoy the works of today's literary lights through close reading and analysis.
672 pages, Paperback
Published September 26, 2003
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About the author
T. Coraghessan Boyle
157 books3,012 followersT. Coraghessan Boyle (also known as T.C. Boyle, is a U.S. novelist and short story writer. Since the late 1970s, he has published eighteen novels and twleve collections of short stories. He won the PEN/Faulkner award in 1988 for his third novel, World's End, which recounts 300 years in upstate New York. He is married with three children. Boyle has been a
Professor of English at the University of Southern California since 1978, when he founded the school's undergraduate creative writing program.
He grew up in the small town on the Hudson Valley that he regularly fictionalizes as Peterskill (as in widely anthologized short story Greasy Lake). Boyle changed his middle name when he was 17 and exclusively used Coraghessan for much of his career, but now also goes by T.C. Boyle.
Professor of English at the University of Southern California since 1978, when he founded the school's undergraduate creative writing program.
He grew up in the small town on the Hudson Valley that he regularly fictionalizes as Peterskill (as in widely anthologized short story Greasy Lake). Boyle changed his middle name when he was 17 and exclusively used Coraghessan for much of his career, but now also goes by T.C. Boyle.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 26, 2011
"Literature is entertainment," writes Boyle, the editor of this anthology. And this collection, penned by some of the greats, is nothing but.
Doubletakes is ideal for anyone teaching creative writing, running a workshop, or just in need of a clinic on the contemporary short story. Tom Boyle has collected, and approaches these stories, as a teacher. Meaning, in brief introductions before each pair of stories, he gives a quick context on the author and their palette of work that will be useful to both teacher and student.
And what a great idea to pair an author's fiction side by side. The most interesting, by far, is the two Raymond Carver stories, in which Boyle includes two versions of the same story: one that Carver finished and sent out, the other a version that his notorious editor, Gordon Lish, later revised (interesting enough, the latter is the more famous version).
I've taught this anthology at the university level for a few years now and students love it. The authors may be of--ahem--the lilly white persuasion (except for Junot Diaz, academia's go-to guy for "street cred"), but the fiction is fun and provocative enough (read Gaitskill's "Secretary". Immediately).
And of course Boyle wouldn't be Boyle if he didn't include himself (AND comment on his own brilliance) in his own damn anthology. Hilarious!
Doubletakes is ideal for anyone teaching creative writing, running a workshop, or just in need of a clinic on the contemporary short story. Tom Boyle has collected, and approaches these stories, as a teacher. Meaning, in brief introductions before each pair of stories, he gives a quick context on the author and their palette of work that will be useful to both teacher and student.
And what a great idea to pair an author's fiction side by side. The most interesting, by far, is the two Raymond Carver stories, in which Boyle includes two versions of the same story: one that Carver finished and sent out, the other a version that his notorious editor, Gordon Lish, later revised (interesting enough, the latter is the more famous version).
I've taught this anthology at the university level for a few years now and students love it. The authors may be of--ahem--the lilly white persuasion (except for Junot Diaz, academia's go-to guy for "street cred"), but the fiction is fun and provocative enough (read Gaitskill's "Secretary". Immediately).
And of course Boyle wouldn't be Boyle if he didn't include himself (AND comment on his own brilliance) in his own damn anthology. Hilarious!
April 11, 2021
This book was a wonderful occasion to spend time with old friends and meet new friends. Here are some of the old friends and their wonderful works: Jorge Luis Borges, "Funes, the Memorious"; T. Coraghesson Boyle, whose "Greasy Lake" was something I'd read before but "She Wasn't Soft" was new and interesting to me; Raymond Carver, "The Bath" and "A Small, Good Thing"; Junot Diaz, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao"; Richard Ford, "Rock Springs" and "Great Falls"; Lorrie Moore, "People Like That Are the Only People Here" and "How to Become a Writer"; Tim O'Brien, "The Things They Carried" and "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong"; Flannery O'Connor, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" and "Good Country People"; David Foster Wallace, "Forever Overhead"; and Tobias Wolf, "Bullet in the Brain."
Here are the new works, some of those authors I might have been familiar with but which I credit these stories for really getting me acquainted with them: Ann Beattie, "The Burning House" and "The Four-Night Fright"; Aimee Bender, "The Rememberer" and "Quiet Please"; Roald Dahl, "Taste"; Lydia Davis, "St. Martin"; Mary Gaitskill, "Secretary"; Jamaica Kincaid, "Poor Visitor" and "Figures in the Distance"; and Stacey Richter, "The Beauty Treatment" and "The Cavemen in the Hedges."
There are a lot of good stories in this collection is what I'm saying.
Here are the new works, some of those authors I might have been familiar with but which I credit these stories for really getting me acquainted with them: Ann Beattie, "The Burning House" and "The Four-Night Fright"; Aimee Bender, "The Rememberer" and "Quiet Please"; Roald Dahl, "Taste"; Lydia Davis, "St. Martin"; Mary Gaitskill, "Secretary"; Jamaica Kincaid, "Poor Visitor" and "Figures in the Distance"; and Stacey Richter, "The Beauty Treatment" and "The Cavemen in the Hedges."
There are a lot of good stories in this collection is what I'm saying.
December 10, 2017
This was one of the readers for my Art of Fiction class. It had a great selection of stories, letting me re-read some favorites, introducing me to new favorites, and letting me see some interesting writing styles.
October 7, 2011
I had to read the different stories in this book for my Literature Theory and Critique class. I surprisingly enjoyed most of the stories in here, despite having some awkward and abrupt writing styles throughout and some kind of ridiculous and maybe too vivid stories. I really enjoyed the story Bullet to the Brain which made me ponder the human existence and mind and how throughout life our distinct and separate memories coagulate into one abstract form. The way I took it was very sad and it made me want to live each moment to the fullest in my life, so that the important memories in my life will always stick with me. It made me want to never lose motivation and optimism about life.
There are many other stories I enjoyed but that was the one that stuck with me. If you want some insightful reading material, you should definitely pick this short-story collection up.
There are many other stories I enjoyed but that was the one that stuck with me. If you want some insightful reading material, you should definitely pick this short-story collection up.
November 15, 2011
Doubletakes is a great book for creative writing students or just everyday readers with compiled short stories including Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and David Foster Wallace’s “Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.” There are around 30 stories that are each great in their own right. I found that by studying the different techniques of voice, structure and form, and texture in each story I learned how to better understand what it takes to write a good story and understand how to form my own style of voice, form, and texture.
July 10, 2007
Very interesting read, and probably a great book to teach in an advanced creative writing class, but TC Boyle made me laugh when he is both the editor and a contributor of this anthology. Egocentric, anyone?
January 26, 2008
Not all of the stories are stellar--I'm not a fan of a couple of the authors featured herein--but this is a solid compilation of contemporary short stories. If you want to see what the written word can do in the shortened form, check it out.
July 25, 2007
Classic and Modern short stories. Great.
April 1, 2008
One of the best anthologies for teaching fiction; paired stories from each writer; great aesthetic diversity.
December 30, 2008
Loads of wonderfully written short stories.
February 6, 2014
I love this anthology and would use it for my creative writing class if weren't so expensive. Great selection of great writers!
December 19, 2014
T.C. Boyle creates a "teaching" anthology by pairing stories by a broad variety of writers, some of whose work you likely know and some you'll be glad to discover. It's a rare and useful anthology.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews