‘Hiding Out” and “When the Messenger is Hot”
Posted on | August 3, 2010 | 1 Comment
Hello again! Did you miss me? I’ve been moving the past week or so – what a drag! I feel like a hoarder with all these little paths going through my apartment. In any case, if I’m going to get any reading done, it will probably be short stories. A good set of short stories will not make you feel like you are “starting fresh” with each chapter, but excited to find out who you will visit next.
While I was packing away my books, I gave one over to a friend of mine: Jon Messinger’s Hiding Out, which is a lovely and sublte collection of contemporary stories that exhibit the sort of sensitivity that David Foster Wallace used to bring but with a slightly less whacky sort of view. The characters are all too human, sometimes flawed to the point where you wouldn’t want to meet them in person, but that to me makes a good character. In any case, my friend was impressed – she hadn’t read fiction in a while and was pleased that she found something she could sink her teeth into.
Jon Messinger is a Chicago Author – I saw him read at an RUI event here a couple of years ago. He’s a busy guy though – he’s book editor for Time Out Chicago, and a co-founder of Featherproof Books.
Elizabeth Crane is another Chicago author who is worth reading. Her work was introduced to me by a friend of mine, and she still teaches at various Chicago Universities
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Her first set of short stories has been around for a while, but still have a contemporary feel. Mostly concerned with dating, each story contains a little bit of blunt whimsy that most readers appreciate.
But watch out for Daves.
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Awesome site and very good laid out indeed. I wish mine were as good as yours. Keep up the good work! If I could only have your 10 percent creativity I would be very happy, no, is more than happy.