December 10, 2004

Curious George: Short story writers If you could commission any living writer to write a short story for you (NB not about you), who would you ask?
posted by prandial 20 years ago
  • Thomas Pynchon and I would like to be a minor character at least...maybe?
  • Harlan Ellison. Or William Gibson.
  • Haruki Murakami.
  • If you're limiting me to the living, then I'd chose Paul Auster, but my favorite short story writers are all dead: Jorge Luis Borges, Paul Bowles, James Joyce, etc.
  • Bob Dylan. David James Duncan.
  • J. D. Salinger - if anyone can find him.
  • Kurt Vonnegut
  • Borges would be good, as it would almost certainly involve either trippy shit or a knife fight. Or both. I love me some Borges. David Sedaris, mostly for the fun of it.
  • Lynda Barry
  • Dave Eggers. Alan Ball ("American Beauty," "Six Feet Under" - dont know if he's written stories but bet he could do something cool)
  • I'd have to second Gibson and Vonnegut. For some reason, I only really enjoy sci-fi(ish) short stories. Though Eggers would be great fun.
  • Barbara Kingsolver would be goo... Hell no, IVAN DOIG!!
  • Daniel Pinkwater.
  • I'll third the Gibson and add in Terry Pratchett.
  • You have good taste, Medusa.
  • Hunter S. Thompson.
  • Steven Millhauser.
  • Damn, Hunter Thompson- why the hell didnt I think of that? Oh, and Pete Townshend (yeah he wrote a book of stories, "Horse's Neck," it's good)
  • Leonard Cohen. He hasn't written an fiction in a long, long time, and he's due. And we can always use more Leonard Cohen.
  • "an" fiction was supposed to be "any" fiction, obviously. Serves me right for skipping the preview.
  • Could I pass up on the fiction and just have sex with Harlan Ellison instead?
  • And Adrian Tomine. His shit just blows me away.
  • Robert Stone, the greatest living USian fiction writer.
  • Chuck Palahniuk. And don't skimp on the gory details, yeah!
  • Beeswacky.
  • Gibson, of course, goes wtihout saying.
  • Margaret Atwood. If the story could be even one tenth as amusing as the one about choosing politicians based on their plumage, I would treasure it forever. Of course, I would probably also treasure a grocery list if it were written by her.
  • James Kelman
  • For me, anything from any of Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman or Warren Ellis would be fun. Gaiman's short stories tend to be his strongest work in my opinion. And maybe have it illustrated by Michael Zulli or Brian Talbot. Ack! Scratch that - have it illustrated by Dave McKean.
  • Oooh, I completely forgot about Neil Gaiman. Good answer.
  • hi (first post) robert anton wilson tom robbins douglas coupland bret easton ellis
  • Norman Spinrad
  • Steve Martin.
  • david foster wallace or lemony snicket (though i would be prepared to settle for daniel handler).
  • See, all of you are acquisitive, while I'm just malicious. There are more good short stories than I will possibly read anyway. So, I would ask Thomas Friedman to write a short story for me, so I could see how much it would hurt him.
  • Nicholson Baker
  • I bet Andrew Dice Clay could write a mean short story...
  • sam shepard
  • Al Franken or Larry Niven
  • Garry Trudeau
  • William T. Vollman. It would take place in Fallujah.
  • T. C. Boyle or Maeve Binchy I have varied tastes in books.
  • dx: Heh! I'm so surprised ya'll are so restrained. I had a list of about twenty I had to make before I picked just one--and I keep changing my mind and wanting to post another, and another and another.
  • Ernest Hemingway! Die bulls! Drink! Fight! Fuck! Polydactyl cats! Andale andale arriba!
  • Terry Bisson
  • bluehorse, who told you about my compulsive reading habits? But then, I'm not surprised to hear you had the same problem. I just couldn't pull any more up too quickly... Margaret Mitchell. Jonathon Katz Thomas Hardy...
  • George Saunders!
  • I think Tobias Wolff could find something interesting in my mundane existence. "Shortstop is the best position they is"
  • David Malouf. *posts from Shanghai, more to follow tomorrow*
  • Woo! Hi Wolof! How's China? More importantly, how's Claire?
  • Most beautiful baby ever. Why yes!
  • Wolof, have you been able to stop grinning long enough to rest your smile muscles yet?
  • They've probably hypertrophied by now. Hey Wolof! *waves* give Claire a kiss for me :)
  • Coming home tomorrow. (I'm writing this in an internet cafe in Shangers, whch I am sharing with about 200 terminals and approximately the same number of cigarette-smoking Asian youths. Very William Gibson.) PS -- this city is fantastic!
  • *is jealous* A couple of friends are going to Shanghai on the 27th. Is it the new tourist place to go?