“My reading companion at the moment is the annual Pushcart Prize anthology (XLVI, 2022). It’s a collection of about 20 short stories, 20 non-fiction pieces, and 40 poems published in small literary journals in 2020. Every year for the past dozen years, I’ve started reading the new edition in January – slowly, this is not a race, I tend to finish in April. I read a story and think about it.
“What did I like, or not like, and what did the author do that led to that? How does the piece intersect with my life – or how have I not encountered the scenarios, characters, settings I just read? I do a little research – some pieces more than others – and Google around for an image that represents the piece. Then I write up my thoughts in a blog post, so that five or ten years from now, I’ll be able to remember my reading experience and, perhaps, discover that I’ve changed my mind.
“It was the 2020 Pushcart that introduced me to Jason Brown’s collection of Maine-based stories, A Faithful but Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed, via his wonderful short story “The Last Voyage of the Alice B. Toklas.” It was the 2014 Pushcart that had me wondering, for weeks, months, occasionally still now, whether I felt compassion or rage, or both, for Eric Fair after reading his essay, “Consequence,” about his experience as a civilian contractor at Abu Ghraib, and the effects on his life. And it was in Pushcart 2013 that I discovered poet Kathleen Balma via her prose poem about the male gaze and the inequities of strip clubs in “From Your Hostess at the T&A Museum” and then later read her chapbook and enjoyed a wonderful email conversation with her about its contents.
“I won’t like everything in any given Pushcart, but I’ll invariably discover something I’ll remember for a very long time.” — KAREN CARLSON, Portland. Carlson blogs at A Just Recompense.
Mainers, please email to tell us about the book on your bedside table right now. In a paragraph or two, describe the book and be sure to tell us what drew you to it. We want to hear what you are reading and why. Send your selection to pgrodinsky@pressherald.com, and we may use it as a future Bedside Table.
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