Well, one of many reasons ...
In addition to being one of America's greatest short story writers (though she hasn't had a book out since 1998's BIRDS OF AMERICA), she is also an unparalleled master of the opening line.
Witness this, from her 1986 novel ANAGRAMS:
Gerard Maines lived across the hall from a woman named Benna, who four minutes into any conversation always managed to say the word "penis." He was not a prude, but, nonetheless, it made him wince.
2 comments:
She is incomparable. Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? The title alone is compelling. Birds in America. Every sentence she writes is pristine, interesting, lucid.
In short stories, I also like Joy Williams.
"birds of america" is probably my favorite book of hers and maybe my favorite book period. there is quite simply no one else like her.
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