Truth is stranger

but I still love fiction. I’ve been on such a creative nonfiction kick that I actually forgot about some of my favorite favorites. Here they are, in no particular order. Well actually the first one is totally my number one favorite, but the rest are just in there.

1. Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles. It’s actually a novella and I read it yearly. No one writes like Jane Bowles, or ever will. This story about two women who…wait. I can’t ruin it for you. Suffice it to say you will never forget it and that it’s a story about sinners.

2. Anything by Junot Diaz, but especially his last book, This Is How You Lose Her. Again we follow Yunior, our favorite cad/nerd, through his collapsible love affairs. His voice is perfect and sticks with you.

3. Cathedral by Raymond Carver. I’m a huge Raymond Carver fan, but this is the story that keeps coming back to me. It restores my faith in humanity.

4. Lady with the White Dog by Anton Chekov. On the surface, it’s about infidelity. But really it’s about letting your guard down and being vulnerable in love.

5.  I feel badly that most of these writers are dudes.  Don’t do a count on me, VIDA!  But that is not why I am including The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter.  Amazing book of appropriated fairy tales that dig deeper into the sexual and violent content there.  But I’m not doing it justice because I’m lazy.  Just do me a favor, pick it up the next time you’re at a bookstore and read the title story.