Wells Tower is an American short story writer who is born Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada on 14th April 1973 and grew up in Chapel hills, North Carolina. He splits his time between Chapel Hills, North Carolina and Brooklyn, New York. He has been quietly writing his short stories and publishing them over a past decade in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, McSweeney’s, Vice, Harper’s Magazine, A Public Space, Fence and other periodicals.
Credit Jimmy Fountain
In 2009, Farrar, Straus and Giroux published Tower’s first short story collection, Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned. While reviewing this book, Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times, wrote that the book “decisively establishes” Mr. Tower “as a writer of uncommon talent” and drew comparisons to Sam Shepard’s social radar, Frederic Barthelme’s ear and David Foster Wallace’s eye. While Edmond White of The New York Times Book Review describes Tower’s writing style as, “His syntax, though always easy to follow, is supple enough to wrap itself around several shades of meaning in the same sentence. His understanding of previously under-recognized feelings is rich in detail and passionate in utterance. And his familiarity with the whole ghastly world of malls and “cute” commercial culture is serious, even plangent, certainly not merely satirical.”
The blurb of Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned says “In the stories of Wells Tower, families fall apart and messily try to reassemble themselves. His version of America is touched with the seamy splendor of the dropout, the misfit: failed inventors, boozy dreamers, hapless fathers, wayward sons. Combining electric prose with savage wit, Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned is a major debut, announcing a voice we have not heard before.” With such strong praise and recommending, it is hard for me to ignore this book. This is the reason why I am including this book in my this A2Z short story TBR list.
You can grab your copy from following links,
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First Edition edition (17 March 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0374292191
ISBN-13: 978-0374292195
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Picador; First edition (2 February 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312429290
ISBN-13: 978-0312429294
Adding this to the amazing bucket of blogs at #BlogchatterA2Z.
V. S. Naipaul, Trinidad born, British – Indian author who is well known for his pessimistic novels set in developing countries and travel writings. In 2001, Naipaul was honored with Nobel Prize for literature “for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories”. Committee further added “Naipaul is a modern philosopher carrying on the tradition that started originally with Lettres persanes and Candide. In a vigilant style, which has been deservedly admired, he transforms rage into precision and allows events to speak with their own inherent irony.” Even though he was not confident about his skills as a writer, which lead to his impulsive trip to Spain.
Though there is a chance to look this collection as a novel as it describes various characters and events living in one neighborhood through the eyes of a boy. But while publishing this book, the publisher André Deutsch hesitated over publishing short stories by an unknown Trinidadian writer, as Naipaul then was. Deutsch thought a novel would have more success and encouraged Naipaul to write one. Deutsch published the Miguel Street after Naipaul’s two novels got published. 
Born to reputed anthropologist couple Alfred Louis Kroeber and writer Theodora Kroeber, Ursula K. Le Guin is an American novelist who mostly crafted her stories in fantasy or science fiction genre. David Streitfeld of The New York Times praised her as “America’s greatest living science fiction writer” when Library of America honored her by publishing her work. Though she wrote science fiction or fantasy, her stories were always about being human. Her profound knowledge of anthropology is evident in her writing as she blends various human traits and creates her characters.
The book I am taking up for this TBR listing is “The Birthday of the World and Other Stories”. The book contains 8 stories out of which 7 are published previously. While reviewing this book on 
Tobias Wolff, An American author born in Alabama State is in his 70s. Writer, memoirist and novelist, he is most famous for This Boy’s Life and In Pharaoh’s Army. Tobias has written stories which takes you to small-town America where joys, struggles despair and aspirations are equally small. The landscapes where Tobias sets his stories are so familiar that you just blend in them. Tobias was working at Syracuse University as an instructor in the graduate writing programme where Jay McInerney, George Saunders, William Tester, Alice Sebold and Paul Watkins were his students.
Wolff’s first short story collection, In the Garden of the North American Martyrs, was published in 1981 the stories have reappeared in many anthologies. The collection I want to read titles as Our Story Begins which is the title of one of Wolff’s earlier short fiction published in 1985. In this collection, there are 21 of his best works and 10 new stories spanning three decades. These stories of war, morality, frustration, loneliness and love trace a path through the everyday and the extraordinary, shedding a poignant yet hopeful light on American life and the intricate truths of human nature. (From the blurb of the book)
Satyajit Ray is not at all a new name for any Indian. He is a fantastic filmmaker with award-winning films like Pather Panchali, Aparajito and Apur Sansar on his name. However, Ray Saab has written numerous novels and stories predominantly of YA Fiction genre. His young detective Feluda and Professor Shonku from his science fiction stories are his most famous characters. While independent cinema, he has written several Tarini khuro (Tarini Uncle) stories of in which Tarini is an aged bachelor who tells a stories about his weird experiences.Many of his Tarini khuro stories are borderline horror or spooky stories.
Classic Satyajit Ray is a collection of best short stories written by Ray published by Penguin India in 2012. This collection contains 49 gems which Ray have carved. These Bengali short stories are translated in English by Gopa Mujumdar. Stories in the collection are not Feluda, Prof. Shonku or Tarini Khuro stories. They are his most timeless gems including as ‘Khagam’, ‘Indigo’, ‘Fritz’, ‘Bhuto’, ‘The Pterodactyl’s Egg’, ‘Big Bill’, ‘Patol Babu, Film Star’ and ‘The Hungry Septopus’. Though written for young readers, readers of all ages will enjoy these stories. Short stories in this collection are full of the macabre and suspense gives an interesting view of psychological aspect of his characters.
The copy of this book lies on my shelf for years and somehow I am not able to pick it up and read. With this blog post, I would like to commit myself in reading this as soon as possible. The cover with refreshing yellow background on which the blue head of robot is designed by Isa Esai. This cover was the main reason behind my purchase of this book. Unfortunately this book is out of print for now. Hope you guys can find it in some library near you if you are interested in reading it.
