I’m late posting this because it’s already been a busy month. And the list is short, since I taught a workshop. Reading a lot of student manuscripts cuts into my reading time. (Mostly proposals and queries this time. By the end of the workshop, they were very, very good–but I can’t recommend them, since most folks will never see them.) I also read a lot of books that passed the time, but just didn’t excite me. So here’s what I did enjoy in May: Barth, John, “Toga Party,” Best American Short Stories, edited by Stephen King, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008. Talk about judging a writer by his reputation. I’d always heard that Barth was lit’rary—which to me often means snobby and unappealing. His books look dry … Read entire article »