April 2, 2009

Preferring chocolate cupcakes

Lovely that Shirley Hughes’ Dogger has been reissued, though I hope my baby is content with an older edition, as I’ve been saving it all this time. On Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, and it really is about time I read that book. Annabel Lyon’s review of the new Mary Gaitskill collection is one of the most entertaining reviews I’ve read ever, as well as quite persuasive: “Short story fans like things short, so here’s the skinny: Buy this book. Now, for the rest of you, the fat…” Craig Boyko on the short story, which I only read because of cupcakes in the headline, but I’m glad I did: “If stories do not sell, I guess it must be because people prefer to read novels. As someone who enjoys short stories, I find this preference odd. It’s like preferring chocolate cake to chocolate cupcakes. Aren’t they the same thing?” (They sort of are. Except that cupcakes are their own particular brand of amazing.)