Alice Munro Won the Nobel! Celebrate the Short Story With 10 Other Masters of the Form
James Baldwin
Read everything by Baldwin. Hell, the first thing I read by him was an introduction he wrote to one of my favorite unknown books ever, Daddy Was a Number Runner by Louise Merriweather, which is sort of like A Tree Grows In Brooklyn if Francie Nolan had been African-American and growing up in Harlem in the 30s. Anyway, even after just reading Baldwin’s introduction, I knew his was a voice I wanted to read more and more of. And his short stories are an excellent way to read Baldwin, especially “Sonny’s Blues,” which is one of the most well-crafted pieces of short fiction that I’ve ever read. Really, it’s a flawless master lesson in craft, and perfect to read again and again.