Book Review: "New York Stories" edited by Diana Secker Tesdell

Everyman anthologies of short stories and poems may be fairly expensive, but are usually worth the payment in order to own a lovely book of short fiction that you can keep returning to. As with any book, there are some that are better curated than others and as with any set of books, there are usually stronger and weaker anthologies with the curation and organisation being at the forefront of how they are judged. I have to say that so far on my explorations, Paris Stories has been one of the best organised anthologies so far. With New York Stories I was on the fence because of the fact the stories, unlike the Paris Stories are not in time order and so, let us delve into why I sit on the fence with this particular anthology.

First of all, as much as I like Jack Kerouac it is probably never a good idea to start an anthology with him. His writing is a little bit too modern and so, opening the reader up to life in New York much earlier would have been a better idea, possibly putting Edith Wharton, O.Henry or basically any late 19th century American Writer there first would have done the trick. Anyone reading a book about New York stories probably wants to read something a bit simpler and a bit more beautifully written rather than the jazz-beat difficult style of Kerouac. Just because he's probably the better writer and the most famous does not mean you have to put him first. I can imagine for the average reader this would be very confusing to keep jumping styles like this.

I feel like Truman Capote was wrongly placed as well given that he is too, ultra-modern. Capote is one of my all-time favourite writers and to put him before Edith Wharton is like setting the anthology up for failure. I think that Truman Capote's story should have either gone later on in the anthology or at the end. Truman Capote's writing style feels like you are drifting away on a dark rain cloud and to put that sandwiched between Willa Cather and Edith Wharton makes it seem a bit lost. I think the curator was trying to look for something bridging between them seeing as the styles of Cather and Wharton are so very different.

Also, I am not kidding when I say that Shirley Jackson had the fourth story in the anthology. Shirley Jackson suits something far later. The story itself is incredibly thought-provoking and to put that before Willa Cather's story is simply not fair. The reader needs the time to digest Shirley Jackson's story and so, putting it further along in the anthology would have ensured that the reader did not forget the ones coming immediately after it.

However, I think James Baldwin was aptly placed because Sonny's Blues is again, pretty modern and deals with some very thoughtful issues. Baldwin is a great writer and I have never read anything by him that is even remotely bad - and I have read the vast majority of his books, essays and even listened to his lectures.

In conclusion, though the stories are amazing representations of New York, I feel like curation was the main issue. The organisation of the book made little sense and I think that the curator/editor was trying to put the most famous people first: Shirley Jackson, Jack Kerouac, Truman Capote etc. but, should have thought more about how the reader is going to receive the book as well. With Paris Stories the stories are all in order of time and so, we follow the history of Paris all the way through. I simply cannot do that here.