Short Story Update

I started my research in the Brewster library. I did not have much remaining time in that particular free, however. Once at home, to my surprise, I learned that my family had a copy of “Unaccustomed Earth” by Jhumpa Lahiri in the library. I was already familiar with her because of her descent and my family’s subsequent appreciation for her writing, but also because I was essayist for the short story by her that we had read earlier. After having discovered the book, I now had to decide which stories in the collection I would read, if I ultimately decide to choose a story by her.

I started to read two of the stories in the book. The first, “Hell-Heaven” was a nice read. It was a story about a man’s desire to return to his homeland for a very simple reason––food. The story then became about the person whom he meets. However, I read another story. “Once in a Lifetime” was also very culturally oriented. It deals with the first-person account of an immigrant girl recounting her experiences with a nomadic lifestyle.

After browsing the New Yorker’s website, I read another story, this one by Tim Gautreaux. It was about a man who inherits a mansion from his grandfather only to run out of money after making so many renovations.

I have not been able to make a final decision yet. Maybe over the course of the next couple of days I will be able to finalize a selection, but as of now I am still a short story free-agent.