Read The Heaven of Animals: Stories Online
Authors: David James Poissant
The Heaven of Animals: Stories (35 page)
That being said, the story form will always be my first love. I read far more stories than novels. A limitation of the novel form (and I’m not even close to the first person to say this) is that it can never be perfect, whereas a story can get there, or at least come pretty close. I think that Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” is a perfect story. I think that Melanie Rae Thon’s “Xmas, Jamaica Plain” is a perfect story. I’m pretty sure I’ve never read a perfect novel.
If you could offer one piece of advice to aspiring short story writers, what would it be?
Read
. Write every day, or as often as you can, yes. Seek likeminded peers to give you feedback on your work, yes. But, most of all, read. Read lots, and read widely. Find a writer you like and read everything she’s written. Read a story anthology, then get the books by the authors of every story you loved. The more you read, the more you’ll begin reading like a writer. You’ll read a sentence that makes your pulse race and you’ll pause and ask, “How did the writer do that?” Once you start asking those questions, you’re bound to go looking for answers and to bring those answers home to your own work. We call this “finding your voice.” But, finding your voice is just a matter of discovering the grab bag of stylistic tricks and tics from which you’ll forever be borrowing—sometimes knowingly, sometimes unknowingly—from those who have come before you.
Ultimately, what do you hope readers will take away from
The Heaven of Animals
?
Honestly, I’m flattered at the thought of anyone reading my book, and readers are welcome to take whatever they like from it. But, if pressed, I’d say that, for me,
empathy
is the magic word. I want readers to empathize with these characters, to extend compassion to even the cruelest of them. Some of these stories are very dark, but I hope that, out of each, some hope shines through. To the extent that it does, I’ll feel like I’ve done my job.
About the Author
Photograph by Ashley Inguanta
David James Poissant’s stories have appeared in
The Atlantic,
Playboy,
One Story,
The Southern Review
,
Ploughshares
,
Glimmer Train
,
and in the
New Stories from the South
and
Best New American Voices
anthologies. His writing has been awarded the Matt Clark Prize, the George Garrett Fiction Award, the RopeWalk Fiction Chapbook Prize, and the Alice White Reeves Memorial Award from the National Society of Arts & Letters, as well as awards from
The Chicago Tribune
and
The Atlantic
and
Playboy
magazines. He teaches in the MFA program at the University of Central Florida and lives in Orlando with his wife and daughters. Visit him online at:
www.davidjamespoissant.com
.
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
authors.simonandschuster.com/David-James-Poissant
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Compilation copyright © 2014 by David James Poissant
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Simon & Schuster Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition March 2014
Information about previous publication of the stories is on page 260.
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Designed by Paul Dippolito
Jacket design by Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Poissant, David James.
[Short stories. Selections]
Heaven of Animals : Stories / David James Poissant.—First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
pages cm
I. Title.
PS3616.O5467A6 2014
811'.6—dc23
2013037118
ISBN 978-1-4767-2996-1
ISBN 978-1-4767-2998-5 (ebook)
Table of Contents
Last of the Great Land Mammals
I. Venn Diagram
II. Wake the Baby