2016

Here is my Deal Me In 2016 list of short stories:

ON MY SHELF ♠

A Spades Christmas Gift Robert Penn Warren
K Spades Big Two-Hearted River Ernest Hemingway
Q Spades Crazy Sunday F. Scott Fitzgerald
J Spades Double Birthday Willa Cather
10 Spades Filthy With Things T. C. Boyle
9 Spades Hunters in the Snow Tobias Wolff
8 Spades Defender of the Faith Philip Roth
7 Spades Rappaccini’s Daughter Nathaniel Hawthorne
6 Spades Thicker Than Liquor Wendell Berry
5 Spades The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien
4 Spades The Diary of Adam and Eve Mark Twain
3 Spades Old Red Caroline Gordon
2 Spades WILD Slight Rebellion Off Madison  J. D. Salinger

CATHOLICISM ♣

A Clubs The Peach Stone Paul Horgan
K Clubs Cheap in August Graham Greene
Q Clubs The Hammer of God G. K. Chesterton
J Clubs The Devil and Irv Cherniske T. C. Boyle
10 Clubs Emanuelle! Emanuelle! Caroline Gordon
9 Clubs Dawn J. F. Powers
8 Clubs Revelation Flannery O’Connor
7 Clubs Mrs. Cassidy’s Last Year Mary Gordon
6 Clubs The Whore’s Child Richard Russo
5 Clubs A Father’s Story Andre Dubus
4 Clubs Died and Gone to Vegas Tim Gautreaux
3 Clubs The Rich Brother Tobias Wolff
2 Clubs WILD: The Life You Save May Be Your Own  Flannery O’Connor

BASEBALL 

A Diamonds The Hector Quesadilla Story T. C. Boyle
K Diamonds Goodwood Comes Back Robert Penn Warren
Q Diamonds You Could Look It Up James Thurber
J Diamonds What Did We Do Wrong? Garrison Keillor
10 Diamonds Jamesie J. F. Powers
9 Diamonds Horseshoes Ring Lardner
8 Diamonds Home Run Steven Millhauser
7 Diamonds The Master’s Touch Herbert Warren Wind
6 Diamonds Smoke Michael Chabon
5 Diamonds Brooklyns Lose William Heuman
4 Diamonds Baseball Hattie Damon Runyon
3 Diamonds The Pitcher and the Plutocrat P. G. Wodehouse
2 Diamonds WILD The National Pastime  John Cheever

KENTUCKY 

A Hearts That Distant Land Wendell Berry
K Hearts Blackberry Winter Robert Penn Warren
Q Hearts Homeland Barbara Kingsolver
J Hearts Residents and Transients Bobbie Ann Mason
10 Hearts Humming Back Yesterday Crystal E. Wilkinson
9 Hearts The Petrified Woman Caroline Gordon
8 Hearts Barred Owl Chris Offutt
7 Hearts The Vireo’s Nest Hollis Summers
6 Hearts The Perfecting of the Chopin Valse No. 14 in E Minor Sena Jeter Naslund
5 Hearts Anthem of the Locusts Dean Cadle
4 Hearts Dr. Livingston’s Grotto Normandi Ellis
3 Hearts The Idea of It Chris Holbrook
2 Hearts WILD: The Legend of Potato Creek  Maurice Thompson

56 thoughts on “2016

  1. Great list Dale! I always check peoples lists to see how many stories & authors I’ve read, and the results are: only 6 stories, but 14 authors.

    I read Barbara Kingsolver’s “Flight Behavior” a while back and am curious to hear about her short story. The Vireo’s Nest sounds intriguing to me to as I often see Red-Eyed Vireos when I’m out walking/birdwatching. It may not come as a surprise that I’ve read none of your Baseball or Catholicism stories, but I love that you have those as categories.

    Another note is that all but one of your six stories that I’ve read have come to me via previous iterations of my own Deal Me In projects.

    You’ve now got me thinking about my 2016 list. I can’t decide whether or not to go “All IN” with Indiana stories and authors in honor of the state’s 2016 Bicentennial or not. Hmm….

    1. An All IN list would be awesome! I look forward to seeing your list. I’ve never read anything by Barbara Kingsolver although I hear a lot about her novel “The Poisonwood Bible”.

      The idea for the Catholicism topic came from reading a little in Daniel J. Boorstin’s “The Creators” which you had recommended to me a while back. I’ve only read a small part of the book and I have tended to use it more like a research book when I want to find out about certain time periods for art and literature. Anyway, you have more of a connection to that topic than you probably thought you did.

      I honestly didn’t know what a Vireo was but based on the title I figured it was either a bird or some sort of wasp or hornet. Glad to find out it’s a bird!

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