Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope: All-Story

I'm fond of the literary anthologies as I only can read in spurts. I picked up Zoetrope-All Story because I had enjoyed some of the other short stories published in the periodical that ended up in the O. Henry Award books. And this jem won't disappoint. Easy to read and quick to engage in until the very last story. I especially enjoyed Robert Olen Butler's "Fair Warning" and Amy Bloom's "The Gates Are Closing" will create an emotional thickening in your throat. Highly recommened if you are looking for good shorts that aren't obscure or over your head.

Tasty, tasty, tasty!Say, you're hungry for a good read . . . zesty and a little different. . . nothing elaborate, but still a combination of different tastes and textures--like a smorgasbord. How about the collection in this edition of "Francis Ford Coppola's ZOETROPE: ALL-STORY"? Are you familiar with what certain ethnic restaurants call "tapas"? They're essentially appetizers--small, exquisite dishes, good to nosh--though, if you order a number of them, they can add up to quite a varied and sumptuous meal. Think of this collection that way. Everything may not suit your particular taste, but certainly there are stories here to please your palate; perhaps altogether they'll satisfy you.I can't make guarantees, yet. . .well, let me tell you what grabbed me. On the dry, witty side, I liked Melissa Bank's "The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing," a satire on certain kinds of self-help books, and Jon Billman's "Custer on Mondays," a wry salute to the last stand of an overage Peter Pan. On the other hand, the "gritty" side, I was really taken by George Makana Clark's bitterly poignant "The Leopard Gang," set in colonial southern Africa, and Chris Spain's urban adolescent fable of the concrete jungle, "Scaring the Baddest Animal." For dessert I'd suggest Tim Gautreaux' "Dancing with the One-Armed Gal" and Robert Olen Butler's "Fair Warning".The two essays are the veritable appetizers of this collection: Salman Rushdie's narrative is a purely Anglo kind of 'Adventures in the Screen Trade.' David Mamet's short piece is almost typical Mamet pontification (as in his WRITING IN RESTAURANTS and THREE USES OF THE KNIFE): ". . .the summer film is an exhibition pure and simple...it is our state fair". This presentation was a pleasant surprise. Thumbs up!

I'm already an ardent fan of Zoetrope All-Story magazine as it has more than aptly filled the void left by Story. I'm also a fan of other short story anthologies and this one deserves the place it stakes out along side the likes of the America's Best series. From humorous to the heart wrenching from authors as diverse as Rushdie, Bloom and Mamet, there's something for every reader here. Kudos to Mr. Coppola and his team at Zoetrope All-Story. I look forward to the next installment.

This is a collection of wonderful, poignant short stories. And I liked them all. That is rare in collections. That every single story stands out and shines. All of these stories did, in the telling and in the writing. Do yourself a favor and read them.

This book is perfect for those of us who are interested in the modern writers of today like Salman Rushdie and Olen Butler but do not have the time or energy to read their entire books, here we get a sample of their work which certainly wet my appetite. You don't need to have read the magazine before, in fact it's probably better that way, to love the book. This book shows that there will always be good books because people like Francis Ford Coppola are giving young brilliant writers a chance. If you buy this book skip right to Amy Bloom's tragic story of loss and learning to live again, the cream of the crop.