First Fiction: An Anthology of the First Published Stories by Famous Writers

by Kathy Kiernan, Michael M. Moore (Editor)

Here is where it all began - the professional fiction-writing careers of forty-one of our century's finest authors, from Raymond Carver and Alice Walker to F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ursula K. Le Guin. Spanning nearly eight decades, these short stories mark their creators' breakthroughs from amateur writer to published author. Standing as a testament to the writers' youth and ambition, they bear witness to the emergence of some of the most distinctive literary voices of our time. As Jane Smiley writes in the introduction to First Fiction, "Education begins with publication." The brief biographical notes that preface each story provide insight into this learning process and detail the circumstances surrounding publication. Nelson Algren's debut, for example, was preceded by a jail sentence served for stealing a typewriter. Mary McCarthy's first story is based on the bitter breakup of her first marriage. In many cases, the author's thoughts about his or her craft are also included. ("I can do this!" Mark Helprin realized.). Some of these stories blazed a trail of glory to literary eminence for their authors, while others were more like a trace of light at dawn: William Saroyan's first published fiction brought him instant recognition; Charles Bukowski, on the other hand, languished in obscurity for several decades after his professional debut. Some of the authors are easily recognizable: most readers will identify as Kurt Vonnegut's "The Barnhouse Effect," a Cold War story about the most powerful weapon on earth. The authors of other stories, such as Doris Lessing, are barely recognizable. Youth and age are both represented here - from Tennessee Williams's debut at seventeen with "The Vengeance of Nitocris" to Henry Miller's at forty with his story "Mademoiselle Claude." These stories represent the true starting points of the careers of some of the most talented writers of our time. First Fiction is fascinating reading for all those interested in the creative proces

Contents:

So help me / Nelson Algren
The war in the bathroom / Margaret Atwood
Previous condition / James Baldwin
The state of grace / Harold Brodkey
Aftermath of a lengthy rejection slip / Charles Bukowski
Miriam / Truman Capote
Furious seasons / Raymond Carver
Expelled / John Cheever
Landing in luck / William Faulkner
Babes in the woods / F. Scott Fitzgerald
Albergo Empedocle / E.M. Forster
The end of the party / Graham Greene
Because of the waters of the flood / Mark Helprin
In our time / Ernest Hemingway
Crazy in the stir / Chester B. Himes
After you, my dear Alphonse / Shirley Jackson
Territory / David Leavitt
April in Paris / Ursula K. Le Guin
The pig / Doris Lessing
Cruel and barbarous treatment / Mary McCarthy
Wunderkind / Carson McCullers
The greatest thing in the world / Norman Mailer
Benefit performance / Bernard Malamud
Mademoiselle Claude / Henry Miller
A basket of strawberries / Alice Munro
In the old world / Joyce Carol Oates
The geranium / Flannery O'Connor
Goodbye and good luck / Grace Paley
Such a pretty little picture / Dorothy Parker
The day it snowed / Philip Roth
The daring young man on the flying trapeze / William Saroyan
Flash in the pan / Irwin Shaw
Gimpel the fool / Isaac Bashevis Singer
And baby makes three / Jane Smiley
The seraph and the Zambesi / Muriel Spark
Oil field vignettes / Jim Thompson
Friends from Philadelphia / John Updike
Report on theBarnhouse Effect / Kurt Vonnegut
To hell with dying / Alice Walker
Death of a traveling salesman / Eudora Welty
The vengeance of Nitocris / Tennessee Williams

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies

452 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fact that I loved this book only confirms my literary nerd status. This is an anthology of the first published stories by famous writers. I found it thrilling to read the first attempts of such literary giants as Margaret Atwood, Philip Roth, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O'Conner, Joyce Carol Oats etc. That Alice Munro sure knows how to write.

At the beginning of each story is a short intro about the author and some of the details surrounding his or her's first publication. These little excerpts contained gems about the process, disappointments, difficulties and joys of writing that first successful story. What could be more fascinating?

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nifty collection of stories that give a 20/20 hindsight "look into the future" of each eventually-famous author. However, because of the wide diversity and differences in styles and subject matters (and even the different "starting points" of style and craft for each writer), the collection can strike as disjointed and uneven. This book will perhaps be best appreciated by aspiring writers and lovers of literature.

[Andrea Franden · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books of all time. A selection of the first published short stories by some of our most revered authors: Capote, Algren, Margaret Atwood, Ralph Ellison, Hemingway, and so many others. A real treasure trove of literary delight!

[Sherrie Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 of 5 stars
Great first stories by famous authors!
Reviewed By Sherrie Miranda on July 5, 2018
Format: Paperback
I've had this book for a while and finally grabbed it to take on a trip so I didn't have to remember what I read last.
I started out reading the shorter pieces which were almost all really good. These are the first PUBLISHED fiction by famous writers so we're not getting their teen diaries or anything like that.
The writing is very well done. Of course, they have been edited and this was at a time when it took someone in the business to discover you & help push your career along.
What surprised me the most was how well one story led into the next one. This is despite the fact that these authors were in the book in alphabetical order. Serendipity, I guess.
Sherrie Miranda's historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” will be out en Español soon. It's about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P11Ch...

[Isabel Osmundsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a collection of the first PUBLISHED short stories of famous and influential writers, some of the works are still a little rough, or may seem unfamiliar from the style these authors later hone to. However, it doesn't fail as entertaining. Eye opening, (as these aren't as heard from as the works these writers were made famous for,) you get to experience many whole new stories. My favorites so far are Margaret Atwood's surprisingly infuriating The War in the Bathroom, Truman Capote's creepy Miriam, Philip Roth's shattering The Day it Snowed, and the works of writers I previously was unaware of--Harold Brodkey's The State of Grace and James Baldwin's Previous Condition--both hard hitting works in their own right.
I can't wait to finish reading these. It's truly something to be reading the firsts of these many, varied writers.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I discovered this in the used books annex of Brookline Booksmith several months ago, when I was making a new attempt to write some short stories myself. Reading the earliest published works by the likes of Updike, Smiley, O'Connor, Capote, Atwood, Munro, and dozens more is fun and instructive. Like a detective, I enjoy finding clues in the early works to what have since become the authors' persistent concerns (and gestures).

[SmarterLilac · Rating 5 out of 5]

...egh. I started reading this with the intention of reducing my own feelings of intimidation regarding the possible publishing of some of my fiction.

No go. The stories in this anthology are excellent. I think I'll just go back to writing poetry, now.

[mandy]

haven't read this in a while. Setting is aside for now....

[Lisa]

First Fiction: An Anthology of the First Published Stories by Famous Writers by Kathy Kiernan (1994)

[Gerry LaFemina · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun read--some of the stories aren't as good as you might think, and some are wonderfully surprising. It's a great glimpse of writers figuring out who they are with several true gems!

[Mitch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Out of 40 + short stories submitted and published by what are now some of the most famous authors from America, I enjoyed exactly two...and one of those I'd read before and thought brilliant.

The others? Very literary, very New Yorker and whatnot, and not to my unsophisticated taste.

I cannot tell you why I didn't enjoy them except perhaps that some were overdone with word-flowers instead of straight storytelling and others were bleak portrayals of human behavior that I've never seen acted out by real people- and wouldn't want to.

No doubt many, many others can and will enjoy these literary offering more than I did, and more power to them! I am thankful we don't all have the same tastes in written material and that there's room for variety.

[Abriana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been working on this one for months, reading a story here, a story there. This is such an interesting idea - collecting the first published works of now famous authors. Some of these really stood out - James Baldwin's for example, Truman Capote's, Alice Munro. However, for the most part it was a struggle to get through, even with authors I know and love. Interesting to see where they started, but that also means you're usually sat reading their least developed work. Unfortunately, a lot of these were weak for me. Glad to have picked it up though, it introduced me to some new writers I'm interested to read more from as well.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great little collection of short stories. I was surprised by many of these. Some of the stories that I loved were:
Miriam by Truman Capote -
Such a Pretty Little Picture by Dorothy Parker
Gimpel the Fool by Isaac Bashevis Singer
And Baby Makes Three by Jane Smiley
Report on the Barnhouse Effect by Kurt Vonnegut
To Hell with Dying by Alice Walker

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I read this book many years ago and it has been sitting on a bookshelf in my home since then, I am not sure I am ready to part with it yet. What a great idea to form an anthology using the first published stories by famous writers! I just wish it was done in a larger font since my eyes don't like small print very well these days.

[Agnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course, I loved Margaret Atwood, Shirley Jackson, & Dorothy Parker, and of course I did not like some stories included, but overall, this reignited my love for short stories. I'm not sure why I read anything else!

(1/3 of the authors were women- which is more than usual for anthologies)

[Shannon Cobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing to see the foundation of many writers I have read from a genre that I do not read often enough.