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Bring Me Your Saddest Arizona
The vast, unsettling landscape of the American Southwest is as much a character in Ryan Harty's debut collection, Bring Me Your Saddest Arizona, as the men and women who inhabit its award-winning stories. In eight vivid tales of real life in the west, Harty reminds us that life's greatest challenge may be to find the fine balance between desire and obligation.
A high school football player must make a choice between family and friends when his older brother commits an act of senseless violence. A middle-aged man must fly to Las Vegas to settle his dead sister's estate, only to discover that he must first confront his guilt over his sister's death. A young teacher tries to help a homeless girl, but, as their lives intertwine, he begins to understand that his generosity is motivated by his own relenting sense of lonliness. Well-intentioned but ultimately human, the characters in these stories often fall short of achieving grace. But the possibility of redemption, like the Sonoran Desert at the edge of Bring Me Your Saddest Arizona's suburban landscapes, is never far off. Harty's characters are as complicated as the people we know, and his vision of life in the west is as hopeful as it is strikingly real.
A high school football player must make a choice between family and friends when his older brother commits an act of senseless violence. A middle-aged man must fly to Las Vegas to settle his dead sister's estate, only to discover that he must first confront his guilt over his sister's death. A young teacher tries to help a homeless girl, but, as their lives intertwine, he begins to understand that his generosity is motivated by his own relenting sense of lonliness. Well-intentioned but ultimately human, the characters in these stories often fall short of achieving grace. But the possibility of redemption, like the Sonoran Desert at the edge of Bring Me Your Saddest Arizona's suburban landscapes, is never far off. Harty's characters are as complicated as the people we know, and his vision of life in the west is as hopeful as it is strikingly real.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
174 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
September 10, 2010
This collection of short stories, which really could have been more accurately titled
Bring Me Your Saddest Suburban Phoenix
, started out mundanely enough, but as it progressed it helped me pinpoint exactly why modern American literature falls completely flat on my eyes: the authors have absolutely no voice. In a blind taste-test, I would easily be able to tell Steinbeck from Capote, Tolstoy from Chekhov, Conrad from Hardy, or Kafka from Kleist; but these guys today are totally indistinguishable from each other, as if they all went to the same writers' workshop (which is, as a matter of fact, in Iowa) where they learned three important methods of knocking out a minimally publishable book:
First, authors nowadays don't actually ever have to research or have direct experience with their subject matter; everything they need to flesh out a story comes from what they've seen in movies or can find with a quick search on google, and if they don't feel like doing even that much, they can just make things up as they see fit– the number of readers who will actually know that the sun goes down in Arizona at 6pm regardless of the season, and so therefore your character can't leave San Francisco by car at noon and make it into Phoenix at sundown the same day, will not affect book sales. Heck, with the abysmal geography skills of your average American, go ahead and take as many wild liberties with time and space as you like, because you can depend on the reader not thinking too much about how long California is or how wide Nevada is or even (depending on the route) that Utah exists; for all they know Arizona borders California from top to bottom. Certainly this is what Burroughs meant when he said, "Nothing is true, everything is permitted"!
The second important lesson is this: the way to create intrigue for the reader is not to have a complex story, or even a good one, to tell. No, just write about everyday, boring things, in everyday, boring ways, and the way to make it interesting is to not mention the protagonist's name until three pages in when it comes up casually in conversation between characters; this will cause the reader to become confused– "William? Who the fuck is William?"– and everyone knows a confused reader is an interested one. Also, don't mention where a story takes place until after six pages, at which point you may inconsequentially slip in that the restaurant is on Haight Street. The reader will then feel rewarded and smart for figuring out the mystery of why it has been raining all this time. You may even go so far as to reveal only after four pages of a story that the child whose arm has just been amputated in an epileptic fit is actually a robot!
Call me old fashioned, but I don't think it hurt Kleist's reputation at all as an all-time world master of the short story to begin every one with a date, a location and a character in the first sentence:
"About the middle of the sixteenth century there lived besides the banks of the River Havel a horse-dealer called Michael Kohlhaas" (– from Michael Kohlhaas )
Fast forward 189 years and even Hollywood will turn this story into a John Cusack film; though the movie isn't great, I doubt very much any Iowa workshop attendee will ever be able to make such a claim to fame and lasting appeal no matter how many lame tricks and techniques they might employ. And I beg any Iowa workshop writer to prove to me that "I get the call as my wife is setting the table for dinner" is a superior opening than this:
"In Santiago, the capital of the kingdom of Chile, at the moment of the great earthquake of 1647 in which many thousands lost their lives, a young Spaniard called Jerónimo Rugera was standing beside one of the pillars in the prison to which he had been committed on a criminal charge, and was about to hang himself." (– from The Earthquake in Chile )
If that opening line doesn't demonstrate it is not vaguery but information that is intriguing, I don't know what does.
And finally, the third rule to writing in an age of frenzied consumption: fuck allegory and symbolism, today's stories don't have to mean anything. I'm not kidding, one day when my coffee was dripping, I wiped the bottom of the cup with this book. That's right– what this book proved itself really to be was, by comparison to my sleeve, a superior napkin.
First, authors nowadays don't actually ever have to research or have direct experience with their subject matter; everything they need to flesh out a story comes from what they've seen in movies or can find with a quick search on google, and if they don't feel like doing even that much, they can just make things up as they see fit– the number of readers who will actually know that the sun goes down in Arizona at 6pm regardless of the season, and so therefore your character can't leave San Francisco by car at noon and make it into Phoenix at sundown the same day, will not affect book sales. Heck, with the abysmal geography skills of your average American, go ahead and take as many wild liberties with time and space as you like, because you can depend on the reader not thinking too much about how long California is or how wide Nevada is or even (depending on the route) that Utah exists; for all they know Arizona borders California from top to bottom. Certainly this is what Burroughs meant when he said, "Nothing is true, everything is permitted"!
The second important lesson is this: the way to create intrigue for the reader is not to have a complex story, or even a good one, to tell. No, just write about everyday, boring things, in everyday, boring ways, and the way to make it interesting is to not mention the protagonist's name until three pages in when it comes up casually in conversation between characters; this will cause the reader to become confused– "William? Who the fuck is William?"– and everyone knows a confused reader is an interested one. Also, don't mention where a story takes place until after six pages, at which point you may inconsequentially slip in that the restaurant is on Haight Street. The reader will then feel rewarded and smart for figuring out the mystery of why it has been raining all this time. You may even go so far as to reveal only after four pages of a story that the child whose arm has just been amputated in an epileptic fit is actually a robot!
Call me old fashioned, but I don't think it hurt Kleist's reputation at all as an all-time world master of the short story to begin every one with a date, a location and a character in the first sentence:
"About the middle of the sixteenth century there lived besides the banks of the River Havel a horse-dealer called Michael Kohlhaas" (– from Michael Kohlhaas )
Fast forward 189 years and even Hollywood will turn this story into a John Cusack film; though the movie isn't great, I doubt very much any Iowa workshop attendee will ever be able to make such a claim to fame and lasting appeal no matter how many lame tricks and techniques they might employ. And I beg any Iowa workshop writer to prove to me that "I get the call as my wife is setting the table for dinner" is a superior opening than this:
"In Santiago, the capital of the kingdom of Chile, at the moment of the great earthquake of 1647 in which many thousands lost their lives, a young Spaniard called Jerónimo Rugera was standing beside one of the pillars in the prison to which he had been committed on a criminal charge, and was about to hang himself." (– from The Earthquake in Chile )
If that opening line doesn't demonstrate it is not vaguery but information that is intriguing, I don't know what does.
And finally, the third rule to writing in an age of frenzied consumption: fuck allegory and symbolism, today's stories don't have to mean anything. I'm not kidding, one day when my coffee was dripping, I wiped the bottom of the cup with this book. That's right– what this book proved itself really to be was, by comparison to my sleeve, a superior napkin.
August 20, 2007
highest compliment: wish i'd written them.
April 21, 2010
"Bring Me Your Saddest Arizona" caught my eye for two reasons, one is the fact that it kept popping up as a recommended collection of short stories to read and two the fact that it is a award winning collection.
This collection is comprised of eight stories, ranging from 15-30 pages in length.
The stories start off very mild & somewhat slow in this collection. The first story "What Can I Tell You About My Brother? has alot of promise starting out, but didn't end with the flare I'd hoped for. The next two stories "Ongchoma" and "Between Tubac and Tumacaori" seemed to slow things down quite a bit.
However the collection picks up momentum and never looks back after the fourth story "Crossroads".
The next four stories are great, two of them outstanding stories that I would recommended for anyone to read.
"Sarah at the Palace"
"Why the Sky Turns Red When the Sun Goes Down" (outstanding story)
"Don't Call It Christmas"
"September" (outstanding story)
This award winning collection may not be for everyone, but it proves that Ryan Harty has a spot secured among the current top short story writers.
Other recommended short stories collections similar to this are Trash: Stories & Animal Crackers: Stories
Enjoy~
This collection is comprised of eight stories, ranging from 15-30 pages in length.
The stories start off very mild & somewhat slow in this collection. The first story "What Can I Tell You About My Brother? has alot of promise starting out, but didn't end with the flare I'd hoped for. The next two stories "Ongchoma" and "Between Tubac and Tumacaori" seemed to slow things down quite a bit.
However the collection picks up momentum and never looks back after the fourth story "Crossroads".
The next four stories are great, two of them outstanding stories that I would recommended for anyone to read.
"Sarah at the Palace"
"Why the Sky Turns Red When the Sun Goes Down" (outstanding story)
"Don't Call It Christmas"
"September" (outstanding story)
This award winning collection may not be for everyone, but it proves that Ryan Harty has a spot secured among the current top short story writers.
Other recommended short stories collections similar to this are Trash: Stories & Animal Crackers: Stories
Enjoy~
November 24, 2016
Having lived in Tucson, these stories of people living on the edge of the Sonoran desert held a particular resonance. These are loners, living outside the norm, as is very common in Arizona, a state of quirky , independent people. The stories were sad, but not depressing, as bittersweet as an all encompassing Arizona sunset.
December 5, 2010
Just re-read the robot story. I love the robot story! When I first read the book, I was really into the consistency and specificity of the desert landscape that runs through the book like a protagonist.
July 6, 2012
The story with the robot is the reason why this book is so good.
October 31, 2024
I love short stories, and this is a phenomenal collection.
Found it in Quincy library while ostensibly studying statistics. Random libraries are great because they contain random books, and sometimes, the books with the greatest emotion are those you find in the weirdest places.
The desert is just such a good setting for any story. And sure, half of these are less desert and more American suburbia. But the setting is still there. The writing is hella good! Highly recommend, give it. a look!
Found it in Quincy library while ostensibly studying statistics. Random libraries are great because they contain random books, and sometimes, the books with the greatest emotion are those you find in the weirdest places.
The desert is just such a good setting for any story. And sure, half of these are less desert and more American suburbia. But the setting is still there. The writing is hella good! Highly recommend, give it. a look!
April 17, 2016
Now as I write this review after a full summer of reading, I notice I get a lot of book recommendations from Amazon.com, and Lulu.com, and Shelfari.com. I suppose I bought a large amount of books over the past few months to merit consideration as a good customer. They send me emails like, 1CIf you 19ve read this 26 you 19ll love that 26 1D or 1Cother readers who have read this book, have also purchased this book 26 1D
This summer I was blown away by Julie Orringer 19s 1C How to Breathe Under Water. 1D I like her style, her courage to take risks, and most of all her weirdness. Wow, what a great book! I read many of the stories over and over, holding my breath (get it?), even though I knew what was going to happen. She has a special ability to put herself in a child 19s head and develop both terribly sad and beautiful views of the world. Right away, I ordered her next novel 1CThe Invisible Bridge 1D, a six-hundred page holocaust story. I 19m reading it right now. Much of the genius she has developed in her short stories is transported to the chapters of her novel.
So, now when I began receiving email suggestions to read Ryan Harty 19s 1CBring Me Your Saddest Arizona, 1D - If you liked Julie Orringer, you are going to love Ryan Harty 13 I jumped on it. I had never heard of him 26
Ryan Harty writes nothing like Julie Orringer. Her stories are compact and emotional. His stories are rambling and taciturn. Orringer writes about kids who confront the cancer of their parents. Harty writes of heroin dealers and homeless kids with attitudes. In Harty 19s stories the characters can 19t really articulate what they are searching for. Each Orringer story produces the most vivid transformation in the weirdest of circumstances. I 19m not saying Ryan Harty is not a talented writer. I appreciate his varied landscape. In many of his stories, his investment in description and background create truly sad endings deserving of the title to his anthology.
But he is no Julie Orringer!
But he is married to Julie Orringer. I would have never known that if I hadn 19t read his acknowledgements. When I looked up more of Julie Orringer 19s work on Ploughshares.org, I found out that she is married to writer Ryan Harty. Her photo on the web page gives credit to the photographer Ryan Harty.
Good for him! Man, that 19s a great picture of a beautiful woman. My respect for him as a writer has risen by leaps and bounds. I had no idea what the connection between Julie and Ryan were, but now I see it 19s the strongest of links.
Will they ever collaborate on a short story or novel? Will I receive an email asking 1CIf you like this 26 you are certainly going to love this.. 1D
This one I 19m going to buy (right after I complete Julie 19s 1CThe Invisible Bridge 1D). My congratulations to t he both of them.
This summer I was blown away by Julie Orringer 19s 1C How to Breathe Under Water. 1D I like her style, her courage to take risks, and most of all her weirdness. Wow, what a great book! I read many of the stories over and over, holding my breath (get it?), even though I knew what was going to happen. She has a special ability to put herself in a child 19s head and develop both terribly sad and beautiful views of the world. Right away, I ordered her next novel 1CThe Invisible Bridge 1D, a six-hundred page holocaust story. I 19m reading it right now. Much of the genius she has developed in her short stories is transported to the chapters of her novel.
So, now when I began receiving email suggestions to read Ryan Harty 19s 1CBring Me Your Saddest Arizona, 1D - If you liked Julie Orringer, you are going to love Ryan Harty 13 I jumped on it. I had never heard of him 26
Ryan Harty writes nothing like Julie Orringer. Her stories are compact and emotional. His stories are rambling and taciturn. Orringer writes about kids who confront the cancer of their parents. Harty writes of heroin dealers and homeless kids with attitudes. In Harty 19s stories the characters can 19t really articulate what they are searching for. Each Orringer story produces the most vivid transformation in the weirdest of circumstances. I 19m not saying Ryan Harty is not a talented writer. I appreciate his varied landscape. In many of his stories, his investment in description and background create truly sad endings deserving of the title to his anthology.
But he is no Julie Orringer!
But he is married to Julie Orringer. I would have never known that if I hadn 19t read his acknowledgements. When I looked up more of Julie Orringer 19s work on Ploughshares.org, I found out that she is married to writer Ryan Harty. Her photo on the web page gives credit to the photographer Ryan Harty.
Good for him! Man, that 19s a great picture of a beautiful woman. My respect for him as a writer has risen by leaps and bounds. I had no idea what the connection between Julie and Ryan were, but now I see it 19s the strongest of links.
Will they ever collaborate on a short story or novel? Will I receive an email asking 1CIf you like this 26 you are certainly going to love this.. 1D
This one I 19m going to buy (right after I complete Julie 19s 1CThe Invisible Bridge 1D). My congratulations to t he both of them.
July 19, 2007
How could I resist this book: title, cover, and then the blurb. Yes, I'm all about book marketing. It's gotta catch my eye first. But these stories have just the right touch of sadness and melancholy to make them good reads. Why the sky turns red when the sun goes down - everybody in the family reacting differently to the "illness" of the child as told from the father's point of view. The brother who must clean out his dead sister's Las Vegas condo. The high school graduate still stuck in his hometown but close to escape recalls his affair with his friend's deaf mother after she's already made her escape. Memorable characters facing lonliness, separation, etc.
June 21, 2011
Bring Me Your Saddest Arizona is Harty's first (and as of this review, only) collection. And, with all first endeavors, there are moments of pristine, absolute brilliance along with less engaging stories. While the tone across stories began to sound the same even as the narrator changed, Harty helped bring to life the background character: the world all about central Arizona/greater Phoenix. Similar to the tradition of writing animating Los Angeles as both the scene, backdrop, and primary character of Angeleno literature, Harty's place-based stories are evocative, crystalline moments of Arizona.
February 5, 2009
A mixed bag. Some truly great stories (What Can I Tell You about My Brother?; Ongchoma; Don't Call It Christmas; September), a few good ones (Between Tubac and Tumacacori, Crossroads), and a couple stinkers (Sarah at the Palace, Why the Sky Turns Red When the Sun Goes Down). However, the quality of the good stories outweighs the bad. What Can I Tell You about My Brother and Ongchoma were my two favorite stories. As the title implies, these aren't happy stories. September will break your heart. It did mine. So did Don't Call It Christmas. Harty is good at developing characters, even within the space of a few pages. Check this book out.
February 7, 2009
I usually shy away from short story collections because after reading most, I don't have enough of a sense of the characters. That wasn't the case with the stories in Harty's collection. He writes so simplistically; he makes the creation of each character and story line seem ridiculously easy. This was published in 2003, and I'm really surprised (and disappointed) to see that he hasn't published anything since then. I would definitely read other things by him.
August 22, 2007
I got this from the library after hearing one of the stories read on [http://www.wnyc.org/shows/shorts]. Harty's writing captures the sadness and emptiness of the modern American Southwest. Not exactly uplifting (the first story opens with a guy killing a dog using a screwdriver), but good reading nonetheless.
August 18, 2012
Good collection of fairly painful short stories about unhappy lives in and around Phoenix, mostly. The one exception to this is my favorite story, which has an SF bent. It's about a dad trying to decide whether he should (as his wife desperately wants to do) turn in his defective robot child for a newer, less problematic model. Raises wonderful issues of humanity, faith, and practicality.
April 22, 2008
To be honest, I didn't get past the first story because it is a story about robots, and I have high expectations for stories about robots. This did not satisfy.
I will say: BEST DAMN TITLE EVER. Wish I'd come up with it.
I will say: BEST DAMN TITLE EVER. Wish I'd come up with it.
November 14, 2007
The short story is not dead! Here's proof a subtle, well-crafted short story never gets old. Simply a wonderful collection of twenty-page stories.
December 5, 2007
These stories have great titles, and the subject matter is great as well. I thought "Ongchoma" was brilliant.
March 31, 2008
loved it.
August 24, 2008
I took a writing class from Ryan at Stanford. I enjoyed it very much!
January 19, 2010
state fiction: Arizona
May 24, 2010
A couple of AMAZING stories...otherwise the rest of the collection falls flat.
June 10, 2010
I learned that short stories are all about the characters and what they do to go after what they want.
December 1, 2012
Another great collection of dark short stories. Really well written and great characters but not happily-ever-after stuff.
April 21, 2013
beautiful title. anything with sad robot story makes me cry.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews