The Paris Review. Il libro per aerei, treni, ascensori e sale d'attesa

by The Paris Review

Quanto dura una corsa in ascensore? Dipende da cosa leggerete salendo, perché il racconto è l'ultimo rifugio dall'epidemia del tempo reale. Il potare di un libro è tutto lì, nella capacità che ha di forzare gli argini della quotidianità, di espandersi o contrarsi senza limite, di sfidare i nostri orari immaginari denudandoci all'improvviso, tenendoci in un luogo privato dove niente può raggiungerci. "Il Libro per Aerei, Treni, Ascensori e Sale d'Attesa", terzo volume che raccoglie tutti i contributi pubblicati sulla celebre The Paris Review dal 1953, quasi una raccolta monografica di brani firmati da grandi autori della contemporaneità - Denis Johnson, Junot Diaz, Alice Munro, Philip Roth, Raymond Carver, T.C. Boyle, J.G. Ballarci, Joyce Carol Oates, V.S. Naipaul, William S. Burroughs, Jim Carroll, Jamaica Kincaid, Charles D'Ambrosio, Rick Moody. Introduzione di Richard Powers.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Poetry, Anthologies, Literature, Essays, Modern

537 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2004

About the author

Founded in Paris by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton in 1953, The Paris Review began with a simple editorial mission: “Dear reader,” William Styron wrote in a letter in the inaugural issue, “The Paris Review hopes to emphasize creative work—fiction and poetry—not to the exclusion of criticism, but with the aim in mind of merely removing criticism from the dominating place it holds in most literary magazines and putting it pretty much where it belongs, i.e., somewhere near the back of the book. I think The Paris Review should welcome these people into its pages: the good writers and good poets, the non-drumbeaters and non-axe-grinders. So long as they're good.”

Decade after decade, the Review has introduced the important writers of the day. Adrienne Rich was first published in its pages, as were Philip Roth, V. S. Naipaul, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Mona Simpson, Edward P. Jones, and Rick Moody. Selections from Samuel Beckett's novel Molloy appeared in the fifth issue, one of his first publications in English. The magazine was also among the first to recognize the work of Jack Kerouac, with the publication of his short story, “The Mexican Girl,” in 1955. Other milestones of contemporary literature, now widely anthologized, also first made their appearance in The Paris Review: Italo Calvino's Last Comes the Raven, Philip Roth's Goodbye Columbus, Donald Barthelme's Alice, Jim Carroll's Basketball Diaries, Peter Matthiessen's Far Tortuga, Jeffrey Eugenides’s Virgin Suicides, and Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections.

In addition to the focus on original creative work, the founding editors found another alternative to criticism—letting the authors talk about their work themselves. The Review’s Writers at Work interview series offers authors a rare opportunity to discuss their life and art at length; they have responded with some of the most revealing self-portraits in literature. Among the interviewees are William Faulkner, Vladimir Nabokov, Joan Didion, Seamus Heaney, Ian McEwan, and Lorrie Moore. In the words of one critic, it is “one of the single most persistent acts of cultural conservation in the history of the world.”

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the tastes of the Paris Review editors often surpass those of their New Yorker counterparts. The stories and poems in Paris Review are more eclectic and often more lively and irreverent. I'm thinking of current contributors like Frederick Seidel, J.D. Daniels, and Ottessa Moshfegh, none of whom are included in this anthology, which came out in 2004. Nevertheless, the idea behind the anthology is a novel one, to include pieces of varying lengths that can be read in various settings--a plane or train trip, an elevator ride, a few minutes spent in a waiting room. I didn't choose to carry the book around with me to such places; after all, that's what smart phones are now for, and an actual physical book under the arm draws unwanted attention. It's nice, however, to have such variety under a single cover, assuming you're a fan of both poetry and fiction, which most readers of Paris Review would be. More than anything, I imagine the book was meant to showcase some of the classics the editors have landed over the years: one of Denis Johnson's "Jesus' Son" stories, a story of Junot Diaz's from "Drown," Raymond Carver's "Why Don't You Dance?," T.C. Boyle's "Greasy Lake," Stuart Dybek's "Nighthawks," Charles D'Ambrosio's "Open House," and the piece that concludes the collection, "The Palace Thief," by Ethan Canin, about a dull-witted, unethical student who eventually rises to power in industry and politics, a narrative that now seems prescient given the political situation in our country. Of course many readers who stumble across this anthology, ten years after its publication, will have read the stories mentioned above in other collections, and I can't say I found any gems I hadn't previously discovered elsewhere. A couple of the fiction pieces seemed chosen primarily because they were shorter, just as some of the poems appeared to have been chosen because they were longer, the anthology in this case falling victim to its form. While I can't say this collection offers, in every instance, the best The Paris Review has to offer, each piece is well-written, as you'd expect, an interesting comparison of styles. I'd recommend the book, especially to those who haven't already read the aforementioned stories.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars is the sum of the parts, some brilliant works, others less so. Highly entertaining compilation nonetheless.

[Pat Settegast · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers a refreshing take on how fine writing can fit into our lives. Arranged based on the length of time needed to read the piece (ie Elevator to Waiting Room), The Paris Review offers an amazing anthology of America's best contemporary authors and poets. The table of contents reads like a who's who of post-modern worthies: Denis Johnson, Junot Diaz, Alice Munro, Carver, Ballard, Oates, Sharon Olds, A R Ammons, Billy Collins, Rick Moody... and the list goes on. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in writing or said another way anyone who keeps the Paris Review as a bathroom reader.

[Rhea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of stories and poems from the last 50 or so years of the Paris Review literary journal. Obviously if they were in the PR, they're pretty damn good and by pretty well-known people (though they may not have been known at the time they were first published there). The gimmick of this book is that, kind of like Uncle John's Bathroom Reader, it divides the selections into those of appropriate lengths for plains, trains, waiting rooms, and elevators.

[Tessa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Can I give this zero stars? This was the most drab story collection I've read all year...and to think this was not one writer, no! this was many writers coming together to collect the worst story they've ever written, then allowing them to be printed and bound inside a book that will collect dust forever in the darkest corner of my closet.

[Karen]

Satisfying Quick Reads for Short Attention Spans

This book is the ideal quick read, because it was engineered for that purpose. The anthology is actually organized for the situation and amount of time you have on your hands. Let The Paris Review curate reading material for every moment of waiting in your life.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's some real gems in here that linger with the reader. I especially liked the second to last story in the book which haunts me days later. There's some amazing poems that are succinct to the feelings they are conveying.

[janis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did just spend a lot of time on planes, trains, elevators, and waiting rooms (or airports, at least). So this was great, but I thought some of the pieces dragged a little or left me cold.

[هديل غنيم · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent selection of stories

[Sarah]

The Paris Review Book for Planes, Trains, Elevators, and Waiting Rooms by The Paris Review (2004)

[Lisa Church Sielen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories were good, some a little weird. Not much into short stories.

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag of stories and poems. Some are very good, others are forgettable the moment they are over.

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another beautiful collection of short stories.