The Sunday Haul

These two books are what I came up with in the haul last Sunday, one at Abids and the other at another place.

Some of the best short stories ever are written by Irish writers and I have read quite a few collections by them. One of the writers who has left a deep impression on me is Alistair MacLeod whose collection ‘Island’ I found by chance at a book sale. The short stories in it were some of the best I have read so far. Since then I’ve been on the look out for collections of short stories and whenever I come across one I do not miss buying them.

On Sunday at Abids I was going through a pile of books selling for only twenty rupees when my eye fell on a pale green cover that I picked up to see more of. It was Frank O’ Connor’s ‘Collected Stories, Volume I’ that I bought right away. Frank O’Connor is a name that I have been coming across often along with Flannery O’Connor whose short stories I am unable to find anywhere. Now I want to find his ‘Bone of Contention’ and ‘Guests of the Nation.’ This collection is divided into two volumes, or rather two parts- Fish for Friday and A Life of Your Own.

The first part, ‘Fish for Friday, has the following thirteen stories:
A Sense of Responsibility
The Little Mother
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
The Old Faith
Vanity
A Brief for Oedipus
Father and Son
Private Property
Fish for Friday
Androcles and the Army
Achille’s Heel
The Wreath
The Weeping Children.

The second part titled ‘A Life of Your Own’ has the following twelve stories:
A Life of Your Own
The Impossible Marriage
Unapproved Route
Music When Soft Voices Die, Sue
A Mother’s Warning
The Corkerys
The School for Wives
The American Wife
The Cheat
Requiem
Variations on a Theme.

The other book I found on Sunday was one on screenwriting that I found with a book seller near RTC Crossroads in Musheerabad. I bought it hoping it would help me with a script I am struggling with since a long time. The book was ‘Screenwriting’ by Madeline DiMaggio that I got for ninety rupees.