The New Yorker: Fiction

On this month's fiction podcast, Louise Erdrich reads "Mastiff," by Joyce Carol Oates, which appeared in the magazine in 2013. Erdrich's latest book, "The Round House," won the National Book Award in 2012.

On this month's fiction podcast, Jonathan Lethem reads "The Rescue," by V. S. Pritchett, which was first published in The New Yorker in 1973 and can be found in Pritchett's "Complete Collected Stories." (Lethem's most recent fiction in the magazine, "The Gray Goose," was excerpted from his new novel, "Dissident Gardens.") In his discussion with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman, Lethem says that Pritchett is a "total sorcerer," a writer who lets readers into a world that seems stable and then "pulls the rug out from under" them, changing where the story is going and what they think of the characters. "The Rescue," which is narrated by a sixteen-year-old girl whose mother brings home an awkward boy named Ellis to help her plan the town's annual pageant, is, according to Lethem, a perfect model for the way Pritchett tends to "overturn expectations."

Rick Bass reads "Ice," by Thomas McGuane.

Donald Antrim reads "Work," by Denis Johnson.

Gary Shteyngart reads "Paper Losses," by Lorrie Moore.

Robert Coover reads "The Daughters of the Moon," by Italo Calvino.

Richard Ford reads "The State of Grace," by Harold Brodkey.

Margaret Atwood reads "Voices Lost in Snow," by Mavis Gallant.

Edwidge Danticat reads "Girl" and "Wingless," by Jamaica Kincaid.

Francisco Goldman reads "Clara," by Roberto Bolano.

Tony Earley reads "Love," by William Maxwell.

Hisham Matar reads "Shakespeare's Memory," by Jorge Luis Borges.

David Sedaris reads "Roy Spivey," by Miranda July.

Sherman Alexie reads "The Lesson," by Jessamyn West.

In this month's fiction podcast, Tessa Hadley reads "City Lovers," a story by the South African writer and 1991 Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer. The story, which was published in The New Yorker in 1975, focusses on a love affair between a white man and a "colored" woman in Apartheid South Africa. It's deeply political in its details--the man is a geologist at a mining company, the couple's affair is illegal, and they cover it up by pretending that she is his servant. But Gordimer writes with a focussed intimacy that makes the piece a tragic love story rather than a political morality tale. "One of the things I think she can teach us," says Hadley, "is how to write politically without becoming shrill."

Maile Meloy reads Laurie Colwin's "Mr. Parker" and discusses it with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. "Mr. Parker" was published in the April 14, 1973, issue of The New Yorker and can be found in "Passion and Affect." Maile Meloy's novels include "Liars and Saints" and "A Family Daughter."

James Salter reads Reynolds Price's "His Final Mother" and discusses it with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. "His Final Mother" was published in the May 21, 1990, issue of The New Yorker and can be found in "Reynolds Price: The Collected Stories." James Salter's novels include "The Hunters" and "Light Years."

Dave Eggers reads Roddy Doyle's "Bullfighting," and discusses it with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. "Bullfighting" was published in the April 28, 2008, issue of The New Yorker and can be found in "Bullfighting: Stories." Dave Eggers's new novel, "A Hologram for the King," comes out this month.

Matthew Klam reads Charles D'Ambrosio's "The Point" and discusses it with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. "The Point" was published in the October 1, 1990, issue of The New Yorker and was the title story of D'Ambrosio's first collection. Matthew Klam's most recent book of stories is "Sam the Cat."

Colm Toibin reads Sylvia Townsend Warner's "The Children's Grandmother," and discusses it with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. "The Children's Grandmother" was published in the November 25, 1950, issue of The New Yorker and can be found in "Winter in the Air and Other Stories." Colm Toibin's most recent collection of stories is "The Empty Family."