Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules

Additional Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules Information

David Sedaris fell in love with short stories while living in Odell, Oregon. Sedaris writes, "When apple-picking season ended, I got a job in a packing plant and gravitated toward short stories, which I could read during my break and reflect upon for the remainder of my shift. A good one would take me out of myself and stuff me back in, outsized, now, and uneasy with the fit." Featuring such notable writers as Alice Munro, Tobias Wolff, Lorrie Moore, and Joyce Carol Oates, readers will reconnect with classics, as well discover fantastic but lesser-known writers.

Included in CHILDREN PLAYING BEFORE A STATUE OF HERCULES are:

Introduction by David Sedaris

"Oh, Joseph, I'm So Tired" by Richard Yates

"Gryphon" by Charles Baxter

"Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri

"The Garden Party" by Katherine Mansfield

"Half A Grapefruit" by Alice Munro

"Applause, Applause" by Jean Thompson

"I Know What I'm Doing About All the Attention I've Been Getting" by Frank Gannon

"Where the Door Is Always Open and the Welcome Mat Is Out" by Patricia Highsmith

"The Best of Betty" by Jincy Willett

"Song of the Shirt, 1941" by Dorothy Parker

"The Girl with the Blackened Eye" by Joyce Carol Oates

"People Like That Are the Only People Here: Canonical Babbling in Peed Onk" by Lorrie Moore

"Revelation" by Flannery O'Connor

"In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried" by Amy Hempel

"Cosmopolitan" by Akhil Sharma

"Irish Girl" by Tim Johnston

"Bullet in the Brain" by Tobias Wolff

Epilogue by Sarah Vowell

Borrowing the book's name from an Adriaen van der Werff painting, CHILDREN PLAYING BEFORE A STATUE OF HERCULES is David Sedaris's attempt to share his passion for short stories with a wider audience-and his enthusiasm is contagious. "The authors in this book are huge to me, and I am a comparative midget, scratching around in their collective shadow. 'Pint sized Fanatic Bowing Before Statues of Hercules' might have been more concise, but people don't paint things like that, and besides, it doesn't sound as good."

David Sedaris is publishing this book to support 826NYC, a nonprofit tutoring center in Brooklyn, New York. All of his proceeds, after permission expenses, from CHILDREN PLAYING BEFORE A STATUE OF HERCULES will benefit this organization designed to help students ages six to eighteen develop their writing skills through free writing workshops, publishing projects, and one-on-one help with homework and English-language learning. In the book's epilogue, Sarah Vowell describes the fine work done by 826NYC.

What Customers Say About Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules:

I am a big fan of David Sedaris. If you are looking for a book by David Sedaris do NOT buy this book. Unfortunately this book, despite having his name on it, was not written by him. It is an anthology of works by other writers. I think Amazon could have done a much better job of making it clear that he did not write this book. I am very disappointed.

But I decided to read the book despite my mistake, and I was rewarded instantly. Like some others that reviewed the book, I hastily ordered it and failed to realize that the collection was simply edited and introduced by Mr. Sedaris, not written by him. From the first story by Richard Yates to the last by Tobias Wolff, I was entranced; I had to limit myself to a story or two a day so that I could savor the collection longer. Of all the books I have ordered on Amazon, this is the first I have felt compelled to review.

She reads Sedaris a lot and this one was chewed down in a little over a week.

When I buy a new cookbook, if I find three or four killer recipes, I count my purchase a success. Sedaris for introducing me to Richard Yates, Charles Baxter and Jhumpa Lahiri. The same might be said for short story compilations. I thank Mr. Mr. Yates' story is one of the finest works of short fiction I have ever read, up there with Delmore Schwartz's "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities." The final lines of Jean Thompson's story are absolutely beautiful -- I can't get them out of my head.

The book I ordered was in great condition. It arrived extremely quickly after I ordered it. I was very satisfied with my purchase - overall a great transaction.