Postcards From the Edge
Talking with dogs; imaginary gardens, and what a father is, in three tales by eclectic authors.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
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("Mountain Rainbow" (© by Jo Carson)
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"You don’t know what it’s like to lose something forever. It will make you do anything, even lie to people you love, if you think you can reclaim even a fraction of that thing." – Ann Beattie, “What Was Mine.”
Talking with dogs; imaginary gardens, and what a father is, in three tales by eclectic authors.
The first two stories on this program are from this year’s SHORTS programs at THE MOUNT, the home of Edith Wharton in Lenox, Massachusetts in the lovely Berkshire Hills. Figuring that the weather in August might be very hot, we put together a program called “Stories for the Dog Days”. Television writer Merrill Markoe’s “CONVERSATIONS WITH MY DOGS,” shows us an unusual glimpse of family life, so sit, stay, and listen.
The second story on this program also took place at THE MOUNT, part of program with the theme of gardens. (Wharton was almost as well known as a garden enthusiast as she was as a writer.) Daniel Gerroll reads a story by H.H. Munro, or Saki, “The Occasional Garden” about a woman who has to make special arrangements for her garden in order not to lose face.
Anne Beattie was the winner of the prestigious Rea Award for the Short Story in 2005. Her poignant tale, “WHAT WAS MINE” is from Beattie’s collection Park City: New and Selected Stories. It calls into question what constitutes a family, and is read by regular SHORTS leading man John Shea. In this, as in many of the other stories Shea has read for us over the years, the point of view is that of a young boy just learning how the world works.
A Conversation with My Dogs by Merrill Markoe, read by Patricia Kalember The Occasional Garden by Saki, read by Daniel Gerroll What Was Mine by Ann Beattie, read by John Shea
For additional works featured on SELECTED SHORTS, please visit Symphony Space
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Selected Shorts features some of the finest artists of the American theater reading contemporary and classic short fiction-the most distinguished works of the early masters such as Chekhov, Maupassant, Malamud and dozens of others.
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