This week I started and finished a cute little novel called “The New Yorkers.” It was an incredibly swift and pleasant read. Well-written, good story, interesting and vivid characters. I guess some people might find fault; that it’s not “deep” or “literary” or full of “magical realism” or “whatever”, but I liked it, and as I went through my workday found myself thinking about it and looking forward to opening it up again. To me, that’s a good book. There have been several other books this year touted as being so smart and great that have just annoyed the shit out of me with their dullness or pretention. The worst offenders have been short story collections that seemed to tell the same story over and over in the same irritating voice.

So the next book I pulled off the shelf is Graham Greene, “Complete Short Stories”. Hopefully it will engage me.