Comparison

Writers get compared to other writers all the time. Jenny even once compared me to Neil Gaiman (I love you Jenny!).

In the process of revising my thesis based on Katherine and Ted's comments, I'm doing more reading. Part of that reading includes some short stories that Juan has recommended to me because he sees similarity between me and them. I've read almost all the recommended stories, they come out of an anthology titled Story Matters.

It is strange, to say the least, to read these and think, "This is how Juan sees my writing." Some of them make sense to me, like the story by Ha Jin. Some of them make me wonder where he sees the correlation. Either way, it's an adventure.

The stories:
"River of Names" by Dorothy Allison
"After I Was Thrown into the River an Before I Drowned" by Dave Eggers (he was the first writer who came to Juan's mind when he gave me the recommendations, and I think it was more for the author interview than the story itself)
"Going" by Amy Hempel
"Love in the Air" by Ha Jin
"A Temporary Matter" by Jhumpa Lahiri
"Bobby Jackson" by Joan Silber
"Father Returns from the Mountain" by Luis Alberto Urrea