The Fall 1998 fiction issue of Ploughshares, guest edited by Lorrie Moore. Ploughshares, a journal of new writing, is guest edited serially by prominent writers who explore different and personal visions, aesthetics, and literary circles.
Award-winning author Lorrie Moore (Birds of America, Self Help) compiles this all-fiction issue of Ploughshares. In her introduction, Moore addresses the worst criticism an author can receive--"I could have written this." While exploring the root of why this statement wounds so deeply, Moore goes on to say that she could never have written the pieces in this issue of Ploughshares. She says in her introduction, "Some instinctive or mysterious aesthetic takes over--one juxtaposes color, mood, size, as in flower arranging; one lumps, then separates, then steps back and squints." Featuring work from Alice Adams, Charles Baxter, Robert Boswell, Gish Jen, Howard Norman, Mona Simpson, Debra Spark, and Meg Wolitzer.
INTRODUCTION
Lorrie Moore
FICTION
"Arabel's List" by Alice Adams
"Harry Ginsberg" by Charles Baxter
"She and I" by Michael Blumenthal
"Guests" by Robert Boswell
"The Land of Nod" by Max Garland
"Carol and Tommy" by Wayne Harrison
"Three Lessons in Amazonian Biology" by Pam Houston
"Just Wait" by Gish Jen
"17 Reasons Why" by Paul Leslie
"To Cole Cole" by Vicki Lindner
from "The Museum Guard" by Howard Norman
"A Circle of Stones" by Bradley J. Owens
"Afterbirth" by Sheila M. Schwartz
"Unidealized, Twenty-Eight" by Mona Simpson
from "The Ghost of Bridgetown" by Debra Spark
"Aout" by Meg Wolitzer
EDITOR PROFILE
Don Lee
POSTSCRIPT
Cohen Award winners: Maxine Swann and Mark Doty
