A Personal Anthology, by Nikesh Shukla
A friend of mine once told me that the best short stories operated as fragments. You wanted to tell the middle of the story, only. The beginning and the end needed to linger in the reader's mind. I think he's right. Well, certainly to my tastes, those stories that stay with me are the ones that offer no conclusions, no easy solutions. Also, being an obtuse type, I thought I'd present to you my anthology of short stories and sell them to you through the medium of rap lyrics.
'Drinking Coffee Elsewhere' by ZZ Packer (first published in The New Yorker and collected in Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, Canongate, 2004)
"I'm not saying I'm number one, oh I'm sorry I lied
I'm number one two three four and five..." KRS-ONE
'The Embassy Of Cambodia' by Zadie Smith (first published in The New Yorker; subsequently published in book form by Hamish Hamilton, 2013)
"I get the pillow and hope I don’t wake him
For this man do cuss, hear it all in verbatim" - Pete Rock and CL Smooth
'The Semplica Girl Diaries by George Saunders (first published in The New Yorker, collected in Tenth of December, Bloomsbury, 2013)
"The empire of all this
People say what kinda style you call this
My sparkle shine, it's all wrist" Kool Keith
'Lion And Panther In London' by Tania James (Aerogrammes, Also published in Granta 119: Britain, 2012, and available to subscribers online here)
"Tryna fight colonialism with a colonised tongue." Lowkey
'The Cheater's Guide to Love by Junot Diaz (read it online here)
"You know I used to be a player, fly girl layer and a heartbreaker
Lovemaker, backbreaker..." Guru, Gang Starr
'In Other Rooms, Other Wonders' by Daniyal Mueenuddin (first published in The New Yorker, collected in Other Rooms, Other Wonders, Bloomsbury, 2010)
"I've cried so many tears, yeah, writing this song
Trying to fit in. Where do I belong?" Bars And Melody
'Apollo' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (read it online here)
"Worse comes to worse my people come first" Dilated Peoples
'The Prospectors' by Karen Russell (read it online here)
"Harlem's far too spacious
Sometimes I wish I could get away and charter spaceships" - A$AP Rocky
'Sour Heart' by Jenny Zhang (collected in Sour Heart, Bloomsbury, 2017)
"Thinking back on my one-room shack
Now my mom pimps a Ac with minks on her back" - Notorious BIG
'In Winter, The Sky' by Jon McGregor (collected in This Isn't the Sort of Thing That Happens to People Like You, Bloomsbury, 2012; read it online here)
"We've come a long way from where we began
Oh I'll tell you all about it when I see you again" - Wiz Khalifa
'I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness' by Claire Vaye Watkins (collected in Granta 139: Best Young America Novelists 3, 2017; read it online here)
"At night I can't sleep, I toss and turn
Candlesticks in the dark, visions of bodies being burned" - Geto Boys
Ten Rupees by Manto (read it online here)
"Cash rules everything around me,
CREAM get the money...." - Wu Tang Clan
Nikesh Shukla is the author of the novels Coconut Unlimited and Meatspace. His third novel, The One Who Wrote Destiny, is published by Atlantic Books in April 2018, and his first book for teenagers, Run, Riot, will be released in June 2018. He is the editor of the groundbreaking essay collection The Good Immigrant, and co-editor of The Good Journal. His short stories have featured in Best British Short Stories 2013, Five Dials, First City and Teller. His currently writes an Observer column, and has written for The Guardian, Esquire, Buzzfeed, Vice and elsewhere.
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