Contributors
The 2005 Fiction Issue An introduction
by C. Michael Curtis
INTERVIEWS The Man Behind the Stories The Atlantic Monthly's fiction editor discusses short stories, discovering new writers, and his long tenure at the magazine. [Web only]
*BD* 11 1 86 He wondered what letters of recommendation his teachers were writing for him. What was in the confidential file locked away in the principal's office?
by Joyce Carol Oates
INTERVIEWS The Art of the Unconscious Joyce Carol Oates talks about modern science, the writing life, and her short story "*BD* 11 1 86." [Web only]How We Avenged the Blums We wanted to do battle with the local Anti-Semite. A school janitor offered commando training
by Nathan Englander
The House on Kronenstrasse Her mother's last words led to a place Christiane had fled as a child—and where truth lay concealed
by Shira Nayman
Poor Devil They were, sadly, splitting up and leaving the house they'd shared for eight years. Who knew where a kiss would take them?
by Charles Baxter
Director's Cut His mother's reappearance was bad enough. Even worse was the documentary she proposed to make
by George Singleton
Weightlifting for Catholics Harry suddenly wanted to find God. His confessor, a renegade Dominican priest, had problems of his own
by Mark Jacobs
City Visit The other boys had slammed him against the lockers. Now, in New York, he could buy the experience he wanted
by Adam Haslett
An Interview With Adam Haslett The lawyer and Pulitzer Prize finalist Adam Haslett talks about his unusual career path and "City Visit," his short story in this issue. [Web only]Tell Them, Please Tell Them Fear slowly consumed Sasha, until terror was all that was left of him
by Maximilian Schlaks
Writers and Mentors
The author of The Ice Storm and Demonology thinks back to his earliest years as a writer, and the kind of teaching that helped or hindered him
by Rick Moody
Moral Fiction
A distinguished novelist and teacher argues that we should look to serious fiction for moral complexity, not moral certainty
by Mary Gordon
The Perils of Literary Success
Her novel, unexpectedly, became a best seller. Then the fun began
by Curtis Sittenfeld
INTERVIEWS Write What You Like Curtis Sittenfeld, the author of Prep, on literary page-turners and the problem with too much cleverness [Web only]
Alfred Kazin on Hemingway
from June 1964
James Atlas on Disparagement
from August 1981
Eudora Welty on the Short Story
from February and March 1949
Wallace Stegner on Profanity
from March 1965
Edith Wharton on Characters
from April 1933
Vladimir Nabokov on Chekhov
from August 1981
Saul Bellow on Moralism
from March 1963
Charles Dickens on Stardom
from April 1877
Seed Packet
[with audio]
by Brendan Galvin
Bus to San Miniato al Monte
[with audio]
by J. Allyn Rosser
The Peasants' Revolt
by Billy Collins
Errata
by Julie Larios
Meander
by Stanley Plumly
Sovereign Joy
[with audio]
by Rodney Jones
The Pianist Upstairs
by Erica Funkhouser
Cover photograph by Brook Fasani (Photonica)
All material copyright © 2005 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.