Amy Hempel is a sort of hero for short story writers. While everyone else seems to eventually leave the form to take a crack at the Great American Novel, Hempel has spent thirty years moving in the opposite direction, into shorter and shorter stories. Possibly more than any other American writer, she can claim to be the creator of the "short short" form. It's still hard to argue that anyone does it better. She walks the line between fanciful irony and soft-hearted sentimentalism with a natural balance that would make David Berman jealous. more ›