As I mentioned in last week’s post, I found a 1946 copy of Best American Short Stories at The Old Inlet Bookshop in Homer, Alaska.

As I finish writing my first book, set in the 1940s, it feels right to be traipsing through this assemblage of stories originally published in 1945 and collected together one year later.  I’m fascinated by Martha Foley’s insightful parsing of this moment in her Foreword:

I also keep circling back to Foley’s line near the end of this page:

…there must be a period of distillation before the real impact of some tremendous event, either historical or personal, can emerge in writing.

How true this is of writing about Alaska.

Just for fun, I’ve included a page from the 1946 Best American table of contents.  The collection has been an interesting read so far.  I’ll share some additional thoughts as I work my way through the rest of the stories.