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Sunday, August 21, 2011

How much land does a man need?

According to John Gardner (The Art Of Fiction, page 122) James Joyce claimed (maybe seriously, maybe not) that 'How Much Land Does A Man Need?' by Leo Tolstoy was / is the finest short story ever written.  Judge for yourself here.  I assume Joyce was not being serious but it is a clever little fable.  (Apart from any other alternative nominee one could think of there is JJ's own 'The Dead' in Dubliners.)