The Little Disturbances of Man by Grace Paley
The cool thing about Grace Paley’s short stories is how little introduction there is to them. She plops you in the middle and lets you figure out who these people are and what they’re up to as you go along. Sometimes when I finally ah-ha’d the scene I’d go back and read the beginning again, to fully appreciate it, but if you’re less anal about understanding every word than I am, it’s not necessary.
I picked up The Little Disturbances of Man because I happened to see an article about Grace Paley’s recent death. I’d never heard of her before but now that I have, I’m likely to pick up another of her short story collections.