Ann Beattie's 6 favorite books

The author of Mrs. Nixon says works by James Joyce and Tennessee Williams are among her biggest influences

Ann Beattie
(Image credit: Sigrid Estrada)

Dubliners by James Joyce (Dover, $2). This collection's final story, "The Dead," is usually agreed to be Joyce's best. Why do writers love it? In part because of the sheer brilliance of the language in the ending's epiphany, which is utterly unparaphrasable.

An Evening Performance by George Garrett (out of print). The title story from this collection by the prolific, intelligent, funny George Garrett lures us into a fairy tale with serious implications. The conclusion soars to simultaneously lyrical, yet humanely lowered, heights, and proves to us how much we need to believe in magic.

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