THE COLLECTED STORIES OF AMY HEMPEL by Amy Hempel

The ending of “In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Was Buried” gets me every time. It’s so emotional and real to me. There is something magical about her writing that’s really hard to explain or put my finger on. It flows, and it is so natural, subconscious, difficult in the best way, and hard to dissect. I like to pick up this edition and even just flip to a random story in the middle and read it. Most of the stories are short and bite sized, but address really large themes. ‘m always amazed at how quickly I am drawn into her stories. Usually within a sentence or two, sometimes even earlier.