I just read it for the articles . . .

The other day, as I was sorting through a batch of my creative writing from college, I came across a flyer for a reading by Bob Shacochis. I remembered going to it, and very much liking the story he read (called "I Ate Her Liver," from his collection of short stories titled The Next New World), but I've never read anything else by him.

Determined to remedy that, I paid a visit to my local library. A search for books by Mr. Shacochis resulted in several anthologies, as well as a few books whose subjects just didn't appeal to me. Among the anthologies was a book titled Playboy Stories: the best of forty years of short fiction. In addition to Shacochis' story, the book includes entries by several authors I like or have been wanting to read, so I checked it out.

I don't know that I'll read the book cover-to-cover, but I enjoyed Shacochis' story (titled "Easy in the Islands"--which is also the title story of his first short story collection), and am now reading one by John Updike.

As for reading more Shacochis, I may have to hit the bookstore. The library apparently doesn't stock either of his short story collections.