Ron Rash Reads at Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby on Friday

I recently interviewed Ron Rash, and I asked him what three contemporary short stories he would recommend to folks wanting to read the very best in short fiction. (Of course, he was too modest to name his own, but I would say pick any of his recent stories in "Something Rich and Strange.")
Here are his recommendations:

William Trevor's "The Distant Past"
Edna O'Brien's "The Connor Girls"
Alice Munro's "Corrie"

You can ask Rash for recommendations yourself if you attend his reading on Friday at the Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby where he'll read from this latest collection, "Something Rich and Strange" and autograph your book.

Ron Rash Reads: 5-7 p.m., Friday at the Earl Scruggs Center, 103 S. LaFayette St., Shelby. 
Free program but registration is recommended: 704-487-6233.

Ron Rash belongs in 'pantheon of great American writers'

It thrills me when a reviewer at the New York Times can see beyond a writer's locale and read the new work as if the author were from from New Haven or Poughkeepsie. So it was last week when Patricia Wall reviewed Ron Rash's latest collection, "Something Rich and Strange." Just listen:
   

Ron Rash occupies an odd place in the pantheon of great American writers, and you’d better believe he belongs there. He gets rapturous reviews that don’t mean to condescend but almost always call him a Southern or Appalachian writer, and Mr. Rash has said he can hear the silent, dismissive “just” in those descriptions. He also baffles anyone who thinks that great talent ought to be accompanied by great ambition. Mr. Rash has planted himself at Western Carolina University and eluded the limelight that his work absolutely warrants.

And she goes on:

It’s time for Mr. Rash’s standing to change. And here is the book to do it: “Something Rich and Strange,” a major short-story anthology that can introduce new readers to this author’s haunting talents and reaffirm what his established following already knows. In this case, faithful readers really have an idea what to expect, because “Something Rich and Strange” incorporates two recent smaller Rash anthologies: “Burning Bright” (2010) and “Nothing Gold Can Stay” (2013). But, as with great music, it would be a mistake not to revisit this material because you’ve experienced it once.

Read the entire review: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/books/something-rich-and-strange-a-ron-rash-anthology.html