From Bird by Bird

I'm pretty sure this is from the book, Bird by Bird. The author, Anne Lamott, quotes Andre Dubus on why he loves short stories, and it stuck with me:

"I love short stories because I believe they are the way we live. They are what our friends tell us, in their pain and joy, their passion and rage, their yearning and their cry against injustice... Which is why, days after hearing a painful story by a friend, we see him and say: How are you? We know that by now he may have another story to tell, or he may be in the middle of one, and we hope it is joyful."

Very interesting quote. To me short stories can be even more than what Dubus expressed. The truly great stories often contain great insights into human nature from many times and places which pack an immediate wallop in a way that longer fiction is seldom able to do.