Sounds good to me

I've been reading a whole bunch of short stories to get into the groove of editing and improving my own. Some of the glitterati perused have been Hemingway, McEwan, Malamud, Lawrence and Child (yes, of the Lee variety). The author I had a look at today was Mark Twain: The Complete Short Stories collected by Charles Nieder. He writes a thought provoking introduction and touches upon the question of whether a written story style rooted in oral storytelling is a good idea. Although he pretty much lobs the issue as a grenade and gives a little of his views (not surprisingly in relation to the Titan, Twain), it's a question I've wrestled with myself.

There's no doubt that an anecdote or story can be honed and perfected for effect, and that the process can give a functional sparkle to a tale, but also that this renders the tale transparent, so the workings show.