Short Story Collections

How do you read short story collections?  I have always made the assumption that the author in question, or editor in cases of anthologies, have placed the stories in the order that they appear for a reason, and so, read from Table of Contents straight through to the Acknowledgements.  I am aware, though, that others pick and choose their way through collections.

Which method do you utilize when reading a collection?  Why?  How often do you read a story or two from a collection and, even when enjoying them, set it down and read something from another book before coming back to the original collection?

Any authors out there, am I correct in my assumption that you order your collection for specific reasons, or is that just a crazy thought on my part?  If you do order your collection for a particular reason, do you worry that an effect is being lost on those that use the pick and choose method of reading your work?

Comments

[Josh]

I generally read from beginning to end if the collection is of normal size.

I'm currently making my way thru TC Boyle's Stories so I'll read a couple at a time in the midst of anything else I'm reading.

[Gunther]

Regular collections I read straight through.

Any kind of "collected" or "selected" stories I dip in and out of at random. I think this is because I don't care to start at the so-called "early work" and make my way through. I want to read "mid-period" first, then go back and see what earlier stories were like.

With a regular collection, stories are usually all from the same "period," so I usually roll with the author/editor's decision to put them in a certain order.

[erin]

I usually go random, even in a collection where chronological makes the most sense. I think some of this has to do with the fact that nearly everything I read, I read twice. The first time for what happens, the second time for HOW it happens. Reading round #2 is more likely to be in the proper order.

[Justin]

I read in the order presented. I always assume that's how the author wants it, plus I'm too anal retentive to do it any other way.

It's also very very rare that I interrupt reading a story collection to read something else in between.

[shanna]

in an order usually based on which titles i like best. if there's a title story, i might start there, or i might do that last. i might rush to reread the kickass story i remember from some magazine. but hardly ever in order front to back. i read poetry this way too, unless the book is a sequence of connected pieces with a narrative. but i'm also usually reading about 3-4 things at once. a dipper.

[booksquare]

I'm a front-to-back reader because I figure the order of the stories matters, even if I can't figure it out. If I reread, I pick and choose and often move out of order.

[Pete]

I blast my way through, beginning to end, even if I don't enjoy the first few stories. Which has great benefits--a lot of times my non-enjoyment of the first stories may be a mood thing rather than anything being wrong with the stories themselves. Dan Curley's "Living With Snakes" is a prime example.

[Kelly Link]

I love this question. I read story collections and anthologies straight through. I'd never even thought about any other possibility, until someone else said they read shortest to longest (or first, last, and then the stuff in the middle.) Novels, on the other hand, I tend to jump around in, although I know it's a bad habit.

[aaron]

I'm reading Kelly's collection right now (look at me! I'm a kissass!) and am moving front to back. Except I skipped the one I'd read before; not sure how that factors in the equation. I don't have a system though -- sometimes first to last; sometimes I'll start with the shorter ones (especially if I'm reading in a small amount of time and want to finish one) and go from there; sometimes I'll read the title story first, just because; sometimes I read according to where they were previously published (NYer, anthologies, whatever journal I've recently fallen in love with, etc. gets first look); and sometimes just completely haphazard skipping around...