It is a sad commentary on the state of the short story when a collection such as this is allowed to go out of print. After all, Dusk and Other Stories did win the PEN/Faulkner award when it was first released in 1989. And this collection did become a textbook for dedicated short story writers — maybe not as popular with the general reading public as Carver’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, but more of an insider’s pick, like the films of Sam Fuller. The sad fact is that I had to read a photocopy of one of the out-of-print editions that someone was gracious enough to loan me.

The main reason short story writers gravitate towards this book is the prose. Short, punchy and poetic. Salter can say more about a character in a few sparsely worded sentences than most writers can in an entire chapter. Salter wasn’t just hacking away at his sentences for pure economy, he was pairing down his prose to its barest bones, leaving only what he felt was utterly necessary. When writing coaches and teachers scribble “show don’t tell” or “don’t over-write” on countless stories, they are trying to turn their protégés into Salter. A character’s actions speak volumes. A few lines of dialogue become an entire biography.
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