”In 1975, Hempel moved to New York City, worked through a couple of publishing jobs, then located a nighttime writing class at Columbia with Gordon Lish, a writer and editor at Knopf whose demanding workshops (Tactics of Fiction) became legendary. Their classes together would mark the start of a long professional relationship, resulting in the 1985 publication of her first book, a brilliantly stylized array of short pieces entitled Reasons to Live.”
Citerat ur intervju med Amy Hempel i Paris Review.
Hempels i särklass mest antologiserade novell, ”In the Cemetry Where Al Jolson is Buried”, handlar om en kvinna som hälsar på sin vän på sjukhus. Hon har inte lång tid kvar att leva. Det är en rörande, humoristisk och hjärtskärande historia, berättad med Hempels effektiva minimalism. Det händer oerhört mycket spännande i undertexten. En modern klassiker.
Ola Wihlke
BearBooks 