Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Ten of the best book endings

Jessica Soffer earned her MFA at Hunter College. Her work has appeared in Granta, the New York Times, and Vogue, among other publications. She teaches fiction at Connecticut College and lives in New York City.

Her new novel--her debut--is Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots.

For Publishers Weekly Soffer shared ten of her favorite endings in books, including:
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

A real aw-shit-ending, if I ever knew one—and open to interpretation. Either, we’re in the realest part of the real world (a mental institution) or we’re in heaven. And either way, the mind keeps playing, or alternate worlds keep playing, depending, and we can’t really find our footing. “Whose in charge here?” is a great question, but it won’t be answered even if you shout. Palahniuk comes dangerously close to using that very-no-good-bad concept/line, “And then I woke up,” without actually ever needing to use it because he does us one better. He never tells us if we’ve fallen asleep.
Read about another entry on Soffer's list.

Fight Club is among Sebastian Beaumont's top ten books about psychological journeys and Pauline Melville's top ten revolutionary tales.

Visit Jessica Soffer's website.

Writers Read: Jessica Soffer.

My Book, The Movie: Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots.

--Marshal Zeringue