Clay (short story) Clay (short story) "Clay" is a short story by James Joyce published in his 1914 collection "Dubliners." It is important to note that due to this short story being left intentionally vague by its author, there can be numerous interpretations on what occurs in the story and the analysis of it. Maria, an elderly woman with a job in a rescue mission for wayward women, is looking forward to a holiday evening at the house of Joe, whom she nursed when he was a boy and of whom she is still very fond. She departs for Joe's after attending a
Pastoralia (short story collection) Pastoralia (short story collection) Pastoralia is short story writer George Saunders’s second full length short story collection, published in 2000. The collection received highly positive reviews from book critics and was ranked the fifth-greatest book of the 2000s by literary magazine "The Millions". The book consists of stories that appeared (sometimes in different forms) in "The New Yorker"; most of the stories were O. Henry Award Prize Stories. The collection was a "New York Times" Notable Book for 2001. "Pastoralia" received general acclaim from book critics. Chris Lehmann of Salon praised its relevance, calling Saunders a "master of distilling the