Writer’s Who Inspire Us: The Evocative Sentences of Amy Hempel
I was listening to Kimberly King Parsons on The Maris Review when I caved. Not long after the podcast ended, I ordered a copy of The Collected Stories by Amy Hempel. I’d heard her name in passing, anthologized in the various collections I had to buy throughout undergrad—chances are that at some point I read Hempel’s most well-known story, “In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried”—but I didn’t give her much serious thought.
There was no particular reason for this, at least not one that I can understand. Hempel’s work simply wasn’t on my radar. That is, until I finished Parson’s stellar debut collection, Black Light, and listened to her talk about the influence Hempel’s work had over her.
Amy Hempel is a master of the short story. Since her first publication, Reasons to Live, in 1985, she’s not deviated from the form. These years, for some, were seen as the American short-story renaissance—a time when Richard Ford and Raymond Carver were well-known, and Gordon Lish worked closely with others like Barry Hannah, Mary Robison, and Amy Hempel, among others. It was a time when the American short story found its legs, the writers their voice and form, and it took off running across the states.
One of the more beautiful aspects of Hempel’s first collection, aside from the sentence structure, the pacing, the consciousness, the language, the rhythm, was her capacity to capture the sense that she was writing to help others survive. While the memorable quotes are plenty, one that struck me was: “Here’s a trick I found for how to finally get some sleep. I sleep in my husband’s bed. That way the empty bed I look at is my own.”
There is an intense sense of longing, of quiet throughout Hempel’s work. There is no anger or malice, unlike some of her male counterparts who were writing during this time. It’s a pressure that is applied just enough to bring about an ache before relief. This, all, she made her own with her unique writing style. And Hempel refined her style over her four collections of short stories that followed Reasons to Live without losing sight of what seems to be her original intent.
That is to say, throughout each consecutive collection, Hempel turns towards the relationships of others and puts under the scope how they may be claustrophobic or suffocating, how they may have ended, or how there are some questions that arise that go unanswered, perhaps because there is no answer.
Each collection shines on for its own particular reasons. From “The Most Girl Part of You” in At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom to “Housewife,” the one-sentence story in Tumble Home, Hempel’s capacity to connect and move is astonishing. Her writing is deceptively simple, but often difficult to comprehend, and rewarding once understood.
Each morning, before writing a single word, I read a story from The Collected Stories to orient myself, to get my mind to think in terms of storytelling. I read her words, feel the ache each story stirs, and move into my own world enlightened.
Image from Instagram
Recommended Reading
The Collected Stories by Amy Hempel
This is a fantastic crash-course collection in the work of Amy Hempel. It includes four of her earlier collections: Reasons to Live, At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom, Tumble Home, and The Dog of the Marriage. It’s an essential book for all writers to read. And if you want more after finishing this one, her latest collection, Sing to It, was published in 2019.
About Coty Poynter
Coty Poynter is the author of two poetry books. His most recent, Delirium: Collected Poems, was published by Bowen Press. His work has appeared in Black Fox Literary Magazine, Equinox, Grub Street, and Underwood Press. He lives in Baltimore with his partner, their cat Pudge, and a hodgepodge of plants.
