Forget the Novel: It’s Time You Started Reading Short Stories

For a medium that lost its top spot on the cultural hierarchy a long time ago, it’s funny that the novel is still the go-to comparison for all prestige media. From TV shows like The Wire, Mad Men, and The Americans, to new podcasts like the recent hit S-Town, if something is really good, it’s like a novel. Even if fewer and fewer people are reading them, we still acknowledge their power. It’s surely an irony that isn’t lost on opera fans. But at least novels have