Festival of Books: Short stories differ from novels, but how exactly?

1/51

Lillian Larkins, 4, sits in her stroller and checks out a book at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

2/51

Amelia Gray, left, Kelly Link, moderator Chris Daley, Aimee Bender and Jonathan Lethem during “The Art of the Short Story” conversation in Town & Gown.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

3/51

An overhead view of the USC central campus during the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 19, 2015.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

4/51

Moderator Chris Daley holds up Aimee Bender’s book “The Color Master” during “The Art of the Short Story” conversation.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

5/51

Author Amelia Gray

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

6/51

Adrian Echeverri, 7, of Pasadena reads “Batman” on the grass during the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on April 19, 2015.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

7/51

Dancers from the Jung Im Lee Korean Dance Academy perform.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

8/51

The audience watches the Jung Im Lee Korean Dance Academy.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

9/51

People line up for the Book Soup booth.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

10/51

“Writing American Crime” conversation with moderator Tom Zoellner, left, Ruben Castaneda, Sam Quinones, Barry Siegel and Deanne Stillman.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

11/51

Moderator Tom Zoellner, left, during “Writing American Crime.”

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

12/51

Deanne Stillman during the “Writing American Crime” conversation.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

13/51

Sam Quinones during the “Writing American Crime” conversation.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

14/51

Ruben Castaneda during “Writing American Crime.”

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

15/51

People walk through the center of campus.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

16/51

The USC Trojan Marching Band performs.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

17/51

People browse books for sale at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on April 19. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

18/51

Robin Coste Lewis, Jody David Armour, Terence Fitzgerald and Shana L. Redmond speak on the “Being Black: Race and Justice in the U.S.” panel.

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

19/51

Jody David Armour listens during the “Being Black: Race and Justice in the U.S.” panel.

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

20/51

Terence Fitzgerald listens during the “Being Black: Race and Justice in the U.S.” panel. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

21/51

Shana L. Redmond speaks on the “Being Black: Race and Justice in the U.S.” panel.

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

22/51

The L.A. Times’ new speakers series debuts with Malcolm Gladwell with The Times’ Kenneth Turan in the Bovard Auditorium during the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

23/51

Malcolm Gladwell speaks in the Bovard Auditorium.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

24/51

Clara Heis, 10, carries the book “5,000 Awesome Facts about Everything” on her head at the festival, held at USC. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

25/51

Leslie Criswell reads the book “Flash Points” on a lawn at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

26/51

People wearing face paint walk through the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

27/51

Elijah Horn, 8, right, buys comics and the book “Attack on Titan” with his mom Neferteri Plessy at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

28/51

Karolina Waclawiak, left, Geoff Nicholson, Porochista Khakpour and Mark Doten speak on the “Fiction: On the Fringe” panel.

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

29/51

Karolina Waclawiak smiles during the “Fiction: On the Fringe” panel.

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

30/51

Porochista Khakpour smiles during the “Fiction: On the Fringe” panel.

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

31/51

Geoff Nicholson speaks on the “Fiction: On the Fringe” panel.

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

32/51

Mark Doten speaks on the “Fiction: On the Fringe” panel.

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

33/51

Robbie Rogers, author of “Coming Out to Play,” is interviewed by Chris Erskine at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday.

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

34/51

Robbie Rogers, author of “Coming Out to Play.”

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

35/51

Claudia Rankine, author of “Citizen,” speaks at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

36/51

Brighde Mullins listens during a panel at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

37/51

Author Jesse Klausmeier reads “Open This Little Book” to Rahne O’Leary, 7, Coral O’Leary, 3, and their dad Tom O’Leary during a book signing at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

38/51

Yamila Kun, 3, and mother Ceci Bastida read together at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

39/51

Chef Roy Choi speaks onstage with Josh Kun while discussing “To Live and Dine in L.A.: Food Pasts, Food Futures” at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

40/51

Roy Choi speaks on the panel “To Live and Dine in L.A.: Food Pasts, Food Futures” at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

41/51

Josh Kun speaks on the panel “To Live and Dine in L.A.: Food Pasts, Food Futures” at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

42/51

Jacqueline Woodson, author of “Brown Girl Dreaming,” at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

43/51

Jason Segel, left, author of “Nightmares!,” speaks with Joel Arquillos at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

44/51

Audience members react as Jason Segel, author of “Nightmares!,” speaks at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

45/51

Jason Segel, author of “Nightmares!,” speaks at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

46/51

Author Joyce Carol Oates in conversation with Michael Silverblatt at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

47/51

Joyce Carol Oates, author of “The Sacrifice,” speaks at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

48/51

People browse books for sale at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday.

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

49/51

Anne Lam, left, Jaslyne Tam, 9, and Langie Tsang, 8, take a picture with Ladybug Girl at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday.

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

50/51

Kailah Rojas, 8, browses the selection of books at the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

51/51

Books are set out for the second day of the 20th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

By Soumya Karlamangla

April 19, 2015 5 PM PT

Regardless of subject matter, all novels are fundamentally about time, writer Jonathan Lethem says.

Lethem, bestselling author of “The Fortress of Solitude” and whose most recent book is “Lucky Alan: And Other Short Stories,” talked about the differences between novels and short stories at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Sunday.

The panel also included short-story writers Aimee Bender, Kelly Link and Amelia Gray.

FULL COVERAGE: FESTIVAL OF BOOKS

Lethem said short stories are similar to poems and essays in their precision; in a short stories, writers are trying to create something specific and unique, and each sentence matters more, he said.

By contrast, “every novel, in a way, has the same subject and that subject is time,” he said. “Whatever your idea is, love or death, it’s in relationship to time.”

For a writer, novels are immersive and take years to write, creating a connection to time itself. And once it’s finished, he said, “it’s going to be taken in at different moments and thought about over a period of a week at least in the life of the reader.”

#LITIDOL: AUTHORS DISCUSS THEIR LITERARY IDOLS

Aimee Bender, whose most recent book, “The Color Master,” was a New York Times Notable Book, said that for her, a short story can begin with a word, “a word as a little portal,” that she’ll try to explore.

A novel is more of an idea that “seems to have some life in it” that she writes around until she finds what she’s looking for, she said.

Similarly, Amelia Gray, author of “Gutshot” and “Museum of the Weird,” said short stories begin with a question, like a thought experiment, and novels begin more as an exploration of images.

Festival of Books: Short stories differ from novels, but how exactly?

More to Read

More From the Los Angeles Times