Short Stories by Chris Crutcher

ATHLETIC SHORTS, published in 1991 by Greenwillow, was Crutcher's first collection of his own short stories. But he has contributed to many anthologies throughout the years. We'll work to compile a complete list of those anthologies and story titles here. Look for excerpts and news of Crutcher's new short story collection from Greenwillow in the weeks and months to come.

	1991

ATHLETIC SHORTS...

...published in 1991 by Greenwillow, is an exceptional group of short stories, many of which revisit classic characters from past Crutcher novels. One of his most popular books to date, it's been called the perfect collection for reluctant readers. It has been used as curriculum in high schools and colleges across the nation. And the film ANGUS was loosely based on a story originally featured in this collection.

1992

AUTHOR'S INSIGHTS:
TURNING TEENAGERS INTO
READERS & WRITERS...

... is an autobiographical anthology featuring the work of Crutcher and eleven other writers. "Healing through Literature," is CC's essay in this collection edited by Don Gallo in 1992. Compiled for teachers of young readers and writers.

	1995

ULTIMATE SPORTS...

...a Don Gallo anthology published in 1995 by Delacorte Press includes Crutcher's short story, "Superboy." Bo Brewster, the protagonist in Crutcher's novel "Ironman" returns to help Clark, a mentally challenged victim of extreme physical abuse, compete in a triatholon. Experience helps Crutcher capture the authentic voice of a mentally disabled young adult. Heart builds the fictional relationship between Bo and Clark to a moving and believable end.

1995

PREJUDICE: STORIES ABOUT HATE, IGNORANCE
REVELATION AND TRANSFORMATION...

...an anthology published in 1995 by Hyperion and edited by Daphne Muse, featured "A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune." A story also in Athletic Shorts, it became the inspiration for ANGUS, a film that had heart, but few other things in common with the original story. 

	1998

DIRTY LAUNDRY...

...edited by Lisa Rowe Fraustino and published in 1998 by Viking features Crutcher's short story, "Popeye the Sailor," a story of the generational impact of child abuse. With unflinching honesty, Crutcher maps out one victim's struggle and evolution. Heartbreaking but powerful. READ THE STORY.

1999

TIME CAPSULE...

...also edited by Don Gallo and published in 1999, features Crutcher's "Fourth and Too Long." The story explores a football player's journey, including why his Pacific Nortwestern couch won't allow long hair in the 1960's -- while the Native American coach at a rival school will.

	2001

ON THE FRINGE...

... has been called one of Don Gallo's best anthologies to date. Crutcher's astonishing short story, "Guns for Geeks," is the best of the best. Drawn from the original "Whale Talk" novel -- sacked after Columbine's bloodbath dwarfed the original plotline -- it explores the horror of school violence and the torment that helps inspire it. Published in 2001, the same year the NEW "Whale Talk" was released.

Featuring a chapter on Chris Crutcher. Tallfellow Press (Fall, 2002)

GREAT FAILURES
OF THE EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL

Crutcher a failure? Maybe once upon a time, according to journalist and screenwriter Steve Young's new book, "Great Failures of the Extremely Successful"  (Tallfellow, Fall 2002), featuring inspirational chapters from Jane Goodall, John Wooden, Erin Brockovich, Steve Allen, Billy Idol, Garry Marshall and others, including Chris Crutcher, who said, "When you are a trial and error species, you shouldn’t go knocking the errors."

For an excerpt, click HERE.

COMING SOON!

BOY MEETS GIRL, GIRL MEETS BOY
An OMG Anthology
Roaring Brook, Spring 2008

...edited by Terry Davis and Kelly Milner Halls. What makes this collection different? It teams pairs of writers to recount the same basic scenario from two points of view -- one male, one female.

Crutcher's contribution, "Love...or Something Like It," is the story of Johnny, a great looking 16-year-old who can't seem to keep from lying to his girlfriends. He asks the school's emotionally troubled, sex kitten for therapeutic feedback (she's the only one he knows that sees a therapist) to help him bolster his self control. When the two mix up more than psychological pointers, Johnny soon discovers there really is such a thing as "too much of a good thing."

Eleven other YA authors including James Howe, Ellen Wittlinger, Sara Ryan, Randy Powell, Terry Trueman, Rita Williams-Garcia and others will also tell two versions of a single story in this edgy collection sure to shock and awe.

New October 2004 from Greenwood Press Featuring this foreward by Chris Crutcher Click this cover art to find out more.

HANDICAPABLE TEENS

A Guide to High School Success for Students with Disabilities

Edited by Cynthia Ann Bowman & Paul T. Jaeger

Greenwood Press, 2004

ISBN: 0313328323

Foreword by Chris Crutcher

Kyle Maynard, a wrestler from Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, Georgia, has no arms below the elbows and no legs below the knees.  His record for 2004 qualifies him to wrestle for the state championships at 103 pounds.  He uses no apparatus other than a motorized wheel chair; no prosthetics, no gizmos.  He types more than 50 words a minute. He can lift more than 200 pounds, 20 times.  He is drop-dead handsome, and he is headed for college next year and who knows what after that.

Even as you watch Kyle do his magic, you ask yourself, “How is this possible?”  I can’t tell you definitively how it is possible, but I’m guessing that it has to be because of how his loved ones responded to him from the beginning.  He seems to be living his life behaving as if everyone else has his same unique body design.

I know two men – I’ll can one Bill and the other Devin.  Bill is in his mid fifties and Devin in his early thirties.  Both experience traumatic births that resulted in a weakened side of the body, Bill on the right side and Devin on the left.  Bill’s parents treated him as if he were like every other kid, supported his academic and athletic endeavors, patiently waded through his frustrations, and loved him like every parent should love his or her child.  Conversely, Devin’s father was disappointed in him from the moment of birth and angry at the universe for the dirty trick it had played, and he focused that anger and derision on Devin.  As a result, Devin grew up physically and emotionally crippled; there is no other word for it.  Even though is IQ was above average, he barely graduated from high school and struggles to this day simply to make a living.  Bill played center linebacker for his college football team – a team that nearly won a NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) championship – and went on to enjoy an exemplary career as a teacher and coach.  Exact same physical challenge, exact opposite results.

The truth is, most people with disabilities operate somewhere between the extremes of this continuum.  Some seem to have an inner resolve that takes on challenges; some crumble in the face of those challenges; and most (like the rest of us) do both, depending on the context of the situation.  But we are all affected by the way the world responds to us.  It’s all about perception.

A Guide to High School Success for Students with Disabilities focuses on people who are perceived as “different” standing up for themselves, taking on the challenges of their circumstances, and rising to a level of human dignity that is a birthright.

As kind and compassionate as our leaders sometimes tell us they are and ask us to be, the American culture can be downright mean.  If you don’t believe me, sit yourself in a wheelchair for a week or put on a blind fold and see how friendly your environment is.  People who are physically and mentally challenged have had to fight for the amenities they do have like ramped curbs and Braille elevator buttons, because it costs money to make our environment friendly to them; and without being forced, Americans seem reluctant to spend that money.  But what is worse, we often avoid people who seem different from us because of our won discomfort.  People with disabilities need to whack us on our collective heads to bring us to our senses.  An able-bodied person preparing to read this book needs to keep two things in mind.  There is a boy in Georgia with no arms or legs who can pin your shoulder blades to the ground until you cry “Uncle!” and theoretical physicist Stephen Hawkings, who has ALS, is a hell of a lot smarter than you are.

If you are one of those people classified as “disabled,” I’d like to issue a challenge.  Look the rest of us in the eye and tell the truth about yourself.  Do not accept us when we make the mistake of feeling sorry for you or allow ourselves to let our ignorant embarrassment get in the way of knowing you.  When we do that, we are the disabled ones and may need you to jar us into reality.  There is nothing more valuable than the truth as told by a person who knows it.  Never back down.

Chris Crutcher