Russo, talking writer stuff with the babelike Ferris. Davis, with host Isaiah Sheffer (in his new fall suit!), and actor Tony Roberts, who read Joshua Ferris’s “Valetudinarian.” 2. There, I learned the actors’ secrets: Davis was sick and had to dope up on cold medicine in order not to cough during the performance and Roberts had to look up the word “valetudinarian” (the title of Joshua Ferris ‘s story that he would read on stage) thirty minutes before he left for the show.ġ.

The good people at Symphony Space were gracious enough to give us the royal treatment, and I was let in an hour before show time for the sound check - early enough to catch actress Hope Davis reading parts of Jennifer Egan’s “Safari,” which was included in the anthology.īackstage in the greenroom (yes, even authors get greenrooms for events as big as Selected Shorts), host Isaiah Sheffer chatted with actors Davis and Roberts, Russo, series editor Heidi Pitlor, and publicist Summer Smith. The first of the Selected Shorts season series, an evening celebrating The Best American Short Stories 2010 edited by Richard Russo, was last night. Davis read Jennifer Egan’s story “Safari.”

Actress Hope Davis, during the soundcheck. Best American Short Stories series editor Heidi Pitlor, Richard Russo, & Houghton Mifflin’s publicity manager Summer Smith 2.

Symphony space short stories