University of Virginia Library

Personal Idols

While Taylor has often been
called the finest short-story writer
of today, his own list included Saul
Bellow, Bernard Malamud. Jean
Stafford, and J.F. Powers. He
remembers that as a young writer
he was greatly influenced by
Joyce's The Dubliners, the stories
of Thomas Mann and the work of
Henry James. He also finds himself
returning to the work of Faulkner,
Porter, Hemingway, and probably
his favorite, James.

When asked if any of his friends
have ever recognized themselves in
his stories, he told of a time when
he stepped off the plane in Atlanta
to meet the glare of his father. As
he approached, his father welcomed
him with the greeting "if you had
been home when I read your last
story I would have shot you."