The Dog of the Marriage by Amy Hempel

Amy Hempel writes sentences and short paragraphs that tell entire stories better than most authors can do in 400 pages. For example, in her story " The Uninvited", she raises the stakes early:
"I was fifty years old, and ten days late. If menopausal, go on estrogen; if pregnant, go on welfare."
In "Memoir", Hempel tells an amazing story in ONE SENTENCE! And it's a short one, too! As an author, reading her work is a bit like taking a shooting clinic from Michael Jordan. You watch the master work. Then, you pick up the ball and stare at it, unable to comprehend how to make it bounce, or even what exactly the spherical thing in your hands is. You simply cannot fathom how someone can make it work so amazingly well. Within each of her 9 stories, Hempel can move you from laughter to tears, from light musing to deep thought. She is a force of nature.