Short sell in the books market

You wonder why anyone bothers to write short stories that publishers will not promote and readers will not buy

Three or so months ago, while looking for Keynes’ General Theory in a long-neglected bookshelf at home, I came across an ancient paperback collection of John O’Hara’s short stories. Many of his stories were just that — very short, of about 1,000 words and were published in the Saturday Evening Post for many years.  

In a sense, he was to the Post what Behram Contractor — better known as Busybee — was to the Evening News in Bombay, a commuter’s delight. 

You simply had to read them because it was like eating one of those tiny imli sweets that Air India gives