Picked it up in an airport. Would recommend for a long flight. Some were good, some were weird, some were bizarre. It was a nice mix to keep me interested and focused on something other than the rampant farter sitting in the next row.

I always forget how often short story anthologies make me want to grab the nearest metal kitchen implement and trepan the part of my brain that knows how to read. Really not sure why this is, but there's something about a lot of short stories in succession that makes me wish I didn't understand written words anymore.I'm sure all these stories are, on their own, extremely fine. In fact, I clearly remember weeping in my bathroom back in Queens as I read the Richard Powers one in The New Yorker a c...

I’m trying to become a short story writer, or better yet a novelist, and it is tricky. I don’t know what’s good. I don’t know if I’d read my own work if my work was by a stranger. I wonder if I’d close the anthology I was featured in and sigh, contentedly, at the way I tugged a heart string or made a reader feel bile burn in the back of her throat. Mostly I just want to a) tell a good story in a new way and b) make a reader want to barf. I don’t have many idols in the world of short stories. I’m...

Have rescued a few of these over the past few years. From the local transfer station I assume. Seven of the twenty stories first appeared in the New Yorker so I may have already read some of these. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - "Ceiling" - Nigerian middle class blues. Not bad, not great.Megan Mayhew Bergman - "Housewifely Arts" - Lonely, clueless, rootless, drifting single mom blues. Not terribly original - Alice Munro lite.Tom Bissell - "A Bridge Under Water" - Got-married-to-an-asshole-because-I-...

Making my way through this one. So far, on a scale from (1) "Wish I had those 15-30 minutes back" to (5) "Read, Reread, Repeat": Five StarsFour StarsGeorge Saunders "Escape from Spiderhead" 4.5Saunders now; Saunders forever.Bret Anthony Johnston "Soldier of Fortune" 4.5No surprise here, btw. Pretty much bought the collection for BAJClaire Keegan "Foster" A quiet but lovely tale of a Scottish kid passed off to another family while her mother births a baby brother for her. The estrangement of...

I find that these collections are strongest when a favorite writer of mine is editing them (similar taste, perhaps). This was one of the more disappointing volumes. Which is a shame because my good friend Sara Batkie's story "Cleavage" was listed as a distinguished story in the back of the book!!! I love looking over that list after reading the collection and sighing to see which stories that floored me throughout the year of lit journal reading didn't make the volume or didn't make the distingu...

Stories so taut they twangThe most compelling part of the 2011 American short story anthology just may be the introduction by this year’s editor, author Geraldine Brooks.She writes about short story form: setup, reveal, reversal and release. “If one element fails, the edifice crumbles.” Brooks writes that she likes stories that, well, tell a story.She doesn’t care for short stories that treat plot “as if it were a hair in the soup.” If a story is bleak it ought to have clearly earned its bleakne...

there is some very good writing, of course, that does not stir the blood. it's cool, cerebral. tricksy, clever. i admire it in the same way i admire the technical proficiency of a cirque de soleil acrobat: 'look what she's doing up there. i didn't realize a rotator cuff had that range of motion.' but i'm not moved by it. and by the end of the show, so many amazing things have been done that amazement becomes a kind of boredom.-- ms. brooks's introductionwith these best-of collections, it often s...

Apropos to very little, I liked guest editor Geraldine Brooks's anecdotes about being a journalist where you learn quickly that the grit of a story is out in the world and not in flowery, distracting word choices. That being said, most of my favorites in this collection were about culture clashes/brushes with tragedy and didn't adhere to style over substance.They are:"Ceiling" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Granata.) The nouveau rich go shoulder to shoulder with the slums in Lagos, Nigeria."A Brid...

Every year, I look forward to BASS with breathless anticipation. As a great lover and writer of the short story form, reading this collection is the holy mecca of genius and inspiration. My favorites over the years have included Stephen King's 2007 edition, and last year's (2010) Richard Russo's edition, so when I found out that Geraldine Brooks--author of March and A Year of Wonders--was 2011's guest selector, I was psyched.However, while there were a handful of truly exceptional stories in Bro...

I've only read the first 3 1/2 stories so far; however, "A Bridge Under Water" by Tom Bissell is one of the best short stories I've ever read and would be worth the price of the entire book. If, as the author said in the end note "a large part of the reason I wrote this story was to determine why I can sometimes be an insufferable dick," well, I'm glad he went through this exercise and, whether or not he's still an insufferable dick, he wrote an amazing short story! I'll just make sure never to

Favorites:Bret Anthony Johnston - "Soldier of Fortune"Steven Millhauser - "Phantoms"Richard Powers - "To the Measures Fall"George Saunders - "Escape from Spiderhead" The Bret Anthony Johnston especially was a real eye-opener.

Overall this year’s stories were a bit disappointing. Although there are some phenomenal stories, there were a lot that seemed ordinary to me. I have been reading the yearly publications for perhaps a decade now and usually I love nearly every story. This year’s stories are still worth reading, but seemed to lack the connection to make it a great read. A 3.5Ceiling – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 3Well woven and written, but did not blow me out of the water. Housewifey Arts – Megan Mayhew Bergman 4.5...

File this one in the category “odd things editors say in the foreword”. Both editors complain about the sameness of the short stories then-current. Interestingly, at least at first, it seemed as though they were choosing stories to prove their point. The second story in particular seems to hit all of their complaints.Another, Peter Torelli, Falling Apart, in a way relating to the editorial concerns, tangentially involves Hopper’s Nighthawks.I’ve noted before that the stories I tend to like most

This wonderful series is always a mixed bag by its nature, but kudos to the editors for always including a variety so there is something for every taste. That must be a challenge. There wasn't much to flat-out love here, but this year it was easy to see the talent and excellence in just about every selection. My favorite was Claire Keegan's "Foster," an exceptional story that shows one of the best reasons to read this series - learning about great new voices. Keegan is clearly yet another in a l...

Three and a half stars. Some stories were amazing, others just didn't work for me. Ceiling, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie -- 3 starsHousewifely Arts, by Megan Mayhew Bergman -- 5 starsA Bridge Under Water, by Tom Bissell -- 2 starsOut of Body, by Jennifer Egan -- 4.5 starsFree Fruit for Young Widows, by Nathan Englander -- 5 starsLa Vita Nuova, by Allegra Goodman -- 3 starsGurov in Manhattan, by Ehud Havazelet -- 2 starsThe Sleep, by Caitlin Horrocks -- 4 starsSoldier of Fortune, by Bret Anthony J...

I love this series. I have copies going back to 2002 and read them even before that. There was a time when my working life ate my brain so to speak. I turned to short stories (specifically this series) to read during my short lunch break (this break room was dark and windowless). The stories took my mind away to another place providing a stress relieving life saver for me. Now sometimes, I forget how enjoyable a well written short story can be. I fall behind in reading them (like now), but I'm i...

These anthologies are amazing. Not every story is super but at least half of them are. I discover the best modern American writers every year by reading this anthology. This year my discoveries are: 1) Caitlin Horrocks, whose story, The Sleep, is a straightforward exploration of people like me who would be much happier if we could just sleep through winter and wake up when spring begins; 2) Claire Keegan, whose story, Foster, had the richest description of character and place I have ever read; a...

Short stories are a gift to e-book readers--we end up using our devices during the in-between moments of our lives and, sometimes, the stories in this collection felt a bit like filler, actually. But most of them are amazing and serve as excellent introductions to the authors' work. I loved the story, "Foster" by Claire Keegan, in which an Irish girl discovers how parents are supposed to act when she is temporarily fostered by a loving couple. I liked the story by Jennifer Egan, "Out of Body," a...