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I've always loved the Best American Short Stories series, but I've only reviewed one of the volumes on here. It's about time I reviewed another.As I wrote in the earlier review, what I like most about these collections is discovering new authors. That was definitely true this year. Of the 20 authors in this collection, I had only heard of 10 before, and of those 10 I had only read books by 3 of them. So: lots of discoveries, lots of names committed to memory, lots of scanning biographies to take...
Notes mostly for myself here, as readers don't need to be encouraged to pick up The Best American Short Stories' annual collection; these collections are a touchstone for those of us who enjoy short stories and you'll either check it out or not. Proof in point: I read the 2019 volume strictly because of my devotion to Anthony Doerr and was curious about what kind of stories he finds entertaining/intriguing. I liked the exposure to some legendary authors; Ursula K. Le Guin's "Pity and Shame" was
This collection was more or less my first foray into short stories. As can only be expected, there were some that spoke to me and resonated deeply, and some of which I just wasn’t a fan. Editor Anthony Doerr speaks about breaking rules and boundaries in his introduction, and some of the included authors did this with grace, humor, and meaning. Perhaps I’m just not a fan of postmodern fiction, but there were some stories in this collection that broke the rules in ways that were off putting or jus...
Overall a strong collection.My favorites:Maria Reva - "Letter of Apology" - sometimes the inquisitor learns from the targetedJeffrey Eugenides - "Bronze" - beauty comes in many guises and may not be so beautifulJamel Brinkley - "No More Than A Bubble" - the young fool grows upSaid Sayrafiezadeh - "Audition" - again, the fool grows up, this time with a reduced balance in his account.Jim Shepard - "Our Day of Grace" - beautiful interlocking stories told in letters from Civil War soldiers and their...
When I wrote my opening post for this year’s volume (the tenth time I've blogged BASS), I admitted I was worried since the bar was set so high by last year’s edition, and the couple of years before. And yes, this year felt like a bit of a letdown. In terms of expectations, maybe it was something like a stock market correction. Still, there’s something to find in all these stories, even though none of them blew my socks off.What’s interesting is that, while I was a bit meh about many of them whil...
Two of the stories in this anthology stood out for me. One was Nicole Krauss’s “Seeing Ershadi,” which is characterized by an incredible flow, that is, a structure where the sections jump around in time and place, but seem organic, work without any hitch. I will certainly reread it a few times to see how Krauss constructed it. The other is Ella Martinsen Gorham’s “Protozoa,” a story of eighth graders, the kind of story that, contentwise and stylewise (dialogue that is too realistic, texting, etc...
It's a good collection. The first story was my favourite, but there were many gems throughout.
I am amazed at how much story these talented authors can get into a few pages!
Curated by Anthony Doerr (ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE), 2019's shorts were selected with an eye towards breaking the rules of form: multiple protagonists, pages of exposition, ambling subplots, unlikable narrators. In theory it's an exciting approach, yet while none are outright failures, many read like style in search of substance. Or where there was substance, the style was less remarkable. My favorites fell into the latter camp, particularly this top five:"Anyone Can Do It," Manual Munoz -- A...
Well, that's a wrap! I've officially read (and taken notes on) every story in every guest-edited BASS to date†. That's, what... 857 stories over 5.25 years and 42 volumes? And 106,964 words of notes?! Holy moly. It's truly strange to finally be arriving at the finish line. I just finished the last story a few minutes ago, so the expected feelings—pride, relief, emptiness—haven't really had a chance to emerge yet. Mostly I just feel a little stunned!Anyway, the 2019 edition. Frankly, anything wou...
Hit or miss, like most of these collections. From awful to mesmerizing, and of course my mesmerizing may be your awful. One thing I look for in these yearly collections is to hear current authors writing about our culture today. There was enough of that here to work for me. Best of the best by Nicole Krauss and Alexis Schaitkin.
