Book Description
Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, a series editor reads pieces from hundreds of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field. This unique system has helped make the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind. Lending a fresh perspective to a perennial favorite, Walter Mosley has chosen unforgettable short stories by both renowned writers and exciting newcomers. The Best American Short Stories 2003 features poignant tales that explore the nuances of family life and love, birth and death. Here are stories that will, as Mosley writes in his introduction, "live with the reader long after the words have been translated into ideas and dreams. That's because a good short story crosses the borders of our nations and our prejudices and our beliefs." Dorothy Allison Edwidge Danticat E. L. Doctorow Louise Erdrich Adam Haslett ZZ Packer Mona Simpson Mary Yukari Waters
Customer Reviews:
Not that great..........2005-12-06
What has happened to literature? These stories are poorly written in my opinion. If these are the best, I'd hate to see the worst American short stories. Take "Moriya", a piece of trash written by Dean Paschal included in this collection for example. Hey Dean: just because no one has written a story about an adolescent "mecahnical minded" boy fantasizing, masturbating, and having sex with a doll doesn't make your story great literature. I've given up one American writing for the present...
A selection from MFA Land.......2005-01-31
Sigh. Not that most of these stories are actually bad but they do suffer from what an earlier reviewer called a "constricted cautiousness". Besides, maybe I've read too many of these types of pieces already but wow - are some of the themes here familiar. For example, being working-class in America (or a working class immigrant) really pounds rocks. And hey - there sure is a lot of quiet desperation in them there suburbs. Yawn yawn yawn.
Just very good literature.......2004-10-15
This delicious short stories collection has taken me a long time to read. Not because the stories were boring or bad but since every story was so condensed, rich and powerful I could not easily part from a certain state of mind and place and move on the next story.
I try to think what are the similar features of these 2003 stories and what can they say about our time...these are very different subjects, characters and places but maybe I could say that the stories discuss a self growth of some sort. Be it a teenager boy having his first sexual encounter with a demonically bewitching mechanically doll or a person reflecting how his life has developed from a certain event as a Chinese delivery boy in the streets of New York -- but off course I guess this is a too easy generalization that can be said of any story whatsoever.
"Why the sky turns red when the sun goes down" by Ryan Harty is a good example of the stories ability to emotionally stir you up and touch an issue very relevant for parents everywhere, maybe this is what made this story so special for me. The story starts out as a very ordinary family crisis tale. The father learns that something happened to his boy and goes out to fetch him. The turning point comes when the boy is seen lying down with his hand thrown a few yards away from his body. Slowly you realize that this is a mechanical child and prepare yourself for some science fiction descriptions, which do not arrive. Apart from the very central "mechanical boy" fact this is a very real story in all its levels, with nothing "modern" or alienated about it. By the end of the story I remained with the strong feeling that mechanical or not, the parents are facing the same questions parents everywhere are asking themselves and mainly "are we doing the right thing". How do we keep our children and families safe? What are the lies we tell our children and ourselves in order to keep us safe? "Why the sky turns red..." has the heavy atmosphere that is very characteristic of many of the other stories in this collection. Something hard and heavy is hanging above and the characters are having a hard time trying to push it away, like a certain pain that has become a part of your life. The story "The Bees" suffers (or rather enjoys?) the same heavy atmosphere, only here this is not something between husband and wife but between a man and himself. The man is in turmoil because of something in the past that clouds his present. When the punishment arrives, you accept it as the anticipation and tension has been built up all along.
I did not read the previous Best American Short stories but feel as if Walter Mosely has done an incredible job. Or maybe these fine authors have made his job easier. This is a masterpiece collection of stories.
"Ghost Knife", "Moriya", " Baby Wilson", "Devotion" and "Future Emergencies" are some of my favorite stories in this collection. Off course I can relate easily to stories which discuss women, parents or people who are in a position similar to mine, but the greatness of these stories is that you can feel the pain, helplessness and anger of people in totally different surroundings and situations, such as immigrants recalling something in their past or people from another culture all together (the stories "Night Talkers" or "Marie-Ange's Ginen" which are set in Haiti for example).
This is truly good literature and my only regret is that I cannot discuss these stories in a literature class so I can understand all the further layers.
Do not miss the last few pages of the book where every writer gives a few lines about his story and how it came through.
if you only read one story, read "The Bees".......2004-06-03
Having never read one of the "Best American Short Stories" collections, I have no way to judge this latest edition to past efforts. The only thing I can speak to is how I felt about the stories contained in this collection and how good I think they are. There are some very fine stories in this collection with one in particular that I just loved.
Louise Erdrich has long been my favorite novelist, but I was still nervous about what she would make from the short story format. "Shamengwa" is a moving story which revolves around a violin and the effect it has had, in various ways, on the lives of several members of a community. Anthony Doerr has one of the better stories in the collection, "The Shell Collector". With such a deceptively simple title, one would not expect such raw power and an interesting story about a man who lives alone but has gained worldwide attention because of the poison in one particular kind of shell. Another standout is Ryan Harty's "Why the Sky Turns Red when the Sun Goes Down", a story of a family with a robotic son (literally, the boy is a robot, or, perhaps an android). This is a touching story.
The best story in the collection, and then one that blew me away is Dan Chaon's "The Bees". This one was completely unexpected and shocking. While this one would probably fall into the category of "horror", don't let that mislead you. This one starts out easy, just identifying a man and his family and we start to learn about his past. He wasn't a good man during his first marriage and he deeply regrets it. But as the story continues and we get snippets of revelation, the tension grows and so does this air of creepiness that I got while I was reading it. The tension does not let up until the end of the story, but rather it keeps building because we don't quite know what is going on and this is not what you would assume a typical "horror" story would be. It is a psychological horror and it is just gripping.
This is a very fine collection, but "The Bees" was the one story that truly stood out for me and it continues to be memorable.
-Joe Sherry
disappointing.......2004-05-09
I so look forward to these annual volumes of BEST short stories. These collections normally have such a variety of subject and style. Not this volume. The subject of nearly every story was the alienation of immigrants in America. For the first time ever, I didn't finish reading the collection. I mean, I love popcorn, but want variety!
Book Description
Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, the very best pieces are selected by an editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field, making the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind. Dave Eggers, who will be editing The Best American Nonrequired Reading annually, has once again chosen the best and least-expected fiction, nonfiction, satire, investigative reporting, alternative comics, and more from publications large, small, and on-line -- The Onion, The New Yorker, Shout, Time, Zoetrope, Tin House, Nerve.com,and McSweeney's, to name just a few. Read on for "Some of the best literature you haven't been reading . . . And it's fantastic. All of it." (St. Petersburg Times). Lynda Barry Jonathan Safran Foer Lisa Gabriele Andrea Lee J. T. Leroy Nasdijj ZZ Packer David Sedaris
Customer Reviews:
Mostly the stories are about survival.......2004-11-28
Sherman Alexie writes of Sacagawea, the Shoshone who accompanied Lewis and Clark. She died of some mysterious illness when she was only in her twenties. Lynda Barry's entry is in the nature of a graphic short story. She covers the interesting subject of the peculiar scent of each person's house.
Ryan Boudinot writes of having a costume as Hitler for a school harvest carnival. First he created trouble on the school bus. His fourth grade teacher was amused and disturbed. Another student dressed as Anne Frank. The teacher elected to have a discussion about the Second World War. The girl playing Anne Frank saw her popularity soar. Davy, the boy character of the story, decided not to be Hitler that evening. He and his father found a Frankenstein mask.
Mark Bowden writes of the tyrant, Saddam Hussein. In his sixties, he cannot appear to age since his power is based on fear. He swims, he dyes his hair. His desk is immaculate. He reads voraciously which is a good thing since he is fed lies. His passion is Arabic history and military history. People have reported it is plesant to sit and talk to Saddam. As people age, the area of making choices is reduced. A tyrant has the narrowest field of all. Power shuts the tyrant off from the world. Saddam's clan was known to be violent and clever. Saddam committed his crimes publicly, cloaking them in patriotism. Things started with ego and ambition and became a political movement. The conflict in Iraq was a conflict in mentalities, between the city and the village. The backbone of politics is in the city. In the city politics is a matter of law, not blood. Saddam was a man of the village, of tribal loyalty. His favorite movies were THE GODFATHER and THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA. The invasion of Kuwait in 1990 was a military miscalculation. Mark Bowden explains that cruelty is the tyrant's art.
Judy Budnitz in "Visiting Hours," describes visiting her brother Ezra in the hospital after he suffered a concussion causing short term memory loss. She tells her parents she is danger of being suspended from school because she has taken time-off to visit her brother. The family dynamics appear to be conflict-ridden and mysterious. The brother suffers a new injury to remain in the hospital.
David Drury states in a piece that a suburb is a delicate thing. A family whose house burns down inherited the house from an aunt. The blended family did not really fit into the neighborhood. Family members did not tend the lawn, and Christmas decorations were taken from the yards of the other houses. The children did not have the approved kinds of bicycles and they were shunned by the other children.
Tribute bands are a maligned sector of the rock and roll scene claims Chuck Klosterman in "The Pretenders." Being derivative is not simple. Fans already exist for the tribute band. You don't have to beg your friends to come to watch you play.
This selection of material by Dave Eggers and his advisory group of mostly high school students is quite good. The idea of having annual volumes for different kinds of writing is great.
Eclectic assortment..........2004-10-22
I bought this for a plane ride and I loved it. The fact that it mixes so many different genres is great. There are so many pieces in this collection that I never would have been exposed to had I not purchased this book, and I'm thankful I did.
Without getting into specific essays, I enjoyed almost everything featured in this book. It is a diverse group of readings, and I'd recommend it to anyone that wants to broaden his or her horizons but doesn't know how to do it. You'll feel enriched after reading this.
Very fun read.......2004-10-03
This eclectic collection of writing was loaned to me by a friend who thought it would be right up my alley. She was right! I had never heard of the series and am now seeking out the other years of "Nonrequired Reading." Every selection is different, so you are bound to love something in here. Several entries had me giggling delightedly. Others had me crying. Most I just enjoyed without any sloppy emotionalism. Definitely recommended.
Unmitigated Failure.......2004-04-27
They should retitle this volume: "Nonrequired Reading, Where Literature Comes To Die" Why anyone would want to waste their time with pretentious drivel like this is beyond me. This is the most needless collection of mish-mash I have ever seen put together.
Must Miss.......2004-03-31
This anthology is dull, dull, dull, full of mediocre writers who couldn't achieve recognition if it wasn't for the keen perceptive eyes of Dave Eggers and Zadie Smith, two "literary powerhouses"--yeah, I even have to laugh at that one. If you hate Smith and Eggers, you'll hate this anthology even more. This volume is titled Nonrequired Reading for a reason. It's somewhat amusing to skim through while you're on the toilet, but I can't say that it merits anything more than a cynical chuckle, before being tossed into the garbage bin with last month's Cosmo.
Book Description
This seventh installment of the premier mystery anthology boasts pulse-quickening stories from all reaches of the genre, selected by the world-renowned mystery writer Michael Connelly. His choices include a Prohibition-era tale of a scorned lover's revenge, a Sherlock Holmes-inspired mystery solved by an actor playing the famous detective onstage, stories of a woman's near-fatal search for self-discovery, a bar owner's gutsy attempt to outwit the mob, and a showdown between double-crossing detectives, and a tale of murder by psychology. This year's edition features mystery favorites Elmore Leonard, Walter Mosley, James Crumley, Joyce Carol Oates, and Brendan DuBois as well as talented up-and-comers, for a diverse collection sure to thrill all readers. Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, a series editor reads pieces from hundreds of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field. This unique system has helped make the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind. Edgar Award winner Michael Connelly has chosen a collection of stellar stories by the genre's luminaries and by the most promising newer talents in the field. As usual, this year's Best American Mystery Stories will delight readers with dramatic variety and unsurpassed quality. James Crumley Pete Dexter Brendan DuBois Elmore Leonard Walter Mosley Joyce Carol Oates
Customer Reviews:
Where are the mysteries?.......2005-10-31
While I like Connelly's work, this collection he edited seems flat like a day-old warm Coke: there is no mystery to it, as if the entire mystery short story genre got swallowed up by the procedural and thriller aspects of that style. There's plenty of following the numbers and pursuing bad guys, and violence and murder and mayhem, but little to tickle the brain. That absence gets overshadowed by character drama and interpersonal politics, and it made me long for the short stories of Dashiell Hammet or Agatha Christie, each of which had its own conceptual mystery that required the reader to concentrate in order to understand. This book of short stories passes like watching television in the lounge of a car dealership.
Nearly Noir but Nice.......2004-01-02
Otto Penzler (owner of the Mysterious Bookshop and THE editor of mystery stories) chose 50 stories and selected writer Michael Connelly to winnow the list to the final 20. The initial Penzler criterion is broad: any story in which a crime, or threat of crime, is central to the plot. The stories are generally from small literary magazines (although the first comes from the popular Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine) and there isn't really a bad writer in it. Moments of humor are rare (excepting The Adventure of the Agitated Actress, in which the actor playing Sherlock Holmes is required to solve a crime). Dashiell Hammett appears (War Can be Murder by Mike Doogan) as a detective. The Confession, by Robert McKee, is a straightforward mystery while in Controlled Burn, by Scott Wolven, the protagonist is destroyed by guilt and all crime is off-stage. Death on Denial is comfortably clever. I particularly liked Joyce Carol Oates' The Skull, about a forensic sculptor in love with his Pygmalion, and After You've Gone (John Payton Cooke) about a suicidal cop and the intervention by a very strange suicide help line. The Jukebox (Doug Allyn) is a lovely piece set in 1960 but feels like Chandler era tale of the mob. Walter Mosely's Lavender feels like an excerp from a novel and is not his best work. Elmore Leonard makes an appearance with When the WOmen Come Out to Dance (it's got a nice twist but you expect that with Leonard). My hands down favorite is The Pickpocket by Christopher Cook, a tale that looks at the loss of honor and the pleasure of a well-honed skill -- tone and content blend beautifully in this Paris based tale.
The stories are generally well written and a few are gems. Connolley's introduction suggests that mysteries reassure, by bringing some sense to an increasingly senseless world. I couldn't find much support for that view in his selections: most of the time, the reader is left with a sad confirmation of what is wrong with us. Many of the stories have the dark view of noir fiction: personal failures in a failed world. I would have liked a slightly broader range of stories, and a couple reach for a mood they can't quite sustain (Sockdolager) or an improbable plot (Richard's Children) but most are satisfying and well said.
pretty solid.......2003-12-19
This year's Best American Mystery Stories is a pretty good collection of stories. In fact, most of the stories are pretty good--we've all the usual suspects in this volume. I'll say the best two stories in the collection are by two Christophers, Chambers and Cook. This is a good collection to read.
Kudos to Penzler and Connelly.......2003-12-18
This may be the best collection of stories in the short history of the series. Although I found a few duds among the selections, the overall quality of the writing is significantly better than in most previous years. I attribute this improvement to the large number of stories from sources other than the obvious mystery magazines. Indeed, several of this year's stories are taken from literary magazines. The net result is that readers are treated to good writing as well as engaging crime stories. Kudos to series editor Otto Penzler and guest editor Michael Connelly for recognizing that good crime stories can be found in many literary outlets. I hope this is a trend that continues in future editions.
A Melange of Mysteries.......2003-10-01
A Mélange of Mysteries
This collection offers a smorgasbord of mystery stories as varied as the diversity of America itself. From "The Jukebox King", set in Detroit in the 60's to "The Adventure of the Agitated Actress", a delightful retake of Sherlock Holmes in London, the anthology offers the best of the year. And, as always, Joyce Carol Oates contributes a compelling, beautifully written and enigmatic short story. Worthwhile reading.
Book Description
Special 10th Anniversary Edition
More Stories * More Sex * Author Interviews * Readers' Poll Results
There's a party going on in here. Please come.
Lick the icing on this cake: from the raunchy to the sensual, the 10th anniversary edition of The Best American Erotica includes the most esteemed and lascivious writers at work today.
Dorothy Allison explores the wonderful, mysterious abilities of the human hand, Chuck Palahniuk opens the door on a carnal meeting in a church bathroom, Susanna Kaysen takes us inside that sensual moment before two lovers touch for the first time, and Zane's corporate tigress plays mind games that make other office shenanigans look like mere games of Candyland.
In candid Q&A's the authors reveal that they are great-grandfathers, prostitutes with Ivy League diplomas, and former lunatic asylum attendants. Here, too, are the results of the readers' survey. Straight, bisexual, or gay; dominant or submissive; kinky or just curious, you're sure to be turned on by the steamiest Best American Erotica ever.
* CONTRIBUTORS *
Martha Miller, Chuck Palahniuk, Susan St. Aubin, Mel Smith, Greta Christina, James Williams, Robert Irwin, Susan Volchok, Myriam Gurba, Vaginal Davis, Bertice Berry, Dorothy Allison, Susanna Kaysen, Jack Fritscher, Lisa Wolfe, Zane, Scott, Jill Soloway, Tennessee Jones, Alison L. Smith, Paula Bomer, Dagoberto Gilb, Tsaurah Litzky, Aaron Travis, Nicholson Baker, Rose White and Eric Albert, Ivy Topiary, William Harrison
Download Description
"Special 10th Anniversary Edition More Stories * More Sex * Author Interviews * Readers' Poll Results There's a party going on in here. Please come. Lick the icing on this cake: from the raunchy to the sensual, the 10th anniversary edition of The Best American Erotica includes the most esteemed and lascivious writers at work today. Dorothy Allison explores the wonderful, mysterious abilities of the human hand, Chuck Palahniuk opens the door on a carnal meeting in a church bathroom, Susanna Kaysen takes us inside that sensual moment before two lovers touch for the first time, and Zane's corporate tigress plays mind games that make other office shenanigans look like mere games of Candyland. In candid Q
Customer Reviews:
best of the best.......2003-08-21
this is a GREAT anthology. bright has done it once again, and this year it's even better than in the past because this edition includes interviews with some BAE authors of past years, as well as some of the best of the best erotica as voted by readers. there are gay, lesbian, straight, and BDSM stories, and probably a few others that i can't think of a name for at the moment. a GREAT collection, i highly recommend it for the erotica enthusiast and the erotica 'virgin.'
the best of the best.......2003-05-17
I thought this best american erotica was the best so far in the series with 1996 being a close second. I sometimes read the stories just because they are good but this time around there were a few times I had to stop reading to go especially enjoy myself if ya know what I mean.
bedtime stories!.......2003-05-07
I thought this round of the Best Of erotica series was great! Not only were the mix of stories entertaining--there's a voyeur's glee to be had, peeking into what other folks find stimulating as well as the stuff I like--but this anniversary edition also includes Susie's delightfully breezy notes about just what sorts of people the best of...erotica writers are. As if that weren't enough, after you've savored the stories tale by tale (or tail), there's a bonus section in the back featuring some of the reader's favorites over the years. I was especially happy to see an excerpt from my all-time favorite erotica book, Nicholson Baker's "Fermata." It's a shame Mr Baker is no longer gracing us sauce-ready readers with his special literary, wordplayful brand of "rot," as he calls it. Given the loss to literature, being able to visit a old favorite was especially nice.
Perhaps the best part of the book, and of the whole series, is the feeling I get--that, you know what? It takes all kinds, we all like to have fun, and we're all sexual creatures under our clothes. Rowr!
Warning: These are not "the best".......2003-04-21
The reading public should know that these stories are the "best" according to the editor's taste -- and the editor doesn't write erotica. There are lots of erotica books out there where the stories are high quality and where the authors didn't get included based on what they could do for the editor's reputation. Don't be fooled by the title. The "best" is highly subjective.
Must have an Open Mind!!!!.......2003-03-07
I love some of these stories. There is something for everyone with any sexual orientation. You need to have an open mind--there are stories of dominace, gay and lesbian sex, and kink of all kinds. You may or may not find this hot, but provides intersting reading, anyway.
Book Description
Many famous writers later (James Lee Burke, Barbara Kingsolver, Larry Brown, Tony Earley, William Gay), Ravenel still combs through over one hundred journals and magazines, regional and national, large and small, in search of the most talented authors coming out of the South. She still tracks down the newest voices before their breakouts, collecting the best renditions of the short-story genre. New Stories from the South has become sine qua non in creative-writing classes, in Southern-literature classes, for any serious writer following the competition, and above all, for any lover of Southern literature.
The stories in the eighteenth volume of NEW STORIES FROM THE SOUTH carry on that tradition. Among the eighteen writers making their mark in this year's volume are Michael Knight, Donald Hays, John Dufresne, ZZ Packer, and Chris Offutt. This year's preface is by the preeminent Southern humorist and NPR regular Roy Blount, Jr.
Each story is followed by the author's note about its origin. Readers will also find an updated list of magazines consulted by the editor, and a complete list of all the stories selected each year since the series' inception.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent collection.......2004-03-24
This amazing and well-written collection of stories from and about the South is destined to take top honors somewhere. The stories are clear, well-paced, and ultimately satisfying. Kudos to the people who put this group together and here's hoping we see more from them in the future.
Also recommended: "Bark of the Dogwood," and "The Known World."
Not a Bad Tale in the Bunch.......2004-01-02
Many of the contemporary short stories I read I don't especially care for. Too often, I leave them with the same feeling with which I approached. Which is why this volume is a something of a mystery, meaning that I enjoyed every one of its tales. I especially appreciated Viswanathan's "Cool Wedding" and Vice's "Report from Junction." I even very much liked Prather's "The Faithful," and I stress "even" because the author once wrote a column which appeared in my weekly hometown paper and which I found to be wretched. Not so with this story. I look forward to next year's collection and pray the tastes of the editor will again align with my own.
my first year with this series.......2003-12-19
This year I decided I'd like to pick up the New Stories from the South and check it out this year. Not bad. There were a handful of really good stories and a handful of really bad, and quite a few in the middle. It's not a bad addition to reading the Best American Short Stories (especially since both Pushcart and the O. Henry Awards are weakening). I won't say this is the best selection I've come across, but it's pretty good. I look forward to next year's edition.
Good and bad taste.......2003-12-10
Good: NEW STORIES FROM THE SOUTH, which I think is surpassing BEST AMERICAN and O'HENRY as the country's preeminent short story collection. I haven't had a chance to sit down with the 2003 edition, but I'm looking forward to it.
Bad: Shrill comments from one of the contributors (see below). I don't expect Patricia Lear to be this book's most objective supporter, and I also don't expect an author to react to the reality of dissenting opinions with so little class.
Solid Southern Literature (Mostly).......2003-10-27
This is the eighteenth instalment of New Stories from the South, and I've read all eighteen. I love the series, and this volume is good. With any compilation of this type some of the stories are bound to appeal to you, and others others will be dissappointing. I reccommend that you go ahead and buy the book: fall in love and get frustrated, it's worth it!
But if you want some of the ins and outs: Dorothy Allison is probably the most famous contributor this year. Her story "Compassion" is strongest while dealing with a cancer patient. "Compassion" suffers from a lack of faith in the reader: in case you didn't get that a character (Arlene) was repressed and remote, Ms. Allison inserts the insultingly overt fact that she lives in "Castle Estates." In a different vein, Lucy Corin's "Rich People" seems to have nothing overtly to do with the South: not one reference in the story or in her bio...curious why its in there. For me Allison and Corin's pieces were the most dissappointing. But there are many other stories that enjoyed and savored and will read again.
I loved every word of Broke Clarke's "For Those of Us Who Need Such THings." It is a wonderful attempt to build the a Southerntown (ala Dollard) from the ground up--but this time its Savannah. Patricia Lear's "Nirvana" is a similarly evocative collision of cultures. Taylor is perfectly rendered. The summer, the country, and love are all explored and discovered with emotionally-fresh approach. I think I would give Latha Viswanathan's "Cool Wedding" the prize for demonstrating how multifaceted the Souths can be. Donald Hays and Chris Offutt also deserve mention for solid stories.
Don't take my word for it: go buy a copy and tell me which stories you liked.
Book Description
Since its launch in 2000, the Best New American Voices series has been acclaimed for the range and originality of its selections, which represent the writers who promise to become the literary stars of tomorrow. The 2003 collection continues the tradition, featuring innovative, powerful stories selected by one of our finest writers of contemporary fiction, Joyce Carol Oates. With pieces culled from more than one hundred prestigious writing programs around the country and Canada, including the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the Sewanee Conference, this volume showcases a remarkable array of talent--and offers the excitement of discovering a new generation of writers.
A Harvest Original
Customer Reviews:
A Wonderful Collection of New Writers.......2003-02-13
The Best New American Voices 2003 is a superb collection of stories from new writers working in graduate writing programs, arts organizations, workshops and summer conferences. The stories stretch over a wide variety of subjects representing areas from many different cultures. In "Good" a woman named Jeanie has a confusing affair with a man she meets while visiting her dying mother in the hospital. "The Storekeeper" tells the story of Hays, a sharpshooter performing an illegal mission in operation Desert Shield. The collection ends with "The Good Life" the story in this collection that dips the most into a surreal tone where a couple's new perfect home literally disintegrates before their eyes. They all focus intensely on a central character whose perspective largely dominates the story. As Joyce Carol Oates comments in her excellent introduction, "the dominant mode is psychological realism." She goes on to suggest interesting ways in which writers emerge as writers and how the discipline of writing as a formal practice has swiftly developed in America. Many of the stories have a peculiar ability to haunt you with their distinctive tone as in the stories "Who is Beatrice," where a woman is strangely disengaged from her life and wanders continuously through used book stores; "Chickensnake," where snakes demonstrate their ravenous ability to consume things whole; and "Everything Must Go," where a grieving wife is attempting to forge a new life for herself in New Hampshire with her son. The dead or dying play a major role in many of the stories. Nevertheless, the stories each feature many moments of uncommon humor and uplifting sentiments. This collection can serve as an introduction for people who want to be writers to understand the predominate contemporary "voice" and form of American fiction today. Equally, it is a treat for passionate readers to enjoy short glimpses of powerful new talent and learn names to watch for in the new releases section of bookstores. It is a wonderful and diverse collection of stories to own.
The book delivers what it promises.......2002-11-28
This book delivers what it promises: interesting, innovative, new stories from what should be the literary stars of tomorrow. I highly highly recommend it. The opening story "Good," by Cheryl Strayed, is stunning in its poignancy; and it has a climax that's both surprising and yet psychologically real. The story "Peace," by Dylan Tai Nguyen, is a rueful but powerful meditation on what happens to language in totalitarian regimes, and on what happens to families when the forces of history invade and sever. It's a sad, but deeply affecting piece. I'd buy this book for Christmas--to give to anyone interested in the landscape of serious literary fiction in America.
Average customer rating:
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Best Of Memphis Anthology 2003
Manufacturer: Kerlack Enterprises
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Book Description
The most honored literary series in America, The Pushcart Prize has been named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times and hailed with Pushcart Press as "among the most influential in the development of the American book business" by Publishers Weekly.
For the 2003 edition, The Pushcart Prize presents scores of brilliant short stories, poems, and essays selected from hundreds of presses and literary journals with the help of over 200 distinguished contributing editors. This is a stunning presentation of new and celebrated authors, picked from almost 8,000 nominations.
Customer Reviews:
seems to get worse every year.......2003-12-16
I don't know what is going on with the Pushcart series. It used to be such a valuable volume to read, but lately it gets weaker with every passing year. I'm not going to even talk about the poetry contained within. None of it is worth mentioning. And in their prose there are only four pieces that are really good. Sit down with this volume at your book store or library and just read them, don't purchase this book.
Mark Ray Lewis "Scorduatura" (fiction)
Cornelia Nixon "Lunch at teh Blacksmith" (fiction)
Jeffrey A. Lockwood "To Be Honest" (memoir)
Bradford Morrow "Amazing Grace" (fiction--though it has a weak ending)
A GREAT SERIES.......2003-08-26
I wish there were some way this annual collection of poetry, fiction and essays could become more visible, as BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES and PRIZE STORIES are. Rather than taking the cream off the top of The New Yorker, Harper's and so forth, the editors and jurors dig into lesser known and circulated periodicals. This particular volume was one of the better ones. The main theme seems to be alienation and search for connection, but the characters deal with their situations quite differently. In "Yangban" we enter a traditional Korean marriage, and in "Cabeza" we visit a middle class American (California) marriage, and they are different, yet the same. In both, wives struggle for identity beyond "helpmate," and such situations reflect the American scene. "The Worst Degree of Unforgiveable" seems gimmicky at first, but soon becomes hypnotic. "Amazing Grace" starts out telling us that a young married man was blinded in a tragic accident. Ten years later he miraculously regains his sight, and that's when his troubles begin. How could you not want to finish this one! I fell in love with Candace in "Candace Counts Coup," even through she is an overweight, grubby, eccentric unpaid artist who, in my real life, I probably wouldn't invite into my home, but she has a wonderful heart and a steady moral compass. If you're feeling down, Candace will lift your spirits.
There were a few pieces that I didn't finish or even begin to understand, I guess those in in know would call them "minimalist or "experimental" fiction.
In any case, there is a lot to like here, a lot of new worlds to visit, a lot to think about. I recommend any volume in this series for it's originality, variety and depth.
Books:
- The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh
- The Carousel
- The Complete Anne of Green Gables Boxed Set (Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne's House of Dreams, ... Rainbow Valley, Rilla of Ingleside)
- The Complete Stories
- The Complete Stories of Robert Louis Stevenson: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Nineteen Other Tales (Modern Library Classics)
- The Complete Works (Everyman's Library)
- The Crucible (Penguin Classics)
- The Damned and the Beautiful: American Youth in the 1920s (Galaxy Books)
- The Decameron (Signet Classics)
- The Great Gatsby
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World
- Mammoths on the Move
- Inventing Retirement: The Development of Occupational Pensions in Britain
- Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade--and How We Can Fight It
- Jimi Hendrix - Experience Hendrix
- Ready-to-Use English Workshop Activities for Grades 6-12: 180 Daily Lessons Integrating Literature,
- Michigan Trees: A Guide to the Trees of Michigan and the Great Lakes Region
- Tourism in the Least Developed Countries
- Information Technology: Strategic Decision-Making for Managers
- LePatner's Quotes on the Business of Life
The Best American Short Stories 2004 (The Best American Series)
The Best American Short Stories 2002 (The Best American Series)
The Best American Short Stories 2001 (The Best American Series)
The Best American Short Stories 2000 (The Best American Series)
The Best American Short Stories 2005 (The Best American Series)
