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el_dobbs's review
3.0
It is hard to rate an anthology. Some of these stories are BOMB. Others are forgettable. Short fiction is hard.
timetoread_more2022's review against another edition
5.0
This is a stellar collection! Some of these stories will stay with me for a long time to come.
veronnie10's review
4.0
Lots of great stories in this collection. My first BASS which I picked up because Roxane is everything.
krys_kilz's review against another edition
4.5
There are some fantastic stories in this collection. My favorites were: What Got Into Us by Jacob Gujardo and Unearth by Alicia Elliot.
ellenrhudy's review
5.0
For me, such a huge step up from last year’s collection. Ray did a stunning job as editor. As usual there are a few stories that I didn’t love, but on the whole there’s such an exciting diversity of voices and stories in the collection. I usually list my favorites, but in this case that’s at least half the collection.
wenda's review
5.0
Yes, this collection is exactly as diverse as you'd expect with Roxanne Gay making the selection. But not just because they represent the mind boggling variety of individuals out there (and I'm sure this is in fact more reflective of the actual variety of voices out there). These are simply all magnificent short stories, not the usual 50/50 like-too-dislike ratio in short story collections in my experience. There was only one where I thought, 'meh'. I've inhabited so many versions of American lives in this book, it was a splendid ride!
meowpompom's review
3.0
The guards think: The smaller the box, the more we can control them. But everyone else knows: The smaller the box, the more out of control people become.
melias6's review against another edition
3.5
This series continues to delight, even in years when the collection on the whole is middling. Guest editor Roxanne Gay wrote about selecting stories that "better reflect the world beyond gilded existences," and while characters from all walks of life grace each of these tales, they're often the only remarkable thing about them. As a gay man, I appreciated Jacob Guajardo's story of queer first love "What Got Into Us," but resonated more with Kristen Iskandrian's "Good with Boys," one of the very few stories I've read that captures pre-teen attraction with such precision. A similar specificity elevated some of the more political entries, like Cristina Henriquez's dread-infused immigration story "Everything Is Far From Here," and Esme Weijun Wang's "What Terrible Thing It Was," an anxious and persuasive account of how present-day anxieties (in this case, Election Night 2016) can trigger long-dormant traumas. Ann Glaviano's "Come On, Silver" stands out as one of the few genuinely funny stories (and also horrifying; apparently, "wife camps" are a thing), while Yoon Choi's "The Art of Losing" is a mini-nesting doll of marital secrets and lies, one of the few formally noteworthy entries in 2018.
The always reliable Danielle Evans and Curtis Sittenfeld return with thorny, terrific entries "Boys Go to Jupiter" and "The Prairie Wife," respectfully, but the far and away standout for me was "A Big True," Dina Nayeri's empathic father/daughter story that packs unease, excitement, and wonder into a more hopeful tale of immigration. (That this story came from a bet Nayeri had with her mother is a warm coda revealed in the Contributor's Notes.) More hits than misses overall, but these are the only three I’m likely to revisit.
The always reliable Danielle Evans and Curtis Sittenfeld return with thorny, terrific entries "Boys Go to Jupiter" and "The Prairie Wife," respectfully, but the far and away standout for me was "A Big True," Dina Nayeri's empathic father/daughter story that packs unease, excitement, and wonder into a more hopeful tale of immigration. (That this story came from a bet Nayeri had with her mother is a warm coda revealed in the Contributor's Notes.) More hits than misses overall, but these are the only three I’m likely to revisit.
mklong's review
4.0
I knew that Roxane Gay would be great as the editor of this year’s Best American Short Stories, and she didn’t let me down. The stories here represent voices from diverse backgrounds but maintain a common theme of family dynamics and generational and cultural expectations. My favorites were “Good With Boys” and “A Big Truth.”