Reviews

The Best American Short Stories 2010 by Richard Russo, Heidi Pitlor

ktoumajian's review against another edition

5.0

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection; my favorite stories were the ones with particularly interesting, strong voices such as the endearing and hilarious circus clown narrator of "My Last Attempt to Explain to You What Happened with the Lion Tamer" and the precocious eleven year old narrator if "All Boy". Overall a sometimes fun, sometimes haunting read:)

sharanyasarathy's review against another edition

5.0

I don't have a lot of experience with short stories, but I would say the majority of these ones are gems. They were so enthralling, well-written, and I could barely put the book down. I'm so glad I bought this book on a whim, and maybe I will try reading more short stories in the future! My favorites were:

Safari by Jennifer Egan
Delicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff
The Laugh by Tea Obreht
The Netherlands Lives with Water by Jim Shepard
Raw Water by Wells Tower

christar_123's review against another edition

4.0

Some of the stories were better than others (and the first was probably my least favorite, so the book took awhile to get into) but overall it was really enjoyable. It's great reading really quality short stories because they give me so many different ideas to think about. And the collection featured a variety of authors with very different writing styles, some of whom I was familiar with and others completely new.

Certain ideas and themes came up a few times: climate change, family issues, drugs/addictions, relationships; but each was presented in such a unique way that it didn't feel repetitive.

clarkness's review against another edition

5.0

I thought this was a really, really great edition of Best American Short Stories. I think the highest hit-to-miss ratio of any collection I've read recently. Of special note were the following:
- The Cousins: the older I get, the more time I spend thinking about frayed connections. We're always actively growing more distant from our past and leaving friends and relatives behind. I thought this story was a nice reminder of that fact and how hard it is to get back in touch.
- Delicate Edible Birds: Loved the shifting perspectives in a WWII story that was gripping and beautifully written. Still on my mind weeks later.
- Further Interpretations of Real Life: I read this story several years ago in its original publication in McSweeney's. I liked it even more on second read. The ending was a perfectly played note that just hung in the air for minutes after, resonating.
- The Ascent: a heartening and sickening escape into imagination.
- The Netherlands Lives With Water: A story so good that I still think about it often even years after the first time I read it. One of my all-time favorite short stories.
- The Cowboy Tango: wonderfully drawn characters in an absolute mess. It was a joy to watch them dig themselves in deeper.

summervl's review against another edition

4.0

Most stories were excellent, but two stood out above the rest. Lauren Groff's "Delicate, Edible Birds" and Tea Olbrecht's haunting "The Laugh" were outstanding, stories I won't soon forget.

escapegrace's review against another edition

3.0

It appears that Richard Russo and I have similar taste in short stories. While I didn't love every story, there wasn't one whose inclusion I questioned. And then there were stories I loved, especially Brendan Mathews's "My Last Attempt to Explain to You What Happened with the Lion Tamer." I can't explain why - uncanny images, emotional turns of phrase, pacing - but I haven't been so creatively turned on by a story in a while.

junkutopia's review against another edition

4.0

I'd been wanting to jump on these collections since I realised they existed about 6 months ago now, but with not knowing where to start, and some quiet mixed reviews of previous years on here, I decided to wait for the 2010 edition, and Mr. Russo hasn't disappointed with this cracking collection. I'm not really one for review writing so I won't go into details about each story, but out of the twenty here, only two could I class anywhere near not having enjoyed all that much, which is a much better attrition rate than any previous collections I've read. Essential to anyone who loves the art of the short story.

While being very hard to narrow down, here are the stories that really stood out for me (Originally to be be a top five, but I just enjoyed far too many.)

Someone Ought To Tell Her There's Nowhere To Go - Danielle Evans
The Valetudinarian - Joshua Ferris
Least Resistance - Wayne Harrison
Painted Ocean, Painted Ship - Rebecca Makkai
Further Interpretations Of Real-Life Events - Kevin Moffett
The Ascent - Ron Rash
The Seagull Army Descends On Strong Beach - Karen Russell
The Cowboy Tango - Maggie Shipstead
Raw Water - Wells Tower

jankjickjunk's review against another edition

2.0

This is the first collection of Best American Short Stories that I have read, and I was pretty disappointed. I really enjoyed some of the stories, specifically "The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach" by Karen Russell and "The Cowboy Tango" by Maggie Shipstead. Some of the stories in this collection do have heart, but the majority lack originality, vision, and even authenticity. Maybe it's a problem with the editor of this edition, but it does not make me feel very optimistic about the state of American writing if this was the best they could come up with.

willys's review against another edition

3.0

It's hard to rate the anthology as a whole for obvious reasons, but my favorite stories (roughly in order) were:
-"The Cowboy Tango" by Maggie Shipstead
-"The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach" by Karen Russell
-"The Netherlands Lives with Water" by Jim Shepard
-"The Valetudinarian" by Joshua Ferris

dreesreads's review against another edition

3.0

None of these were bad or boring (OK I actively did not like one), but my favorites were by:
Rebecca Makkai, Ron Rash, Karen Russell, Jim Shepard, and Wells Tower