Reviews

The Best American Short Stories 2007 by Heidi Pitlor, Stephen King

the_dave_harmon's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

this is the 5th Best American Short Stories installment that i've read, and until now they've all been disappointing. i was starting to wonder if i just didnt like Heidi Pitlor's choices; and when i saw that for the 2007 edition Stephen King had also spent the entire year reading stories instead of just choosing from her suggestions i became hopeful. and i was not disappointed at all. which is somewhat surprising considering that i'm not really a fan of King's books these days. these stories are all excellent. i thought these were especially excellent:
My brother Eli
where will you go when your skin cannot contain you?
findings & impressions
the bris
St. Lucy's home for girls raised by wolves

spiderfly's review

3.0

I enjoyed a lot of the stories. Several were really good, but nothing blew me away.

rossjenc's review

3.0

With the exception of two stories that I couldn't really get through I really enjoyed this book. A few of the stories I really loved and will stay with me a long time. Short stories might be small in size but their intensity requires a lot of your time. I like that.

caoimhin42's review

3.0

Meh

crissytrap's review

5.0

There were a couple of stories I really enjoyed. Others I just could have done without.

escapegrace's review

4.0

I don't always see eye to eye with Stephen King, but I can say one thing: we definitely have the same taste in short stories. I think this is one of the strongest BASS collections in years.

library_brandy's review

5.0

Stephen King is not the kind of guy who will do anything half-assed, and his selections for this year's BASS collection are no exceptions. Unlike most editors, he didn't just go through the pile the series editor forwarded him--he bought and read nearly every short-story periodical that exists, and read far and wide from them. As a result, the anthology he put together includes an impressive variety of stories, from the French revolution to futuristic military plague-carriers to a road trip through a snowstorm toward a funeral. What the stories have in common, though, is the heart--each story has a voice and a point, an emotional impact that's been lacking in much of my other recent reading.

Each story is also marked by King's aversion to brevity, but there were only one or two I felt were running long. This is an improvement over some recent years' BASS collections.

jeanetterenee's review

3.0

I've never read one of these yearly anthologies before. I picked this up because Stephen King chose the ones for this year. I wanted to see what kind of stories he included.

I really liked:

Riding the Doghouse
Solid Wood
Wait
L. DeBard and Aliette


I really disliked:

Pa's Darling
Toga Party
Sans Farine


All the others I liked to varying degrees. Can't help but wonder what made them decide these were the "best," but taste is inexplicable.

mikeblyth's review

4.0

Almost all the stories have death or loss as themes; I don't know if that's a reflection of the state of the art in 2007 or the taste of the editor. Interesting reading, anyway. My favorite was "Horseman" by Richard Russo; reading the story collection might have been worth it just to introduce me to his writing, we'll see.

miajmu's review

3.0

My attention span has been very short lately so I thought I'd try out some short stories. A few were excellent, a few were pretty good, and a few kinda sucked, but overall, I enjoyed it.