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sloatsj's review
4.0
Very nice collection. My favorite was Richard Ford's "Puppy," followed by a clamoring of runners-up like "The Rug," "Along the Frontage Road," "Nachman from Los Angeles," etc etc.
I didn't like Sue Miller's introduction at all, which begins "I was forced to write short stories by the exigencies of my life at a certain moment." Oh well, that's the worst writing in the book. Otherwise, worth the time.
I didn't like Sue Miller's introduction at all, which begins "I was forced to write short stories by the exigencies of my life at a certain moment." Oh well, that's the worst writing in the book. Otherwise, worth the time.
lauren_cohen's review
12/25/09
Read:
Lahiri: Nobody's Business
Chabon: Along the Frontgate Road
Sharma: Surrounded by Sleep
Read:
Lahiri: Nobody's Business
Chabon: Along the Frontgate Road
Sharma: Surrounded by Sleep
seebrandyread's review
3.0
In this edition The Best American Short Stories from 2002, Sue Miller says that America must have been going through a realism revival. There is no magic or surrealism in this collection. Nearly every story is mired in the day-to-day and the ordinary.
The collection also seems full of nostalgia. Many of the stories take place decades, even centuries before they were written. There are quite a few tales of childhood, coming of age, and defining moments. But the question, as always with this series, is does this say more about the literary moment or about the author who chooses the stories?
As flawed as the whole picking process might be, the final collection still tells us something, but whatever that something is, I think it's as ripe for interpretation as the stories themselves.
My 3-star review is less about the quality of the work (which is always going to be high in this series) and more about personal taste. I also think it could've been more inclusive and diverse.
The collection also seems full of nostalgia. Many of the stories take place decades, even centuries before they were written. There are quite a few tales of childhood, coming of age, and defining moments. But the question, as always with this series, is does this say more about the literary moment or about the author who chooses the stories?
As flawed as the whole picking process might be, the final collection still tells us something, but whatever that something is, I think it's as ripe for interpretation as the stories themselves.
My 3-star review is less about the quality of the work (which is always going to be high in this series) and more about personal taste. I also think it could've been more inclusive and diverse.
pattydsf's review
4.0
Because I listened to this on talking book I only read 8 of the 20 stories. If these stories are any indication of the other 12, I really want to read them. Unfortunately we no longer have the print version at my library.
I love short stories. I can fit one in while I wait; sometimes I can hear the whole story as I drive to my next destination. I know that not eveyone finds short stories appealing, but I try hard to convince folks to try them.
These were especially good. The readers were excellent and the story topics intriguing. I highly recommend you give these a listen.
I love short stories. I can fit one in while I wait; sometimes I can hear the whole story as I drive to my next destination. I know that not eveyone finds short stories appealing, but I try hard to convince folks to try them.
These were especially good. The readers were excellent and the story topics intriguing. I highly recommend you give these a listen.
anndouglas's review
5.0
I always enjoy the volumes in the "Best American Short Stories" anthologies. This particular volume contained a hidden gem. A short story ("Family Furnishings") by Alice Munro (my all-time favorite short-story writer) wraps up with the main character sitting in a drugstore and musings about the writer she will become.
"I did not think of the story that I would write about Alfrida -- not of that in particular -- but of the work I wanted to do, which seemed more like grabbing something out of the air than like constructing stories. The cries of the crowd [from the ballgame on the radio] came to me like big heartbeats, full of sorrows. Lovely, formal-sounding waves, with their distant, almost inhuman assent and lamentations. This was what I wanted, this was what I thought I had to pay attention to, this was how I wanted my life to be."
The ending caught my attention when I read the story. How could any reflections about writing not? But when I read the endnote in the anthology about Munro, those lines took on an even greater significance. She had told the anthology's editors, Sue Miller and Katrina Kenison, that the story featured "an entirely personal final bit in the drugstore." Knowing that the character's musings about what it means to be a writer drew upon something in Munro's own life made those words all the more powerful.
I thought I'd flag that autobiographical note for you, in case you have the opportunity to read the stories in this collection which, by the way, I highly recommend.
"I did not think of the story that I would write about Alfrida -- not of that in particular -- but of the work I wanted to do, which seemed more like grabbing something out of the air than like constructing stories. The cries of the crowd [from the ballgame on the radio] came to me like big heartbeats, full of sorrows. Lovely, formal-sounding waves, with their distant, almost inhuman assent and lamentations. This was what I wanted, this was what I thought I had to pay attention to, this was how I wanted my life to be."
The ending caught my attention when I read the story. How could any reflections about writing not? But when I read the endnote in the anthology about Munro, those lines took on an even greater significance. She had told the anthology's editors, Sue Miller and Katrina Kenison, that the story featured "an entirely personal final bit in the drugstore." Knowing that the character's musings about what it means to be a writer drew upon something in Munro's own life made those words all the more powerful.
I thought I'd flag that autobiographical note for you, in case you have the opportunity to read the stories in this collection which, by the way, I highly recommend.
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