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lizal33's review
I have a little collection of these annual anthologies--going all the way back to 1995! But sometime in the mid-2000s I fell behind in reading them, so now I'm trying to get caught up. Although I do always find at least one or two stories in each year's volume that stick with me through time, it's actually not that common that I find a volume that is extraordinary in its entirety. But I think this volume is one such; I pretty literally couldn't put it down, and each story only made me want to read the next one even more. Plus, since these stories were all first published as stories in 2007-2008, by 2013, many of them have been republished in collections by the authors, and have gotten rave reviews (Karen Russel, George Saunders, etc.). So it was a pleasant surprise to find them here as well.
davidabrams's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Story after story, this entry in the annual series excels. My favorites? Where do I begin? The top cream of the crop: The Year of Silence by Kevin Brockmeier, Man and Wife by Katie Chase, Closely Held by Allegra Goodman, The King of Sentences by Jonathan Lethem, The Worst You Ever Feel by Rebecca Makkai, The Wizard of West Orange (perhaps my favorite of them), Nawabdin Electrician by Daniyal Mueenuddin, Child's Play by Alice Munro, Quality of Life by Christine Sneed, and Missionaries by Bradford Tice. And for those four of five stories I didn't mention: I love you, too!
vorpalblad's review
4.0
Back to form. Standouts included "The Year of Silence," "Puppy" and "From the Desk of Daniel Varsky." Boyle is consistently good and I enjoy his short fiction more than his novel.
This year the forewords grabbed me with the interesting thoughts about what is "American" anymore. There are authors who have come from somewhere else to become American, or at least spend most of their time here. There are Americans now living other places. Are they still American? Just interesting.
This year the forewords grabbed me with the interesting thoughts about what is "American" anymore. There are authors who have come from somewhere else to become American, or at least spend most of their time here. There are Americans now living other places. Are they still American? Just interesting.
tani's review
3.0
I'm not generally a huge fan of short stories, and that held true for this collection as well. I won't say that they were bad stories, but too many of them were either depressing or slice of life, neither of which I really enjoy. It'd be really nice to read more short stories with characters who make the right choice, do the right thing, and change for the better. Reading about people screwing up their lives just makes me discontent.
Favorite stories:
1) "Buying Lenin" by Miroslav Lenkov
2) "The Worst You Every Feel" by Rebecca Makkai
3) "Man and Wife" by Katie Chase
The only one I sincerely disliked was "The Wizard of West Orange" by Steven Millhauser, partially for stylistic reasons, and partially because I just found the story boring.
The rest were mostly of the ok but unremarkable variety, with a few in the good but not my cup of tea category.
Favorite stories:
1) "Buying Lenin" by Miroslav Lenkov
2) "The Worst You Every Feel" by Rebecca Makkai
3) "Man and Wife" by Katie Chase
The only one I sincerely disliked was "The Wizard of West Orange" by Steven Millhauser, partially for stylistic reasons, and partially because I just found the story boring.
The rest were mostly of the ok but unremarkable variety, with a few in the good but not my cup of tea category.
bekahbea86's review
3.0
I like short stories now. But in this book there is a stroy about mormon missinaries and it's really weird becasue the author did not do any reserch at all. I think he just made up a really weird story and just used mormon missionaries becasue people think they're weird. Well, I really want to find this guy and ask him what he was thinking.
lynnenad's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was an enjoyable mix of varied short stories, all from the USA.
Every story was interesting and engaging, although none of them were amazing enough to include in my top ten stories
The modern style of leaving the ending unresolved does get a little wearing when every author uses it.
Every story was interesting and engaging, although none of them were amazing enough to include in my top ten stories
The modern style of leaving the ending unresolved does get a little wearing when every author uses it.
cosmiccloudbird's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
escapegrace's review
4.0
Salman Rushdie edited last year's collection and it seems he's fond of shorter, action-driven stories. Kevin Brockmeier's story "The Year of Silence" was quite nice as well as Rebecca Makkai's "The Worst You Ever Feel" and Danielle Evans's "Virgins." I'm always amazed how many heavy hitters - Munro, Lethem, Millhauser, Saunders, Homes, Woolf - rise to the top despite their anonymity.