Reviews

The Best American Short Stories 2009 by Heidi Pitlor, Alice Sebold

davidabrams's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

Another solid entry into the annual series celebrating the best short fiction published in the past year. Standout selections in the 2009 edition include those by Joseph Epstein ("Beyond the Pale"), Greg Hrbek ("Sagittarius"), Yiyun Li ("A Man Like Him"), Kevin MOffett ("One Dog Year"), and Ron Rash ("Into the Gorge"). These stories took me places.

ris_stitches's review

3.0

There were many stories that I really loved, and make me want to go find other things by those writers; and then there are some duds. There's something for everyone though, and overall I enjoyed it more than not. Sagittarius (Greg Hrbek), Them Old Cowboy Songs (Annie Proulx), The Briefcase (Rebecca Makkai), The Anniversary Trip (Victoria Lancelotta), and Ostracon (Alex Rose) were among my favorites.

Now I'm thinking back and remembering that I liked a lot more of the stories than I am giving credit for...

balletbookworm's review

5.0

All the short stories collected in this volume are phenomenal. Not a clunker in the batch. Some, like Rebecca Makkai's "The Briefcase", Richard Powers's "Modulation", and Alex Rose's "Ostracon", are breathtaking.

Now I just have to decide which "Best American" volume to read next!

lindsayharmon's review

3.0

3.5. As usual, some amazing stories and some so-so.

cosmiccloudbird's review

adventurous emotional reflective medium-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

3.25

lyndseyreader's review

3.0

This was perfect end-of-the-year reading. I could read a story, set down my book, and not worry about keeping up with plot or characters until the next time I picked it up again.

My favorite stories from this collection are Beyond the Pale by Joseph Epstein and The Briefcase by Rebecca Makkai.

thebookgeek's review

4.0

We read the majority of the stories in this book for my graduate Theories and Methods of Literary Studies class. I greatly enjoyed all of them, and I'm not sure I could pick a favorite. Fantastic. It gives me hope for the future of literature.

yurwity's review

4.0

Alice Sebold likes her stories depressing as hell, lemme tell you. But, I think these stories have been called "the best" for a reason. I don't know if they really are the best thing ever written--certainly, stories from a fairly narrow secton of the literary world are considered--but they're definitely enjoyable.

mattisnotscary's review

3.0

Some of these stories, such as "Hurricanes Anonymous" and "The Shadow Table," will stick with me for a long time. Some I have already forgotten.

melanie_reads's review

2.0

Underwhelming. The only thing I'll remember about this collection is that it appears writers are starting to use varied perspectives even in short stories. There's one about music that I enjoyed, but otherwise, forgettable.