A review by davidabrams
The Best American Short Stories 2008 by Heidi Pitlor, Salman Rushdie

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!