A review by alisarae
The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story by John Freeman

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

So many great stories in this anthology! Here were my favorites:

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K Le Guin - TFW you realize your comfort comes at the exploitation of others
The Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich - A guy's brother has PTSD
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien - War is always personal. 
The Hermit's Story by Rick Bass - Just a really beautiful meditation on nature and hope
A Temporary Matter by Jhumpa Lahiri - Gut. Punched. 
The Penthouse by Andrew Holleran - How NYC, and gay subculture, has gentrified
The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu - Heart. Broken. (2nd time reading this)
The Dune by Stephen King - Look, Stephen King really does write better sober. 
The Great Silence by Ted Chiang - Chiang is one of the few geniuses of our time.