The Best American Short Stories

Something that stands out to me about this edition, certainly this was no accident, is how each of the stories draws a picture of an American landscape. Notable in their attention to setting are "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" (Seattle from the point of view of a homeless man), "Grace" (anomie in New York City), "A Rich Man" (poverty in Washington, D.C.), "Limestone Diner" (small town Missouri), "Gallatin Canyon" and "What Kind of Furniture Would Jesus Pick?" (the New West), "Docent" (a DAR who gives tours at Washington and Lee University) and "All Saints Day" (evangelical eastern Kentucky). Not all of the stories take place in the USA, however. "Runaway" is set in rural Canada, and "The Tutor" describes the inner life of two young people in India living in a sort of self-imposed diaspora, one dreaming about his years at Harvard, the other of a hardly-remembered childhood in San Francisco.

I never start at the beginning of a short story anthology because I don't want to submit to somebody else's idea of what is "first" among the "best". No, I like to begin on my own terms. This year my strategy was two-fold. First I would skip past anything that had been published in The New Yorker. From there I would try and identify something roughish and experimental. I chose "Docent" strictly because it had been published in The Missouri Review. Oh, did someone open a window? Now I remember what great writing is. I could not put the volume down and long before I finished reading R.T. Smith's brilliantly refreshing story, I knew I had already received my moneys worth. When I had recovered my breath, I challenged Lorrie Moore in no small way. I mean to say I began at the beginning of the volume with Sherman Alexie's "What You Pawn I Will Redeem". (Published in The New Yorker - crow is good with ketchup.) After the first page I realized I should have started this anthology from the beginning. "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" is a devastatingly wonderful story. And had I read it first I STILL would have had "Docent" to look forward to. I skimmed the table on contents - Annie Proulx and John Updike? What are these two lumbering giants doing in here? (I am a student of both authors.) Updike is probably in here because he's old and they're just doing him a favor. WRONG! "The Walk with Elizanne" is not only one of the finest Updike stories I've ever read; it is one of the best STORIES I have ever read! Let none of us question the Master's work. Updike hits one way out of the ballpark with this story. Thank you Sir. As of yet I have not read much more but the news about this volume had to be told. If it only contained these three stories (and who knows what other gems sleep within?) it would have been well worth the asking price. Buy it, read it, put it in the pile you would save if your house were on fire.

Lorrie Moore, renowned short story writer whose Birds of America is one of her best collections has edited and chosen twenty American short stories. The stories, as she confesses herself, tend to be longish, 20-30 pages for the most part. In the back of the book the writers give their accounting of the stories, explaining how the stories were set into motion and even touch on some important themes. Eight of the twenty stories, almost half, were chosen from The New Yorker. Its dominance as a source of "best" stories is somewhat disconcerting. Can one magazine really be that good? I don't know. I admire Lorrie Moore so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. In any event, the anthology's contents follow: 1. What You Pawn I Will Redeem by Sherman Alexie 2. Tooth and Claw by T. Coraghessan Boyle 3. Written in Stone by Catherine Brady 4. Accomplice by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum 5. Screen writer by Charles D'Ambrosio 6. Breasts by Stuart Dybek 7. Some Other, Better Otto by Deborah Eisenberg 8. Grace by Paula Fox 9. The Tutor by Nell Freudenberger 10. A Rich Man by Edward P. Jones 11. Limestone Diner by Trudy Lewis 12. Intervention by Jill McCorkle 13. Gallatin Canyon by Thomas McGuane 14. Runaway by Alice Munro 15. All Saints Day by Angela Pneuman 16. What Kind of Furniture Would Jesus Pick? by Annie Proulx 17. Docent by R.T. Smith 18. The Walk with Elizanne by John Updike 19. Mirror Studies by Mary Yukari Waters 20. What We Cannot Speak About We Must Pass Over by John Edgar Wideman Highlight of the collection for me is "Runaway" by Alice Munro. It is a well developed profile of a bullying husband and his effete, sympathetic, girlish wife and the story is haunting in the way it renders a dysfunctional couple and the wife's decision to choose a familiar hell over the fear of the unknown. Her imprisonment is all too common and explores universal themes of the way people acclimate themselves to a quiet, seething domestic inferno. In many ways Munro's story reminds me of a John Cheever classic, "Just Tell Me Who It Was."

Only a few of the stories here evoke tears, laughter or breath-holding, but still worth the price. Several previous reviewers were critical because 9 stories were from THE NEW YORKER. (The same thing happened in 1992.) Cream rises to the top. Enough said!I found great variations in locales, time periods, voice, texture, as well as responses of the characters to their circumstances. In her introduction, editor Miller fashions loose categories: the immigrant experience, deals gone awry, dog stories, etc. I could just as easily name groups such as: illicit love, children's voices, academia, morality, etc. So, it is all so very personal! Thank goodness!Miller praised Richard Ford's "Puppy" due to its "meandering" style, which is exactly what turned me off. If an author wants to ask (and not answer) giant philosophical questions, he should write a novel or maybe an essay. But the Short Story depends on and is driven by an economy of words, and this piece was a failure in that respect. Alice Munro's "Family Furnishings" was easy to read, engrossing and it glided along without a single bump. It was a satisfying and complex, but not ponderous, a richly woven tapestry of family conflict, snobbery, secrets, growth, shifting alliances and revelations. Munro clearly respects her readers by not being too obvious and not withholding too much."Heifer" begins in Finland, telling us of Aina, a teen girl with a fantasized love for Uwe, who sails to Canada to establish a farm. The incredibly strong-willed Aina later follows but only finds misery and a dolt of a husband. She takes her fate into her own hands. Cool stuff!At first I was disappointed in "Digging" for it's seeming lack of character development, but then I came to realize that character development can be done ancesterorally as well as in the traditionsl way. Excellent writing and technique.To me, most stories written from a child's perspective fail because the voice of origin seems so phony. Not so in "Red Ant House," where the child's voice is as clear and true as a ringing bell. But untruth and the usual phoniness prevailed in "Billy Goats." Too bad."Watermelon Days" tells us of Doreen, a Philadelphia flapper who winds up in South Dakota where she meets an insipid radio announcer. With nothing more on the horizon Doreen marries him and has a child, Edna. We learn that Doreen has neither talent nor desire for motherhood and seems almost sociopathic in her selfishness, irresponsibility and disdain for her husband. (She reminded me of Mildred in OF HUMAN BONDAGE - a user, a taker.) Perhaps Doreen's behavior originates in her disordered and deceitful childhood (and maybe that's the point). If you like nihilistic and depressing stories, this one is for you!Those are the highlights (in my opinion). Happy reading!

The Best American Short Stories series, edited in recent years by Katrina Kenison, remains the best source of diverse contemporary short fiction. Traditionally, the series editor selects 120 pieces from a wide range of commercial and literary publications, then passes them on to the guest editor, always a well-known writer. The guest editor - in this case Sue Miller - then selects what she believes are the best twenty. Although the guest editor is free to select stories he/she has discovered over the year and which aren't part of the package, few do. This year, the winners were filtered first through the subjective lens of Katrina Kenison, and then through that of Sue Miller. Readers should be aware that these aren't truly the "best" stories of the year, but only those judged so by two people. If you are like me, you WILL come across one or two of these stories that seem unworthy of inclusion; however, the rest will delight you.Sue Miller wonders in her introduction if her personal imprint will be evident in her selections. She thinks not. However, there are several stories about animals, particularly cows and puppies, and about women unhappy or unsure in their new marriages. Most stories are traditionally told, rich in detail, with straightforward language. Stories from The New Yorker are well represented (eight out of the twenty), but Melissa Hardy's "The Heifer", originally published in Descant, is as engaging as those eight. Famous writers - Edwidge Danticat, Alice Munro, E. L. Doctorow - mingle with the lesser known talents of Mary Yukari Waters, Meg Mullins, and Karl Iagnemma. This is part of what makes this series so enjoyable, that new voices can stand proudly next to the masters'.Especially when paired with the more experimental Pushcart Prize anthology, this book gives a good report on the trends of contemporary fiction. Look for forthcoming novels from some of the younger writers, as this series often brings them to the attention of book editors and agents.I highly recommend The Best American Short Stories 2002 for anyone who enjoys reading short fiction. From Michael Chabon's "Along Frontage Road" to Richard Ford's "Puppy" to Mary Yukari Waters's "Aftermath", this book delivers, if not the promise of the title, then its spirit.