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whatandreawrote's review
5.0
I skipped one ("Phantoms") but the rest of these stories were SUCH BANGERS that I am giving the collection a very coveted five-star rating.
For YEARS, I have avoided short stories. I think high school English bash-you-over-the-head style readings took a lot of joy out of them for me. But I have been reading a lot of books on writing which recommend the reading, writing, and study of short stories. So I got this one from the library.
I cried three times:
1 - Claire Keegan's "Foster" (after the end, staring out a window)
2 - Richard Powers' "To the Measures Fall" (after the end, in a dark room)
3 - Mark Slouka's "The Hare's Mask" (a couple of paragraphs deep, into a pillow)
Highly recommended.
For YEARS, I have avoided short stories. I think high school English bash-you-over-the-head style readings took a lot of joy out of them for me. But I have been reading a lot of books on writing which recommend the reading, writing, and study of short stories. So I got this one from the library.
I cried three times:
1 - Claire Keegan's "Foster" (after the end, staring out a window)
2 - Richard Powers' "To the Measures Fall" (after the end, in a dark room)
3 - Mark Slouka's "The Hare's Mask" (a couple of paragraphs deep, into a pillow)
Highly recommended.
lindsayhotrod's review
4.0
Hit and miss, but mostly hit. I'd read the Jennifer Egan story as part of A Visit from the Goon Squad before, so I surprised at how poignant it still was. Recommended.
an_enthusiastic_reader's review
There were some gems in this collection that stand out, and they are all "new to me" authors I will seek out in full collections.
A Bridge Underwater by Tom Bissell
The Sleep by Caitlin Horrocks
Soldier of Fortune by Bret Anthony Johnston
Phantoms by Steven Millhauser
Dog Bites by Ricardo Nuila
A Bridge Underwater by Tom Bissell
The Sleep by Caitlin Horrocks
Soldier of Fortune by Bret Anthony Johnston
Phantoms by Steven Millhauser
Dog Bites by Ricardo Nuila
mandareads1690's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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? It's complicated
3.75
bookishcassie's review
5.0
http://booksandbowelmovements.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/the-best-american-short-stories-2011/
lindagreen's review
2.0
As with most collections, the stories will be hit or miss depending on the type of reading you like. I did not, unfortunately, notice the editor of this collection until after accepting this book for review. I am not a fan of Brooks’ writing and the chosen stories certainly follow the same style. I was able to find very few that even remotely appealed to me within the collection and usually I’m able to find a gem in the midst, so to speak. Each story does have its own merits and will appeal to many different types of readers and I’m certain most readers will be able to find a story within the collection that appeals to them. I think this collections’ tone just wasn’t for me. Good as an addition to a larger library’s collection but perhaps not enough wide audience appeal for smaller libraries like my own.
ARC Galley Proof
ARC Galley Proof
innatejames's review against another edition
3.0
I went back and reread Allegra Goodman's La Vita Nuova three times. I just couldn't shake the story of a former teacher getting over a break-up. The style of it really worked for me. The way she phrased the ex's words, the frank descriptions of her emotional state, the crying boy in her arms at the end. It all sucker-punched me.
Saunders' sci-fi tale of chemical lust was creative and unique. Just a fun, disturbing read.
Steven Millhauser's story of a town who sees dead people had interesting implications in the narrator's life. I loved the detail that when he left the town and didn't see the phantoms he missed them.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "Ceiling" made me want to pick up her novel, Americanah.
Claire Keegan's "Foster" of an Irish girl being given to a grieving couple for the summer was gorgeous.
Those were the stand out stories to me. Rebecca Makkai, Jennifer Egan, Elizabeth McCracken and Richard Powers are favorites of mine and I enjoyed reading their short stories. I was not a fan of Call of Blood or Soldier of Fortune, though they were both written very well.
I've learned that reading short stories is all about voice. Authors don't have a lot of time to get their voice across to the reader in a short story, so if you don't care for the voice at first you probably won't like it a few pages later when it ends. So I'm not surprised looking at other reviews of this collection that people's stand-outs vary greatly. Also, this is the Best Of and yet, I really didn't care for a few of them. So someone's opinion of a short story is subjective, more so than for a novel.
Saunders' sci-fi tale of chemical lust was creative and unique. Just a fun, disturbing read.
Steven Millhauser's story of a town who sees dead people had interesting implications in the narrator's life. I loved the detail that when he left the town and didn't see the phantoms he missed them.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "Ceiling" made me want to pick up her novel, Americanah.
Claire Keegan's "Foster" of an Irish girl being given to a grieving couple for the summer was gorgeous.
Those were the stand out stories to me. Rebecca Makkai, Jennifer Egan, Elizabeth McCracken and Richard Powers are favorites of mine and I enjoyed reading their short stories. I was not a fan of Call of Blood or Soldier of Fortune, though they were both written very well.
I've learned that reading short stories is all about voice. Authors don't have a lot of time to get their voice across to the reader in a short story, so if you don't care for the voice at first you probably won't like it a few pages later when it ends. So I'm not surprised looking at other reviews of this collection that people's stand-outs vary greatly. Also, this is the Best Of and yet, I really didn't care for a few of them. So someone's opinion of a short story is subjective, more so than for a novel.
karencarlson's review against another edition
4.0
Detailed comments (with possible spoilers) at A Just Recompense, including an introduction, a summary, and individual posts for each story.
kst718's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the book of Geraldine Brooks's that she wrote but apparently we have different taste in short fiction. At least it was easy enough to skip through a lot of these.
kawai's review against another edition
3.0
The problem with short story collections, especially collections encompassing a wide range of authors, is the uneven nature inherent in the result. The latest Best American Short Stories is no different: there are stories that play with point of view, stories that work off a confusion of chronology, and stories set in countries most readers have never visited. Guest editor Brooks argues in her foreword that stories are best when they push the readers this way, but is she necessarily right?
The answer, clearly, is not always. Some of the stories, such as Adichie's, seemed to rest almost entirely on their setting--as if all that's required to make an interesting story is to take Western readers to a city they might never have seen (Lagos); the result is a boring, tedious read. There's a story that plays so thoroughly with stream-of-consciousness that this reader was lost multiple times and almost gave up.
But then, there are several gems. "The Sleep", by Caitlin Horrocks; "Housewifely Arts", by Megan Mayhew Bergman; "The Dungeon Master", by Sam Lipsyte; "Soldier of Fortune", by Bret Anthony Johnston; and many more.
In the end, I enjoyed far more of the stories in the collection than I loathed. And for the few that I've mentioned above, took away something that will probably pull me back to this collection, later on. 3.5 stars if I could give it.
The answer, clearly, is not always. Some of the stories, such as Adichie's, seemed to rest almost entirely on their setting--as if all that's required to make an interesting story is to take Western readers to a city they might never have seen (Lagos); the result is a boring, tedious read. There's a story that plays so thoroughly with stream-of-consciousness that this reader was lost multiple times and almost gave up.
But then, there are several gems. "The Sleep", by Caitlin Horrocks; "Housewifely Arts", by Megan Mayhew Bergman; "The Dungeon Master", by Sam Lipsyte; "Soldier of Fortune", by Bret Anthony Johnston; and many more.
In the end, I enjoyed far more of the stories in the collection than I loathed. And for the few that I've mentioned above, took away something that will probably pull me back to this collection, later on. 3.5 stars if I could give it.
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