aschembra76's review
I can't even rate this. I didn't even get passed the introductions by the editors -- what's-her-name and Salman Rushdie. I'm trying this new thing where if I'm not liking a book... I'll stop reading it. Otherwise, it takes me FOREVER to finish a book I don't even want to read in the first place. Maybe I'll pick it up again sometime and skip the terrible introductions and get to the stories because they might be pretty good.
escapegrace's review
4.0
Salman Rushdie edited last year's collection and it seems he's fond of shorter, action-driven stories. Kevin Brockmeier's story "The Year of Silence" was quite nice as well as Rebecca Makkai's "The Worst You Ever Feel" and Danielle Evans's "Virgins." I'm always amazed how many heavy hitters - Munro, Lethem, Millhauser, Saunders, Homes, Woolf - rise to the top despite their anonymity.
library_brandy's review
5.0
One of the best collections they've had, if not my absolute favorite of the series.
kathleenitpdx's review
4.0
A wonderful collection of short stories. It has been a long time since I have read a collection and I am reminded of the joys and frustrations of short stories.
My favorite may be Buying Lenin by Miroslav Penkov--humor and family love perfectly expressed.
Be sure to check out the story of the stories in the Contributors' Notes.
My favorite may be Buying Lenin by Miroslav Penkov--humor and family love perfectly expressed.
Be sure to check out the story of the stories in the Contributors' Notes.
bibliocyclist's review
3.0
And the name Verna--I dislike that. It doesn't sound like spring to me, or like green grass or garlands of flowers or girls in flimsy dresses. It sounds more like a trail of obstinate peppermint, green slime.
jamiereadthis's review
3.0
4.5 stars. Usually anthologies are a bit all over the place, but this one just kept building and building. I have a feeling if I had 100 stories, these would have been the twenty most memorable.
I picked it up for Nicole Krauss, “From the Desk of Daniel Varsky,” and Karen Russell, “Vampires in the Lemon Grove,” but would be hard pressed to even name a favorite now, they were all that good.
(I might have even been tempted to give it five stars, had I not just started reading Fitzgerald again. Damn you Fitzgerald and the way you make me lose faith in all other writing.)
I picked it up for Nicole Krauss, “From the Desk of Daniel Varsky,” and Karen Russell, “Vampires in the Lemon Grove,” but would be hard pressed to even name a favorite now, they were all that good.
(I might have even been tempted to give it five stars, had I not just started reading Fitzgerald again. Damn you Fitzgerald and the way you make me lose faith in all other writing.)
disreputabledog's review
2.0
The Best American Short Stories of 2008 is about on par with the previous year's collection, which is to say that none of the stories in here are bad, but there are few that I would actually consider "great." Salmon Rushdie, the editor for this one, has chosen stories with a wider range of tone than Stephen King did in 2007, so I give Rushdie props for that, but overall I was still disappointed with how uninspiring most of these stories were.
The stand outs:
Rebecca Makkai, "The Worst You Ever Feel"
Alice Munro, "Child's Play"
Miroslav Penkov, "Buying Lenin"
Karen Russell, "Vampires in the Lemon Grove"
There are also a couple in here that I thought had the potential to be very good, but were not fully realized; these include Kevin Brockmeier's "The Year of Silence" and Katie Chase's "Man and Wife."
The stand outs:
Rebecca Makkai, "The Worst You Ever Feel"
Alice Munro, "Child's Play"
Miroslav Penkov, "Buying Lenin"
Karen Russell, "Vampires in the Lemon Grove"
There are also a couple in here that I thought had the potential to be very good, but were not fully realized; these include Kevin Brockmeier's "The Year of Silence" and Katie Chase's "Man and Wife."