Customer Reviews

The Best American Short Stories 2006 (The Best American Series)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was so excited about the 2005 BASS that I ordered this one as well. But as other reviewers have noted, most of the stories in this 2006 edition tend to center around death, which I found a little bit depressing. I highly recommend 2005 however, which had many diverse and attention-grabbing stories.

I have been reading the Best American Short Stories anthologies since the 1999 edition, and reviewing them here since 2003, and I do think that this year's edition is my favorite. Perhaps this indicates that the short story form is gaining momentum, which would be a welcome development in world of literature. But more likely it is due to the work of guest editor Ann Patchett who, unlike some other guest editors in the Best American series, has held her personal biases at bay and chosen deserving stories that should appeal to a wide audience, rather than just people like herself.

As always, different people will have different favorite stories, but here are mine:

--"Once the Shore", by Paul Yoon: a haunting story about a woman's quest to understand her imperfect marriage and husband, and the connection she forms with a stranger on the other side of the world, who has his own heartbreak to deal with.

--"Refresh, Refresh", by Benjamin Percy: a somewhat exaggerated yet still realistic portrayal of a small rural community dealing with the impact of military reservist troop activations, and (more importantly) the challenges of people escaping the fate to which they have been born.

--"Self-Reliance", by Edith Perlman: a dreamlike account of a life's final journey.

--"Grandmother's Nose", by Robert Coover: a very creative spin on an oft-told fable, which adds new modern day understandings while also illuminating the core messages of the original version.

Each of these selections demonstrates the short story at its best: powerful ideas and emotions are concentrated and conveyed in a small number of pages through carefully crafted sentences. Each story stands on its own and is by itself a work of art. Were they to be stretched to novel length, they would become diluted and lose their impact. A good short story is so much more than just one chapter of a novel. The short story form is well worth reading and enjoying, and the 2006 Best American Short Story anthology is a great way for new short story readers and old to experience the medium.

I can't even remember how many years I've been reading this series. And Patchett, while I've not read much of her work, she is well respected, so I figure it'll be a good collection. But of the 20 stories collected here, 15 of them are really bad. In fact, I'd say only five are worth the paper they are printed on (but I would never even think of including them here): Tartt, Percy, Munroe, Moffett, and the best story of the collection (if you could call it that) by Englander. Bad job Ms. Patchett.

Shocking, because the intros by Ann Patchett and Katrina Kenison were amazing. Patchett's, a fresh and striking essay on the beauty of the short story form, could be published nearly on its own. So I was quite jazzed to get into these stories that made Ms. Patchett so giddy with excitement. And sadly, I was horribly disappointed. I simply could not believe that these were the "Best of 2006"--particularly since I happen to read a good number of literary journals and read plenty of short stories in 2006.

The majority were generally well-written (although not extraordinarily so), but just because you write well does not mean that you're a good storyteller or that every story you write will actually be worth telling (harsh! I know!). I got madder as my plane trip progressed--I truly felt like I was wasting my time. Most of these stories did not enlighten, move, emote, or any of the things Katrina & Ann promised they'd done for them. Instead, they amazingly varied from pointless to nihilistic to truly boring. They struck me as the type of well-written bad story that an editor who's seen nothing but badly-written stuff will tell herself, "I'm supposed to like this because some other editor did. Right? Right."

Very, very wrong.

I guess I'm a throwback to the days when short stories were really stories: Hemingway, Anderson, Poe, London, even Stephen King. They had plots that moved, characters you loved or hated--page turners! Now, most SS seem to be emotional trips through someone's looking glass, vague attempts to reach into the reader's psyche for a response that we (I) have to work to deliver.
But it's probably me. I am well aware that some of these stories were originally published in The New Yorker, Ploughshares and The Paris Review, but most do not satisfy (me).
Modern short stories may be the height of literary excellence in 10,000 words; If these are "The Best American Short Stories," I think I'll go back to novels, where you can quite often find a work of fiction that is both elevating and hard to put down.

For any short story writer to discover what works and what doesn't, they need to read what the best of the best are doing and discover for themselves. They need to discover how tone affects dialog affects scene affects the reader, and make their own decisions about what they themselves will experiment with.

I love every story I have read in this book, and while it is daunting to read stories at the end of their crafting with no knowledge of what it took to get them there, it is encouraging to then write a passage of your own story and see the influences of Tobias Wolfe or Paul Yoon.

A good buy for any who love short stories, and those that want to learn to write their own.

Needed this for a literature course. Had great stories in it. Great condition. Great book!

An uneven collection, with many kid, or coming of age stories. The stories vary in how polished they are, some seem like early drafts. There are a couple of good stories, Mary Gaitskill's Today I'm Yours comes to mind. The collection reads like the result of a committee selection process, nothing too interesting or different has been included. I'd recommend another collection, such as Best of Tin House.

At first, I did not know what to expect with this compilation. Once I started into it, I found it very entertaining and diverse. Great for those 30 minutes that you want to read something but not a long novel. I've already purchased the 2007 compilation and am enjoying it.

I confess to giving up on this year's collection after reading about half of the stories, because, in fact, there wasn't a gripping tale in the bunch. Those I did read lacked dramatic tension, interesting characters and a distinctive author's voice. If these bloodless exercises are what high school and college students are introduced to as the "best," it is no surprise so many conclude that reading as a chore and not a pleasure.