Customer Reviews

The Granta Book of the American Short Story

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

 

 

A collection that clearly defines America's lasting contribution to the form. Richard Ford carefully canvasses the past fifty or so years of great, and often overlooked, writers. Missing, but not missed, are the staple short story writers like Hemingway, Faulkner, and Fitzgerald. But, the brilliance of this collection is that it traces the trajectory of what these pillars of the form initiated. From Baldwin's jazzy, layered "Sonny's Blues" to the raw and devestating "What They Carried" by Tim O'Brien this is a must have for writers and lovers of great writing.

The short stories are wonderfully written, and, because they are from the last fifty years, no archaic words or phrases get in the way of good story-telling. As most of these stories aren't included in the "typical" anthology (though many of the authors are), the reading experience is like spring rain, encouraging a fresh joy in the written word. The price is excellent, really inexpensive for an anthology.