Customer Reviews

The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction: Fifty North American American Stories Since 1970

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(1)
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I didn't want this book to end; the stories were so enjoyable. Some were so intense I had to reread them immediately. I would love to take a writing course to try emulating them or using them as inspiration. One complaint: like many of these anthologies the editors don't give a hint of what to expect. Stories are ordered alphabetically by author's last name, but curiously each leads to the next. This volume is much better than ones that try to pick the best story (or stories) of the year and more enlightening than single author collections.

I was introduced to this anthology in a writing course. While compulsory reading is seldom as enjoyable as elective reading, I found myself returning to this collection of short stories long after the course ended. Stuart Dybek's "Pet Milk", a warm and rich introspection on the transition from childhood to adulthood, got me hooked and I soon read every story in this collection. Anyone who enjoys good writing but struggles to find time to read, or who appreciates finely crafted short fiction will enjoy these short but interesting stories. Highly recommended.

This is a wonderful selection of contemporary short fiction featuring a variety of authors and points of view and a great diversity of subject matter. Stories deal with such varied topics as homosexuality, the Holocaust, Native American mysticism and small time crooks. Women writers are well represented. This collection features some very different choices, including a ghost story from Joyce Carol Oates.
This collection will prove an invaluable resource for budding writers and literature majors alike. This would also be a great primer for someone unfamiliar with the most contemporary short fiction.

It's difficult to review a book with fifthy authors and their short stories. But I can tell you this: I read a lot of anthologies and usualy only a few stories are really good. In this Scribner Anthology however every single story is outstanding and to me that's extraordinary. Let me give you the list of the authors and their stories:
Alexie, Sherman:
This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona.
Atwood, Margaret: Death by Landscape
Bambara, Toni Cade: Raymond's Run.
Banks, Russell: Sarah Cole:A Type of Love Story.
Barth, John: Click.
Barthelme, Donald: The School
Bass, Rick: Wild Horses
Bausch, Richard: The Man Who Knew Belle Starr.
Baxter, Charles: Gryphon.
Bell, Madison Smartt: Customs of the Country.
Bloom, Amy: Silver Water.
Braverman, Kate: Tall Tales from the Mekong Delta
Butler, Robert Olen: A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
Canin, Ethan: The Year of Getting to Know Us.
Carver, Raymond: Errand.
Cisneros, Sandra: Woman Hollering Creek
Cunningham, Michael: White Angel.
Diaz, Junot: Fiesta 1980.
Dybek, Stuart: Pet Milk.
Earley,Tony: The Prophet from Jupiter
Erdrich, Louise: Saint Marie.
Ford, Richard: Rock Springs.
Gates, David: The Mail Lady.
Gautreaux, Tim: Same Place, Same Things.
Hansen, Ron: Nebraska.
Hempel, Amy: In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried.
Johnson, Denis: Emergency.
Jones, Edward P.: Marie.
Jones, Thom: Cold Snap
Kaplan, David Michael: Doe Season.
Kauffman, Janet: Patriotic.
Kincaid, Jamaica: Girl.
Leavitt, David: Territory.
McKnight, Reginald: The Kind of Light That Shines on Texas.
Moore, Lorrie: You're Ugly, Too.
Mukherjee, Bharati: The Management of Grief
Munro, Alice: Meneseteung.
Oates, Joyce Carol: Ghost Girls
O'Brien, Tim: The Things They Carried.
Ozick, Cynthia: The Shawl.
Proulx, Annie: Brokeback Mountain
Richard, Mark: Strays.
Smith, Lee: Intensive Care.
Sontag, Susan: The Way We Live Now
Tan Amy: Two Kinds.
Thon, Melanie Rae: First, Body.
Vaughn, Stephanie: Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog.
Walker, Alice: Nineteen Fifty-Five.
Wideman, John Edgar: Fever.
Williams, Joy: Taking Care.

This is a nearly perfect and much welcome anthology. It is good to see such long neglected writers such as Denis Johnson, Lorrie Moore, Mark Richard and David Gates recognized, however, one could have hoped some of the more commercial writers such as Ethan Canin and Amy Bloom could have been left out in favor of George Saunders and Deborah Eisenberg. Despite a few stumbles, this is surely the best collection of contemporary fiction you're likely to find anywhere.

I buy a lot of short story collections, single author and anthology collections, looking for quality. Finding those rare jewels was hard but seemed worth the trouble, until now. You don't have to search so diligently any more. Every story in this anthology is Quality. I had to read them one at a time so as to savor each one. Not all are new 'favorites' of mine, but I can't deny each story is worth 5 stars. And many of these stories now are favorites of mine. I am now waiting for a new similar collection to be gathered together and published. Nobody else, apparently, is as qualified as these college professors at picking short stories. Please do it again.

I was asked to read this book for a course on teaching creative writing. This is the book for teachers who believe students can learn to write quality literature by reading quality literature. Moreover, for teachers who read closely, each story can teach a lesson. Once these techniques have been discussed and discovered, students/writers can try them for themselves. The students are "learning to dissect without murdering."

Even if you're not teaching, though, this is an amazing collection of stories. And it's a bargain!

For years I have been buying _Best American Short Stories_ and have oftened wondered how some of the stories have earned their spots in the book. Finally, I bought this _Scribner's_ collection and have a collection that is worth reading. Althought I don't like every story in the book, I'm finding that about two-thirds of them are truly excellent. Someday when I teach creative writing again, I will use this collection as a textbook. The real benefit that this book provides is the opportunity to read some of the best stories of recent years by some of the best-known writers of our time. It's a cream-of-the-crop experience. P.S. I bought it for five bucks from the bargain shelf at Borders.

I have much enjoyed reading this 50 stories. Most of them are just superbly written.
Some deal with interesting issues and others just employ a novel writing style. Some do both at the same time in a couple of pages.
Even if you do not like one or two stories, you are more than rewarded by others.
And then, this collection is a good introduction to several great contemporary American writers that otherwise one would not be aware of their existence.
A pleasure to read and a recommended one.

The stories here are terrific and stay with you after each is read. Bravo!