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The Best American Short Stories of the Century Expanded Edition

by John Updike (Editor),
Katrina Kenison (Co-editor)
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Katrina Kenison (Co-editor)
3.8 out of 5 stars 82 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0395843673
ISBN-10: 0395843677
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Product Details

  • Series: Best American
  • Paperback: 864 pages
  • Publisher: Mariner Books; Expanded edition (April 20, 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0395843677
  • ISBN-13: 978-0395843673
  • Product Dimensions: 6 x 2.1 x 9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsMany happy hours of reading
By Lisa Schweitzer on January 23, 2000
Format: Hardcover
One of the things I have always liked about Updike is that he is willing to undertake something like this--even though it will inevitably make him vulnerable to criticisms like the ones raised in other reviews here. I can see why some omissions rankle: but, but BUT! Look at what's here! Almost all of the stories are nothing short of brilliant. Yes, "The Lottery" was probably amongst the best of the century, but it is anthologized everywhere in the universe: many of these are not. Many are not-so-well-known works by the best writers the 20th century had. I could quibble about many of the selections. For instance, I wouldn't have chose "Greenleaf" to represent one my favorites, Flannery O'Connor, or "The Killers" to represent Ernest Hemingway. But they're still great stories, worth including and worth reading.
The best I think are those from the early part of the century, but that's probably my own bias talking. I'm not a fan of many of the representatives chosen for the latter half of the century, and the selection for 1999--yuck! But I'm willing to trust Updike's judgment over my own for a little while, and if he thinks Annie Proulx is worth reading...ok: It's worth a few pages of my time to find out.
The anthology also does a good job of tracing in fiction the transformations of American culture: the first are immigrant stories, the next are primarily rural-based farming stories (A Jury of Her Peers--great story), and then the last are urban, ex-urban, and suburban stories.
Read and enjoy.
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4.0 out of 5 starsFull of pleasant surprises
By A Customer on July 13, 1999
Format: Hardcover
When I bought this book, I first checked to see if my favorite contemporary authors were represented: the impossibly great Alice Munro, Thom Jones, Lorrie Moore ... and they indeed are in there. I'm intrigued by Updike's choices for those authors, because they weren't the choices I would have made. I enjoyed thinking about why he made those choices; I wish I could join Updike for lunch and debate him. What I most enjoy about this collection is the surprises. I had always thought Hemingway was overrated, but his tale here, "The Killers," is a hair-raising gem. And I had never heard of J.F. Powers, who has a wonderful shaggy-dog story in this collection that made me laugh out loud. You can see that Joyce Carol Oates was writing about the same subject matter in 1962 that she writes about now, but the telling is fresh in her 37-year-old story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?". Yes, I quibble with the exclusion of Shirley Jackson and J.D. Salinger, but not too much. "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" and "The Lottery" would have been predictable and boring selections (actually, I like "Seymour: An Introduction" better). This is not a boring collection.
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5.0 out of 5 starsGreat Stories
By R.B. Jones on July 4, 2000
Format: Paperback
I believe that most writers or short story readers will agree that these are not the "best" stories of the 20th century. Such a collection would include better known masterpieces like Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," and Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find." Instead, this a collection of brilliant, but lesser known stories by accomplished writers.
I think Updike makes it clear that his goal was to assemble great stories from all decades, but not necessarily the best stories. I believe there was a pointed effort made, in assembling these stories, not to include the well-known American standards that most college educated people have read. The New York Times sums up the result : "Finding wonderful stories that you don't already know is one of this collection's greatest pleasures . . Updike has made some surprising, even striking selections."
Most of Updike's surprising selections are very enjoyable. My only disappointment was the 1999 story by Pam Houston. There are too many great writers these days to include this contemporary mediocrity. What about Rick Bass, Charles Baxter, Mark Richard? Just my opinion.
Overall, I recommend this book without reservation.
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5.0 out of 5 starsA Review
By Stacey Cochran on July 3, 2002
Format: Paperback
I used to go to the library and read the old annual Best American Short Story collections. There was something almost religious about picking up a copy from 1927 and reading a story by a then unknown kid named Ernest Hemingway in that old type-face, or the Faulkner stories in just about every annual volume during the 1930s. The bios of these writers at the back of the old copies when they were unknown writers was so innocent and naive. Modern critical theory has influenced my perception of so many of these writers, and that is shame.

The stories collected in this Best American Short Stories of the Century are taken from the the annual volumes. There are stories representing each decade from the teens to the 90s. There are classics, and there are surprises. My favorite is Ann Beattie's "Janus." It is subtle and masterfully written.

I've owned this book for two years, and I read it from time-to-time. Some stories I've read four or five times. Some I haven't read at all. And it's a book that it's okay to do that with, I think. The Fitzgerald story "Crazy Sunday" was something of a nice surprise, and indeed, that kind of surprise seems at the heart of what Updike and Kenison were aiming to realize. How to make a Best of the 20th Century anotholgy exciting, you know? Considering they could only take stories from the annual Best of American Short Story anothologies, they did that well, I think. Martha Gellhorn's "Miami--New York" was insightful. The John Cheever, Raymond Carver, and Joyce Carol Oates stories are great classics. I enjoyed Donald Barthelme's "A City of Churches" and Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" -- stories ranging from the humorous, to the heartrending.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsUpdike's fine choices of short stories

Updike's short story choices are excellent. Though the book is thick and so not greatly portable, it contains so many gems. Read more

Published 10 days ago by MARILYN G. DERIGHT
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

great

Published 4 months ago by ollientn
5.0 out of 5 starsSomething for Every Reader

This book is an outstanding collection of the best authors of the 20th Century. If you love to read, you'll love these stories.

Published 6 months ago by wittiwriter
5.0 out of 5 starsAwesome quality too

Needed this novel for college. The stories were actually very interesting and also very relatable to me and the other stories within the novel. Awesome quality too.

Published 6 months ago by Brittany Brown
4.0 out of 5 starsA truly beautiful collection of stories.

A truly beautiful collection of stories. A must read for American short story fans. What I enjoyed most was having some familiar stories in one place, but even better, having... Read more

Published 7 months ago by MomReaderShopperNJ
5.0 out of 5 starsA solid collection of American short stories, most of ...

A solid collection of American short stories, most of whom were previously unknown to me. Well worth the price of admission.

Published 8 months ago by Jim F. Baughman
5.0 out of 5 starsA real treat for readers!

Not a single 'bad' story in the lot! Some stories seemed 'better' than others, but all were GREAT reading. Read more

Published 11 months ago by Dr. John T. Webb
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

In great shape.

Published 14 months ago by pat holder
5.0 out of 5 starsMet Expectations

Was happy to have been able to buy the book for way cheaper. I also noticed, and I don't know why, but the book was a lot less dense/thicker than my classmates'. Read more

Published 17 months ago by Kaylee
5.0 out of 5 starsBest American Short Stories of the Century - Updike, Ed.

Book arrived May 13 (promised by May 29) -
Used - Acceptable a good description - really a little better than that -
I belong to a Short Story Club (think "Book... Read more

Published 17 months ago by Amazon Customer

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