Ben Marcus

A rich array of twenty-nine short stories that capture the stylistic diversity of American short fiction features contributions by Rick Bass, David Foster Wallace, Jhumpa Lahiri, Mary Gaitskill, Anthony Doerr, Kate Braverman, A. M. Homes, Sam Lipsyte, Anne Carson, and other notable authors. Original. 30,000 first printing.

The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories

Will Vunderink

A who's who of a certain strain of contemporary fiction, and wildly uneven.

Marcus' taste tends toward shock value, which is not terribly interesting as a literary endeavor ("You Drive," "The Paperhanger," "Gentleman's Agreement," "Two Brothers").

Stories by some marquee names—George Saunders, Anthony Doerr, Rick Bass, Aleksandar Hemon—feel pretty stale 20 years after this collection's publication. A few feel fresh and vital: "Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned," "Someone To Talk To," "Where I Work," and especially Caponegro's singular "The Father's Blessing."

The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories

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