The Best American Short Stories 2017

Meg Wolitzer, Heidi Pitlor — 2017

Best-selling author Meg Wolitzer guest edits the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction. "If you know exactly what you are going to get from the experience of reading a story, you probably wouldn't go looking for it; you need, in order to be an open reader of fiction, to be willing. To cast a vote for what you love and then wait for the outcome," writes Meg Wolitzer in her introduction.The Best American Short Stories 2017 casts a vote for and celebrates all that is our country. Here you'll find a man with a boyfriend and a girlfriend, naval officers trapped on a submarine, a contestant onAmerica's Funniest Home Videos,and a gay man desperate to be a father--unforgettable characters waiting for an outcome, burning with stories to tell. The Best American Short Stories 2017includes T. C. BOYLE * JAI CHAKRABARTI * EMMA CLINE * DANIELLE EVANS * LAUREN GROFF * ERIC PUCHNER * JIM SHEPARD * CURTIS SITTENFELD * JESS WALTER and others

Reviews

Chiyeung lau@chiyeung

Aug 29, 2022

A very strong collection of short stories that I thoroughly enjoyed. There were many stories that left me with a lasting impression -- I couldn't stop thinking about them for days. My favorite in this year's collection: Are we not men? - T.C Boyle Campoamor - Patricia Engel Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain - Danielle Evans The Midnight Zone - Lauren Groff The Chicane - Amy Hempel Gabe Dove - Sonya Larson Let's Go to the Video Tape - Fiona Mazel Famous Actor - Jess Walter

Daryl Houston@dllh

Sep 30, 2021

I'm a sucker for this series of anthologies, and I've read more by a number of authors I first learned about in the short story series. This one got off to a slow start for me. I very much liked the opening story by T.C. Boyle ("Are We Not Men?"), though I've been sort of meh about a lot of his stuff. Then I didn't much love anything in the collection until "Ugly" by Mary Gordon, which I liked a lot. Apparently authors in the last half of the alphabet really did the trick for me in 2016, as I dog-eared these stories after that early drought: - "Ancient Rome" by Kyle McCarthy - "Last Day on Earth" by Erick Puchner - "Novostroika" by Maria Reva - "Gender Studies" by Curtis Sittenfeld - "Famous Actor" by Jess Walter None of these made me think "I must go out right away and acquire all of this author's work" but I found these worthwhile or fun. Others in the collection ranged from "pretty good" to "meh" to "well 25 minutes sure did go by while I read that."

Sara Sunshine@sarasunsh

Jan 30, 2024