Preface.
Introduction.
1. Sherman Alexie, “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”.
2. Dorothy Allison, “River of Names”.
3. Donald Barthelme, “The School”.
4. Charles Baxter, “Snow”.
5. Ann Beattie, “Snow”.
6. T.C. Boyle, “Greasy Lake”.
7. Ron Carlson, “Milk”.
8. Raymond Carver, “Cathedral”.
9. Sandra Cisneros, “The House on Mango Street”.
10. Lydia Davis, “Story”.
11. Junot Díaz, “Fiesta, 1980”.
12. Stuart Dybek, “We Didn’t”.
13. Louise Erdrich, “Saint Marie”.
14. Percival Everett, “The Fix”.
15. Mary Gaitskill, “Tiny, Smiling Daddy”.
16. Aleksandar Hemon, “A Coin”.
17. Gish Jen, “Who’s Irish?”.
18. Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl”.
19. David Leavitt, “Gravity”.
20. Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”.
21. Jhumpa Lahiri, “Interpreter of Maladies”.
22. David Wong Louie, “Cold-Hearted”.
23. Reginald McKnight, “The Kind of Light that Shines on Texas”.
24. Rick Moody, “Boys”.
25. Lorrie Moore, “How to Talk to Your Mother (Notes)”.
26. Tim O’Brien, “The Things They Carried”.
27. Cynthia Ozick, “The Shawl”.
28. Z.Z. Packer, “Every Tongue Shall Confess”.
29. Annie Proulx, “Job History”.
30. June Spence, “Missing Women”.
Appendix I: A Brief History of the Short Story.
Appendix II: Writing Prompts.