Despite increasing competition, this annual collection remains the place to find the most compelling short fiction published in the U.S. and Canada” (PUBLISHERS WEEKLY). To usher in the new millennium, THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 2000 brims with a rich variety of lyrical and wise stories about our country’s past, present, and future. This year’s editor, the best-selling author E. L. Doctorow, has chosen new works by Raymond Carver, Amy Bloom, Ha Jin, Walter Mosley, and Jhumpa Lahiri, among others.

The most popular compendium of its kind, THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES is the only volume that offers the finest short fiction each year, chosen by a distinguished author.

'\"Expect to be entertained, provoked, astonished.\"'

To usher in the new millennium, this anthology brims with a rich variety of lyrical and wise stories about our country's past, present, and future. This year, bestselling author E.L. Doctorow has chosen new works by Raymond Carver, Amy Bloom, Ha Jin, Walter Mosley, and Jhumpa Lahiri, among others.

'Contents

Foreword ix

Introduction by E. L. Doctorow xiii

Geoffrey Becker. Black Elvis 1

from Ploughshares

Amy Bloom. The Story 12

from Story

Michael Byers. The Beautiful Days 23

from Ploughshares

Ron Carlson. The Ordinary Son 49

from Oxford American

Raymond Carver. Call If You Need Me 67

from Granta

Kiana Davenport. Bones of the Inner Ear 78

from Story

Junot Díaz. Nilda 89

from The New Yorker

Nathan Englander. The Gilgul of Park Avenue 98

from The Atlantic Monthly

Percival Everett. The Fix 121

from New York Stories

Tim Gautreaux. Good for the Soul 135

from Story

Allan Gurganus. He\'s at the Office 151

from The New Yorker

Aleksandar Hemon. Blind Jozef Pronek 166

from The New Yorker

Kathleen Hill. The Anointed 182

from DoubleTake

Ha Jin. The Bridegroom 208

from Harper\'s Magazine

Marilyn Krysl. The Thing Around Them 228

from Notre Dame Review

Jhumpa Lahiri. The Third and Final Continent 248

from The New Yorker

Walter Mosley. Pet Fly 266

from The New Yorker

ZZ Packer. Brownies 280

from Harper\'s Magazine

Edith Pearlman. Allog 301

from Ascent

Aannie Proulx. People in Hell Just Want a Drink of Water 316

from GQ

Frances Sherwood. Basil the Dog 332

from The Atlantic Monthly

Contributors\' Notes 349

100 Other Distinguished Stories of 1999 361

Editorial Addresses of American and Canadian Magazines Publishing

Short Stories 365\n

'