'"While a single short story may have a difficult time raising enough noise on its own to be heard over the din of civilization, short stories in bulk can have the effect of swarming bees, blocking out sound and sun and becoming the only thing you can think about," writes Ann Patchett in her introduction to The Best American Short Stories 2006.

This vibrant, varied sampler of the American literary scene revels in life's little absurdities, captures timely personal and cultural challenges, and ultimately shares subtle insight and compassion. In "The View from Castle Rock," the short story master Alice Munro imagines a fictional account of her Scottish ancestors' emigration to Canada in 1818. Nathan Englander's cast of young characters in "How We Avenged the Blums" confronts a bully dubbed "The Anti-Semite" to both comic and tragic ends. In "Refresh, Refresh," Benjamin Percy gives a forceful, heart-wrenching look at a young man's choices when his father — along with most of the men in his small town — is deployed to Iraq. Yiyun Li's "After a Life" reveals secrets, hidden shame, and cultural change in modern China. And in "Tatooizm," Kevin Moffett weaves a story full of humor and humanity about a young couple's relationship that has run its course.

Ann Patchett "brought unprecedented enthusiasm and judiciousness [to The Best American Short Stories 2006]," writes Katrina Kenison in her foreword, "and she is, surely, every story writer's ideal reader, eager to love, slow to fault, exquisitely attentive to the text and all that lies beneath it."'

'The set, boxed in a lavish silver metallic, features The Best

American Travel Writing 2006, edited by Tim Cahill; The Best American

Spiritual Writing 2006, introduced by Peter J. Gomes; and, like the first

set, The Best American Short Stories 2006, edited by Ann Patchett.'

'The set, boxed in a rich gold metallic, includes The Best American

Mystery Stories 2006, edited by Scott Turow; The Best American Sports

Writing 2006, edited by Michael Lewis; and The Best American Short Stories

2006, edited by Ann Patchett.'

'Ann Patchett is the author of the novels Taft, The Magician\'s Assistant,The Patron Saint of Liars, and Bel Canto, as well as the memoir Truth andBeauty: A Friendship. Bel Canto is a 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award winner and aNational Book Critics Circle Award finalist.Katrina Kenison has been the series editor of The Best American Short Stories since 1990. She currently resides in Massachusetts.'

'Foreword ix

Introduction by Ann Patchett xv

Paul Yoon. Once the Shore 1

from One Story

Tobias Wolff. Awaiting Orders 20

from The New Yorker

Donna Tartt. The Ambush 30

from Tin House

Maxine Swann. Secret 43

from Ploughshares

Mark Slouka. Dominion 60

from TriQuarterly

Patrick Ryan. So Much for Artemis 70

from One Story

Benjamin Percy. Refresh, Refresh 91

from The Paris Review

Edith Pearlman. Self-Reliance 105

from Lake Effect

Alice Munro. The View from Castle Rock 112

from The New Yorker

Kevin Moffett. Tattooizm 143

from Tin House

Thomas McGuane. Cowboy 163

from The New Yorker

Jack Livings. The Dog 173

from The Paris Review

Yiyun Li. After a Life 191

from Zoetrope

Aleksandar Hemon. The Conductor 204

from The New Yorker

Mary Gaitskill. Today I'm Yours 221

from Zoetrope

Nathan Englander. How We Avenged the Blums 237

from The Atlantic Monthly

Robert Coover. Grandmother's Nose 252

from Daedalus

David Bezmozgis. A New Gravestone for an Old Grave 259

from Zoetrope

Katherine Bell. The Casual Car Pool 291

from Ploughshares

Ann Beattie with Harry Mathews. Mr. Nobody at All 310

from McSweeney's

Contributors' Notes 359

100 Other Distinguished Stories of 2005 370

Editorial Addresses of American and Canadian Magazines

Publishing Short Stories 374\n

'