Synopses & Reviews
Review
"A sterling collection that should both entertain and serve as an introduction to some formidable new talents." Publishers Weekly, Starred
Synopsis
Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, a series editor reads pieces from hundreds of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to the twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field. This unique system has helped make the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind.
In his introduction to this year's collection, James Ellroy explores the differences between the novel and the short story. Included here are experts at both forms. Featuring renowned novelists like Stuart Kaminsky, Michael Connelly, Joe Gores, and Robert B. Parker, as well as veterans of this series like Brendan DuBois, Michael Downs, Joyce Carol Oates, and Clark Howard, this edition will delight readers with its wide variety and peerless quality.
About the Author
OTTO PENZLER is a renowned mystery editor, publisher, columnist, and owner of New York's The Mysterious Bookshop, the oldest and largest bookstores solely dedicated to mystery fiction. He has edited more than fifty crime-fiction anthologies.
James Ellroy was born in Los Angeles in 1948. His L.A. Quartet novels—The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz—were international bestsellers. His most recent book is Bloods a Rover.
Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword • ix
Introduction by James Ellroy • xiii
John Biguenet
It Is Raining in Bejucal • 1
Michael Connelly
Two-Bagger • 24
Thomas H. Cook
The Fix • 41
Sean Doolittle
Summa Mathematica • 54
Michael Downs
Man Kills Wife, Two Dogs • 75
Brendan Dubois
A Family Game • 87
David Edgerley Gates
The Blue Mirror • 109
Joe Gores
Inscrutable • 146
James Grady
The Championship of Nowhere • 159
Clark Howard
The Cobalt Blues • 197
Stuart M. Kaminsky
Sometimes Something Goes Wrong • 222
Joe R. Lansdale
The Mule Rustlers • 237
Michael Malone
Maniac Loose • 255
Fred Melton
Counting • 272
Annette Meyers
You Don't Know Me • 288
Joyce Carol Oates
The High School Sweetheart • 304
Robert B. Parker
Harlem Nocturne • 321
F. X. Toole
Midnight Emissions • 328
Daniel Waterman
A Lepidopterist's Tale • 361
Scott Wolven
The Copper Kings • 379
Contributors' Notes • 391
Other Distinguished Mystery Stories of 2001 • 403