The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories

“In twenty-nine separate but ingenious ways, these stories seek permanent residence within a reader. They strive to become an emotional or intellectual cargo that might accompany us wherever, or however, we go....If we are made by what we read, if language truly builds people into what they are, how they think, the depth with which they feel, then these stories are, to me, premium material for that construction project. You could build a civilization with them.” —Ben Marcus, from the Introduction

Award-winning author of Notable American Women Ben Marcus brings us this engaging and comprehensive collection of short stories that explore the stylistic variety of the medium in America today.

Sea Oak by George Saunders
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower
Do Not Disturb by A.M. Homes
The Girl in the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender
The Caretaker by Anthony Doerr
The Old Dictionary by Lydia Davis
The Father’s Blessing by Mary Caponegro
The Life and Work of Alphonse Kauders by Aleksandar Hemon
People Shouldn’t Have to be the Ones to Tell You by Gary Lutz
Histories of the Undead by Kate Braverman
When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine by Jhumpa Lahiri
Down the Road by Stephen Dixon
X Number of Possibilities by Joanna Scott
Tiny, Smiling Daddy by Mary Gaitskill
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace
The Sound Gun by Matthew Derby
Short Talks by Anne Carson
Field Events by Rick Bass
Scarliotti and the Sinkhole by Padgett Powell

"Different readers will likely prefer some selections to others, but all will have to agree that Marcus has collected a respectable sampling of some of today's finest writers." Booklist

"The Anchor Book of New American Fiction, edited by Ben Marcus. Intelligent, entertaining, and wide-ranging, this anthology is a primer on the contemporary short story and should be required reading for anyone interested in the form." Tin House magazine

"What makes a short story worth reading? This is the question at the heart of the 29 stories Ben Marcus has collected in The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories. And it's the question that the writers themselves are trying to answer, in 29 different ways. But this isn't just a textbook for creative writing workshoppers; it is also a collection of entertaining, moving and sometimes shocking fiction, and as such, deserves to be read by everyone." Priya Jain, Salon.com (read the entire Salon.com review)

Edited by the award-winning author of Notable American Women, this engaging and comprehensive collection contains 29 short stories that show the stylistic variety of the medium in America today. Contributors include Jhumpa Lahiri, David Foster Wallace, Rick Bass, and Anne Carson.

Ben Marcus is the author of Notable American Women and The Age of Wire and String. His work has appeared in Grand Street, Harper’s, McSweeney’s, Conjunctions, and elsewhere. The recipient of two Pushcart Prizes, a Whiting Fellowship, and a National Endowment for the Arts grant, he is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Columbia University and lives in New York City.