Synopses & Reviews
Featuring stories selected from thousands published in literary magazines, The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2009 is studded with great writers such as Junot Diaz, Nadine Gordimer, Ha Jin, and Paul Theroux, as well as new voices. The winning stories feature locales as diverse as post-war Vietnam, a retirement community in Cape Town, South Africa, an Egyptian desert village, and a permanently darkened New York City; the dizzying range of characters include a Russian mail-order bride in Finland, a rebellious Dominican girl in New Jersey, and a hallucinating British Gulf War veteran. The stories are accompanied by essays from the eminent jurors on their favorites, observations from the twenty winners on what inspired them, and an extensive resource list of magazines.
Review
"The best short storiees are small only when measured by the number of pages. Editor Tom Perrotta, best known for his novels Election and Little Children assembles a stellar collection of 20 stories that create their own worlds in 20 pages or less." -USA TODAY
Synopsis
A collection of the twenty best contemporary short stories selected by series editor Laura Furman from hundreds of literary magazines, The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2009 features unforgettable tales in settings as diverse as post-war Vietnam, a luxurious seaside development in Cape Town, an Egyptian desert village, and a permanently darkened New York City. Also included are essays from the eminent jurors on their favorite stories, observations from the winners on what inspired them, and an extensive resource list of magazines.
Synopsis
The Best American Short Stories is the premier annual showcase for the countrys finest short fiction. The 2012 edition is guest edited by Tom Perrotta.
Synopsis
The Best American Series®
First, Best, and Best-Selling
The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the countrys finest short fiction and nonfiction. Each volumes series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected — and most popular — of its kind.
The Best American Short Stories 2012 includes
Nathan Englander, Mary Gaitskill, Roxane Gay, Jennifer Haigh,
Steven Millhauser, Alice Munro, Lawrence Osborne, Eric Puchner,
George Saunders, Kate Walbert, and others
About the Author
TOM PERROTTA is the author of six works of fiction, most recently The Leftovers, published to wide acclaim in September 2011. His novels Election and Little Children were made into award-winning movies.HEIDI PITLOR is a former senior editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and has been the series editor for The Best American Short Stories since 2007. She is the author of the novels The Birthdays and The Daylight Marriage.
Table of Contents
Introduction • Laura Furman, Series Editor
•Graham Joyce,“An Ordinary Soldier of the Queen”
•Kristen Sundberg Lunstrum, “The Nursery”
•E. V. Slate, “Purple Bamboo Park”
•John Burnside, “The Bell Ringer”
•Mohan Sikka, “Uncle Musto Takes a Mistress”
•L. E. Miller, “Kind”
•Alistair Morgan, “Icebergs”
•Roger Nash, “The Camera and the Cobra”
•Manuel Muñoz, “Tell Him about Brother John”
•Caitlin Horrocks,“This Is Not Your City”
•Ha Jin,“The House behind a Weeping Cherry”
•Paul Theroux, “Twenty-two Stories”
•Judy Troy,“The Order of Things”
•Nadine Gordimer, “A Beneficiary”
•Viet Dinh, “Substitutes”
•Karen Brown, “Isabels Daughter”
•Marisa Silver,“The Visitor”
•Paul Yoon, “And We Will Be Here”
•Andrew Sean Greer, “Darkness”
•Junot Díaz, “Wildwood”
Reading The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2009
The Jurors on Their Favorites
A. S. Byatt on “An Ordinary Soldier of the Queen” by Graham Joyce
Anthony Doerr on “Wildwood” by Junot Díaz
Tim OBrien on “An Ordinary Soldier of the Queen” by Graham Joyce
Writing The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2009
The Writers on Their Work
Recommended Stories 2009
Publications Submitted
Permissions