The Best American Short Stories

Brief Description: 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 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. Lorrie Moore brings her keen eye for wit and surprise to the volume, and The Best American Short Stories 2004 is an eclectic and enthralling gathering of well-known voices and talented up-and-comers. Here are stories that probe the biggest issues: ambition, gender, romance, war. Here are funny and touching and striking tales of a Spokane Indian, the estranged wife of an Iranian immigrant, an American tutor in Bombay. In her introduction Lorrie Moore writes, "The stories collected here impressed me with their depth of knowledge and feeling of character, setting, and situation . . . They spoke with amused intelligence, compassion, and dispassion." Review Citations:

Booklist 10/15/2004 pg. 388 (EAN 9780618197354, Paperback)

Publishers Weekly 10/04/2004 pg. 68 (EAN 9780618197354, Paperback)

Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2004 pg. 769 (EAN 9780618197354, Paperback)

USA Today 11/03/2004 pg. 1 (EAN 9780618197354, Paperback)

Contributor Bio:  Moore, Lorrie Lorrie Moore is the author of the story collections "Bark, ""Birds of America", "Like Life", and "Self-Help" and the novels "Who Will Run the Frog Hospital"? and "Anagrams". Her work has won honors from the Lannan Foundation and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, as well as the Irish Times International Prize for Fiction, the Rea Award for the Short Story, and the PEN/Malamud Award. Contributor Bio:  Kenison, Katrina Katrina Kenison has been the series editor of The Best American Short Stories since 1990. She currently resides in Massachusetts.