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Title: The Best American Short Stories 1999 by Katrina Kenison, Amy Tan ISBN: 0-395-92684-X Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: 29 October, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.74 (19 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Black sheep of the family
Comment: Every year I anxiously look forward to the arrival of the newest addition to my favorite book series, and every year my patience is rewarded and my appetite for a wonderful collection of short stories is entirely satisfied... that is until this 1999 edition of The Best American Short Stories. The compilation of short stories selected by Amy Tan this year has sadly disappointed me. Furthermore, my disappointment is escalated when one must consider the fact that Amy Tan is among my favorite authors. The combination of my favorite book series and one of my favorite author would presumingly produce a definite great edition yet sometimes the surest things are the most unforeseen.
The Best American Short Stories has always been a reliable and constant supplier of great contemporary work and uniquely distinctive tales. Stories that are far from typical but pleasantly uncanny and sometimes pleasingly bizarre. Stories that do not have a simple introduction, climax, and then resolution but stories that create their own course. Stories that you find yourself still thinking about days later in the shower, still trying to understand what exactly you comprehended. Yet instead what I found was a pretty traditional and conventional assortment of stories. I am not saying that these stories are particularly bad stories because they are not, it is just the straightforward fact that they are not as daring or come near to being as refreshing as their predecessors. I found many of her selections boringly light even when dealing with subject matters that are all but light. They tell their story and that is all. Everything felt so laid out and revealed that there was no room for analyzing or dissecting. Many of the stories were exactly as what appeared and nothing else, nothing left underneath to discover. They reminded me of the stories the entire class would read as one in the eighth grade and everyone would reach the same obvious conclusion of what the moral and purpose of the story was as the teacher nods her head to provide assurance.
There is still a couple of decent stories in this entire book (such as Pam Huston's The Best Girlfriend You Never Had) that renders the two stars given but in no way is that an endorsement to spend your money on two short stories. Instead, I recommend you simply visit you nearest bookstore, lean against a bookshelf and spend 15 minutes reading those two stories. Once you are done, place that book back on the self because that is where it belongs. I never thought I would be saying that about a book from this series but hopefully this is the first and last time I will have to. And hopefully this is just the black sheep in this family of over-achievers.
P.S.
In the end, I simply realized that perhaps a great novel writer should stick to novels and not picking short stories.
Rating: 2
Summary: Did I miss something?
Comment: I am a big fan of the Best American Short Stories series, but this one was a huge diappointment. I like stories that have some meat; they should resonate with depth a long time after being read. This collection offers few such stories. Then again, I wasn't expecting much more from Amy Tan. Try '98 or '00 instead.
Rating: 5
Summary: A fine collection
Comment: I found this to be an excellent, thoughtfully assembled collection of stories. I must especially disagree with the reviewer who felt that having a b writer like Pam Houston in a collection with Rick Bass ammounts to a literary injustice. Quite to the contrary, Houston's story is the best in the book and bears re-reading. (And, if you've checked out John Updike's Best Short Stories of the Century, you'll note that her story was one of the few tales from the nineties to be included.) This is a slow, collection, certainly, which may turn off some readers. But I've thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Title: The Best American Short Stories 1998 by Garrison Keillor, Katrina Kenison ISBN: 0395875145 Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: 30 October, 1998 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Best American Short Stories 2000 by E. L. Doctorow, Katrina Kenison ISBN: 0395926866 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 19 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Best American Short Stories 2001 by Katrina Kenison, Barbara Kingsolver ISBN: 0395926882 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 10 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Best American Short Stories 1997 by E. Annie Proulx, Katrina Kenison, Kenison ISBN: 0395798655 Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: 31 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Best American Short Stories 2002 by Sue Miller, Katrina Kenison ISBN: 0618131736 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 15 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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