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100 Years of The Best American Short Stories
100 Years of The Best American Short Stories | Lorrie Moore, Heidi Pitlor
31 posts | 9 read | 4 reading | 20 to read
The Best American Short Storiesis the longest running and best-selling series of short fiction in the country. For the centennial celebration of this beloved annual series, master of the form Lorrie Moore selects forty stories from the more than two thousand that were published in previous editions. Series editor Heidi Pitlor recounts behind-the-scenes anecdotes and examines, decade by decade, the trends captured over a hundred years. Together, the stories and commentary offer an extraordinary guided tour through a century of literature with what Moore calls all its wildnesses of character and voice. These forty stories represent their eras but also stand the test of time. Here is Ernest Hemingways first published story and a classic by William Faulkner, who admitted in his biographical note that he began to write as an aid to love-making. Nancy Hales story describes far-reaching echoes of the Holocaust; Tillie Olsens story expresses the desperation of a single mother; James Baldwin depicts the bonds of brotherhood and music. Here is Raymond Carvers minimalism, a term he disliked, and Grace Paleys secular Yiddishkeit. Here are the varied styles of Donald Barthelme, Charles Baxter, and Jamaica Kincaid. From Junot Daz to Mary Gaitskill, from ZZ Packer to Sherman Alexie, these writers and stories explore the different things it means to be American. Moore writes that the process of assembling these stories allowed her to look thrillingly not just at literary history but at actual history the cries and chatterings, silences and descriptions of a nation in flux.100 Years of The Best American Short Storiesis an invaluable testament, a retrospective of our countrys ever-changing but continually compelling literary artistry. LORRIE MOORE, after many years as a professor of creative writing at the University of WisconsinMadison, is now the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English at Vanderbilt University. Moore has received honors for her work, among them theIrish TimesInternational Fiction Prize and a Lannan Foundation fellowship, as well as the PEN/Malamud Award and the Rea Award for her achievement in the short story. Her most recent novel,A Gate at the Stairs,was short-listed for the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction and for the PEN/Faulkner Award, and her most recent story collection,Bark, was short-listed for the Story Prize and the Frank OConnor Award. HEIDI PITLOR is a former senior editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and has been the series editor ofThe Best American Short Storiessince 2007. She is the author of the novelsThe Birthdays and The Daylight Marriage.
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atla
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“A divorcée fleeing an abusive relationship befriends a Jewish refugee who has escaped a concentration camp in Germany.” This story examines trauma - how it divides us, and how it unites us. I loved that this story was able to accomplish its aim without graphic depictions of traumatic events. Strong writing. I hope to read more by this author.

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Kathrin
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Started this yesterday and will give myself until the end of the year to finish. This one was selected for 1915-1920.

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Hestapleton
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Pickpick

I‘m not a huge short story person, but I found this massive collection to be a great comfort as my anxiety keeps me super distracted. These stories are delightful and honest and funny and reveal so much about the anxieties of the time. A true enjoyment. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Zoes_Human I am a short-story lover and I'm a big fan of this anthology series. I was thrilled that they put out a 100 best for their 100th anniversary. 4y
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Nag1
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vivastory
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My #24in48 stack. Obviously won't read them all, but love the options. Not pictured are the tagged book & Noah's Born A Crime on audio.

vivastory @ReadOrDieRachel Here is my #24in48 stack 6y
readordierachel What a nice, varied stack! I hope you enjoy Feel Free! 6y
erzascarletbookgasm Good luck. Noah on audio 👌 6y
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LeahBergen I hope you get to Picnic at Hanging Rock! 6y
vivastory @ReadOrDieRachel I feel pretty confident that I'm going to love it after your posts & the glowing review by @Billypar 6y
vivastory @LeahBergen Did you watch the miniseries? 6y
vivastory @RealLifeReading @erzascarletbookgasm It's been on my TBR for far too long! 6y
LiteraryinLawrence Born a Crime on audio was SO good. Have a great 48! 6y
LeahBergen Not yet! I‘m waiting to binge it. 😄 6y
saresmoore Such great picks! I had to return Outline to the library, but I look forward to hearing what you think if you get to it! 6y
saresmoore Also, I‘m with @LeahBergen —I think it would make a great readathon book. 6y
Bklover Definitely Born a Crime on audio! Wonderful! 6y
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vivastory
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This made me laugh. Hard. In public. 😬😂

readordierachel Ha! Which story is that from? 6y
vivastory @ReadOrDieRachel ZZ Packer's Brownies. It's fantastic! First time reading Packer, will definitely be reading more! 6y
kspenmoll 😂😂😂🤣 6y
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vivastory
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From ZZ Packer's "Brownies"

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vivastory
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Stealing @BarbaraBB idea, #WeBelongTogether My Kindle & I on a Friday night.
#HeatOfJuly
Day 13
@Cinfhen

BarbaraBB 👍😘 6y
saresmoore Haha! Perfect. 6y
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vivastory
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vivastory
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I recall being impressed by Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" when I read it in high school, but I don't think I appreciated it nearly enough. I just reread it, & it's easily one of the greatest stories I've ever read. Absolutely flawless.

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vivastory
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vivastory
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saresmoore My head is full of extra holes and I love it! 6y
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vivastory
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Lorrie Moore's introduction is amazing

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Graciouswarriorprincess
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My small collection of short stories. #riotgram

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JennyBookworm
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"I stand here ironing, and what you asked me moves tormented back and forth with the iron." #24in48 #FantasticFirstLines I decided to break up my reading today with a few short stories sprinkled in between, and this also doubles as a #ThrowbackReadathon !❤️

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balletbookworm
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Pickpick

Very well-constructed anthology representing the range of the Best American Short Stories collection from 1915-2015. With no duplicates that Updike used for the 1915-2000 anthology. It's so interesting to see a) what stories were "the thing" in a given decade and b) how diversity of writers (race, gender, orientation, etc) expanded especially in the last 30 years. Lorrie Moore and Heidi Pitlor did yeoman's work to get this large volume together.

Megabooks Great review! 7y
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Bklover
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#bookmail !!!! Used my Amazon gift card and got these great finds that I would never have known existed if it weren't for my Litsy friends! Thank you!

Marmie7 Good choices! Name of the Wind was my fav read of 2016! 7y
Bklover @Marmie7 Good to know! Looking forward to both of them- so many people loved Name of the Wind. 😊 7y
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balletbookworm
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Jdscott50 I really enjoyed this. It took me most of last year to read. There is nothing like having a fantastic set of short stories on hand when you need something quick. 7y
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Jdscott50
Pickpick

What I really love about a collection like this is the ability to time travel in the past 100 years. We can see the impacts of World War I, The Great Migration North, Social changes of the 60s, and more. These stores include great names like Sherwood Anderson, John Cheever, Flannery O'Conor, and James Baldwin. Overall, a must read for those looking for a time travel Buddhist cat-nap Vonnegut)

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Jdscott50
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When they meet in the street, male or female, if they‘re getting older they look at each other‘s faces a little ashamed. It‘s clear they want to say, Excuse me, I didn‘t mean to draw attention to mortality and gravity all at once. I didn‘t want to remind you...of our coming eviction, first from liveliness, then from life. To which, most of the time, the friend‘s eyes will courteously reply, My dear, it‘s nothing at all. I hardly noticed.

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Jdscott50
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Sunday evening reading is always better with dachshunds.

Books_Wine_Repeat Cute dog! 8y
SharonGoforth Love that face!🐶 8y
CherylDeFranceschi 🐶❤️! Happy face! 8y
Jdscott50 Thanks! I think she is wondering why I am reading instead of petting her. 8y
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Jdscott50

Creole began to tell us what the blues were all about. They were not about anything very new. He and his boys up there were keeping it new, at the risk of ruin, destruction, madness, and death, in order to find new ways to make on listen. For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, italways must be heard. There isn't any other tale to tell, it's the only light we've got in all this darkness.

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BookHermit
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My #bookstack for #augustofoages #day13 📚 All of these books fit on or in my bedside table. Many of them are only there for comfort, bookish talismans if you will. Notice the lovely green mouth guard, blue plastic water bottle and black hair clippy thingie. Super classy! @TheSpinecrackersBookClub

Mccall0113 I thought the green thing was birth control pills! Lol 8y
BookHermit @Mccall0113 😂 Nope! Prevents me from grinding my teeth to dust every night from stressing about the kids I already have! 8y
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BookishMarginalia Love the concept of bookish talismans! 8y
BookHermit @BookishMarginalia I like to know that I am always protected against the horrid curse of being without a book, even while sleeping 😴 8y
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Bookchipmunk
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Pickpick

Finally finished my 2016 short stories project! This is a perfect read for those who are not regular short story readers. It has selections and biographies of all the well known authors of the past 100 years.

LauraLeah I think I need this book in my life. 8y
MrBook Nice! Looks like it wore your dog out 😂. 8y
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Jdscott50
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We were poor and could not afford for her the soil of easy growth...She has much to her and probably nothing will come of it. She is a child of her age, of pression, of war, of fear. --Tillie Olsen, I Stand Before the Iron

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Bookchipmunk
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Weekend TBR: One more short story to go and a bunch of pre-reading for my Leadership Book Group. Winnie is ready!

LauraLeah Love that pillow. 8y
OneLitChick Can't wait to hear your thoughts on Superbosses. I've been considering it. 8y
ReadingOver50 Oh my, your dog. Boston? 8y
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Bookchipmunk @ReadingOver50 French Bulldog 🐶🐾🐾 8y
Bookchipmunk @LauraLeah thanks! Cost plus special 😊 8y
Bookchipmunk @OneLitChick finally finished Superbosses - I liked that it talked about very current famous bosses and I believe that there are some important nuggets (i.e. Mindset changes) discussed. That said it was more like essays than a cohesive book so I ended up reading it chapter by chapter with some other books in parallel. My leadership book group will discuss it at the end of September so we'll see what they think. 8y
OneLitChick @Bookchipmunk thanks for following up with your thoughts! I will add this to my list! 8y
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Thekelburrows
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You gotta get up to get down

GuiltyFeat Whoa mama! 8y
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Thekelburrows
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BEHOLD THE MONSTER!!!

RealLifeReading Woohoo! 8y
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EricaReads
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Coffee break :)

brendanmleonard Ooooh I want this! 8y
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BookLoverCarly
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Getting ready for May's Short Story Month! Goal is at least one story a day!

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jennwangster
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Short story- one of my favorite forms of writing! ❤️📚 #shortstory

Anei And it is edited by a complete badass. 8y
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