The best American short stories 2015 : selected from U.S. and Canadian magazines

In his introduction to this one-hundredth volume of the beloved Best American Short Stories, guest editor T. C. Boyle writes, “The Model T gave way to the Model A and to the Ferrari and the Prius . . . modernism to postmodernism and post-postmodernism. We advance. We progress. We move on. But we are part of a tradition.”Boyle’s choices of stories reflect a vibrant range of characters, from a numb wife who feels alive only in the presence of violence to a new widower coming to terms with his sudden freedom, from a missing child to a champion speedboat racer. These stories will grab hold and surprise, which according to Boyle is “what the best fiction offers, and there was no shortage of such in this year’s selections.” Mulling over the question of character likability, series editor Heidi Pitlor asks, “Did I like these characters? I very much liked reading their stories, as did T. C. Boyle.” Here are characters who “are living, breathing people who screw up terribly and want and need and think uneasy thoughts.” T. Coraghessan Boyle, guest editor, has published fifteen novels and ten collections of short stories. He won the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1988 for his novel World’s End and the Prix Médicis étranger for The Tortilla Curtain in 1995, as well as the 2014 Henry David Thoreau Prize for excellence in nature writing. His most recent book is the novel The Harder They Come.Heidi Pitlor, series editor, is a former senior editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She is the author of the novels The Birthdays and The Daylight Marriage. In his introduction to this one hundredth volume of the beloved Best American Short Stories, guest editor T. C. Boyle writes, "The Model T gave way to the Model A and to the Ferrari and the Prius . . . modernism to postmodernism and post-postmodernism. We advance. We progress. We move on. But we are part of a tradition." Boyle's choices of stories reflect a vibrant range of characters, from a numb wife who feels alive only in the presence of violence to a new widower coming to terms with his sudden freedom, from a missing child to a champion speedboat racer. These stories will grab hold and surprise, which according to Boyle is "what the best fiction offers, and there was no shortage of such in this year's selections." Mulling over the question of character likability, series editor Heidi Pitlor asks, "Did I like these characters? I very much liked reading their stories, as did T. C. Boyle." Here are characters who "are living, breathing people who screw up terribly and want and need and think uneasy thoughts." T. C. BOYLE, guest editor, has published fifteen novels and ten collections of short stories. He won the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1988 for his novel World's End and the Prix M?dicis ?tranger for The Tortilla Curtain in 1995, as well as the 2014 Henry David Thoreau Prize for excellence in nature writing. His most recent book is the novel The Harder They Come . HEIDI PITLOR, series editor, is a former senior editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She is the author of the novels The Birthdays and The Daylight Marriage The acclaimed author presents an anthology of “confrontational and at times confounding . . . stories to get lost in” by Colum McCann, Victor Lodato and others (Kirkus Reviews). In his introduction to this one hundredth volume of the beloved Best American Short Stories, guest editor T. C. Boyle writes, “The Model T gave way to the Model A and to the Ferrari and the Prius . . . modernism to postmodernism and post-postmodernism. We advance. We progress. We move on. But we are part of a tradition.” Boyle’s choices of stories reflect a vibrant range of characters, from a numb wife who feels alive only in the presence of violence to a new widower coming to terms with his sudden freedom, from a missing child to a champion speedboat racer. These stories will grab hold and surprise, which according to Boyle is “what the best fiction offers, and there was no shortage of such in this year’s selections.” The Best American Short Stories 2011 includes entries by Denis Johnson, Louise Erdrich, Elizabeth McCracken, Aria Beth Sloss, Thomas McGuane, and others. The siege at Whale Cay -- Megan Mayhew Bergman Fingerprints -- Justin Bigos Happy endings -- Kevin Canty Moving on -- Diane Cook Bride -- Julia Elliott The big cat -- Louise Erdrich You'll apologize if you have to -- Ben Fowlkes The fugue -- Arna Bontemps Hemenway The largesse of the sea maiden -- Denis Johnson M & L -- Sarah Kokernot Jack, July -- Victor Lodato Sh'khol -- Colum McCann Thunderstruck -- Elizabeth McCracken Motherlode -- Thomas McGuane Madame Lazarus -- Maile Meloy Kavitha and Mustafa -- Shobha Rao About my aunt -- Joan Silber North -- Aria Beth Sloss Unsafe at any speed -- Laura Lee Smith Mr. Voice -- Jess Walter. "Welcome to the best of the best." 0́4 New York Daily News Books Blog The stories in this 100th installment of The Best American Short Stories will be selected by award-winning and best-selling author T. C. Boyle. A master storyteller with a delightfully subversive streak, Boyle mixes "brilliance with high-concept pyrotechnics, meditations with whiz-bangery" (Los Angeles Times) and he is "always enjoyable, virtually incapable of dullness" (New York Times Book Review) Presents twenty of the best works of short fiction of the past year from a variety of acclaimed sources.