About this title: Including one new story and an Index by author of every story that has ever appeared in the series, this new volume offers a "spectacular tapestry of fictional achievement" ("Entertainment Weekly").
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Like New. May be shiny, in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, no damage to binding, may have a remainder mark. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, Boston
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780395843680ISBN:0395843685
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. 776 p. Introduction by John Updike. Foreword by Katrina Kenison. Also includes Biographical Notes. read more
Edition: Unabridged
Binding: Audio CD
Publisher: Mariner Books
Date Published: 2000-10-09
ISBN-13:9780618093205ISBN:0618093206
Description: Very good. Very minimal damage to the cover (no holes or tears, only minimal scuff marks), in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, minimal to no highlighting/under. read more
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. great condtion however the front cover has minor crease on it. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 864 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Audiobook cassette
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780618013210ISBN:0618013210
Description: New. No dust jacket as issued. brand new-factory sealed. 4 cassettes. Best American Short Stories of the Century, 2. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, New York
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780395843673ISBN:0395843677
Description: Near Fine. 9 1/2 h x 6 1/2w. A real nice thick 835 page large softcover. Of all the writers whose work has appeared in the series, only John Updike has been represented in each of the last five decades, from his first appearance, in 1959, to his most recent, in 1998. Updike worked with coeditor Katrina Kenison to choose the finest stories from the years since 1915. The result is "extraordinary. read more
"Sweet Mary, did John Updike do a smashing job with this collection! Sure, I quibble at what is missing: Sonny's Blues, People Like That Are the Only People Here, Brokeback Mountain, Are These Actual Miles? But what is here is so very rich. Annie Proulx, Lorrie Moore, Donald Barthelmay, Joyce Carol Oates, and even Updike himself. Must buy."
"What I learned from this book... Edward O'Brien, who started the annual Best American Short Stories, saw the virtue in our diversity as a nation being represented so well in a distinctly American literature. So from the intro I learned that the short story form is an American genre (think Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, etc) and it has been mostly dismissed by the rest of the literary world for lacking "sophistication and technique". The introductions are given by the year's guest editor and this one is John Updike. Choosing from 200, he picked 56 stories that he felt best mirror the realities of American life. I never (ever) thought of short stories as a news medium, another thing I learned. I liked that Updike took each decade and reminded the reader to keep in mind what was going on in society and the world because these influences do bleed through. So, many stories that I wanted to dismiss as just stupid or self indulgent, now I thought more about understanding. My favorites: Willa Cather's Double Birthday (1929) Death of a Favorite, JF Powers (1951) Defender of the Faith, Philip Roth (1960) Roses, Rhododendron by Alice Adams (1976) Alice Munro's Meneseteung (1989) and In the Gloaming from 1994 by Alice Elliott Dark From the 1915 to 1999 stories here that I liked least I guess are the ones that are more extreme in language, violence and creepiness. Updike wrote in the intro, "The American experience, story after story insisted, has been brutal and hard." Ugh - 1923's Blood-Burning Moon by Jean Toomer & 1994's Public Library by Carolyn Ferrell are proofs to this point."
"This would be a book to read every few weeks. In one sitting I felt like all these good nuggets were too much and what I really wanted was one big book."
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