Best American: The Best American Short Stories 2009 (Paperback)

from amydelpo

Much better than last year's collection. There are some real gems in here, but also some that had my eyes crossing. Apparently, Alice's taste doesn't exactly jive with my own, but it was close enough.

from TheBentley

As you would expect of this kind of anthology, it's rather inconsistent. Some stories are better than others. Unfortunately, there are more mediocre or simply absurd stories than good ones in this collection. Much of this is due to the seemingly desperate search for variety, originality, and shal...

from TheBentley

As you would expect of this kind of anthology, it's rather inconsistent. Some stories are better than others. Unfortunately, there are more mediocre or simply absurd stories than good ones in this collection. Much of this is due to the seemingly desperate search for variety, originality, and shal...

from rmostman

Very few stories were enjoyable, and they were either very good or very bad. One common theme throughout the entire collection was no plot. I love characters and character development, but there was far too much character with plots that went nowhere. And not that the characters in the character-...

from whitewavedarling

Just a mediocre collection. All of the stories are well written, but they blend together...few of them take risks, and fewer of them are really interesting or striking. By far, the best of the stories are "The Briefcase" by Rebecca Makkai and "Magic Words" by Jill McCorkle. The most interesting a...