New American Short Stories: Second Edition - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0453006566 ISBN 13: 9780453006569

Publisher: Dutton Adult, 1989

About this title

From Library Journal

Hollywood once had a roster of stars who performed predictably: Astaire danced, Lombard did romantic comedy, Flynn swashbuckled. In preparing The New American Library's second collection of short stories, editor Norris has chosen stars who perform predictably, writing the kind of story they write exceedingly well. Thus, if there is a lack of surprise, there is also an abundance of excellence. Acknowledged masters--Dubus, Helprin, Mason, Barthelme, and Taylor, among others--choose their own favorites and explain their choice in a short essay, some only a paragraph long, some two pages, that follows each story. These brief glimpses into the writer's heart are as compelling as the 20 stories themselves. The original Winter's Tales series ran for 28 years. This collection is the fourth in a new series, and perhaps because it was prepared in Great Britain, the authors and their works seem less familiar than those in the NAL collection. Although the concerns are similar--love, death, dissolution, and alienation are predominant themes--these stories are somehow less egocentric, and the writers seem more aware of the larger world that their characters inhabit. Three of the 14 stories are about very old women, near death, who from the long perspective of entire lives come to poignant realizations. The last story, only two pages long, by exiled Guatemalan Augusto Monterroso, is a terrific poke in the ribs. Any reader looking for an overview of the contemporary short story will find both collections enormously satisfying.
- Marcia Tager, Tenafly, N.J.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly

O. Henry Prize-winner Norris once again attaches a tempting hook to her short-fiction anthology: 20 established writers have chosen their own favorites. The majority acquit themselves handsomely, with judicious offerings as well as commentary on their craft, although most entries, having recently appeared in other collections and/or the New Yorker , the Atlantic et al., will be known to many. Mark Helprin's sublime love story features a husband and wife attempting to transcend the vagaries of WW II and the boundaries that separate the battlefront and the home front. In a full-bodied, penetrating piece, Mary Gordon's protagonist is ashamed of his housekeeper mother and "crazy in love" with his mother's boss and the boss's daughter. A savory fish tale by Bob Shacochis foists an outsider with an evil secret onto a close-knit, rural Southern community. Weaker selections also appear: Judith Rossner, prolific as a novelist but not in the short-fiction genre, contributes a trite, self-indulgent depiction of a daughter unwilling to share her widower father; Isabel Huggan over-relies on knitting as a metaphor; and Frederick Barthelme's husband/father, a sour malcontent, alienates the reader.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dutton Adult
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0453006566
• ISBN 13: 9780453006569
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 375
• Editor: Norris Gloria