From Library Journal
Proving that the term best is subjective, the editors of Prize Stories and Best American Short Stories (BASS) have selected entirely different lists to represent the highest-quality American short stories appearing last year. Only Carolyn Cooke has stories on both lists. Guest editor Proulx has added a new twist to BASS by grouping the stories into four broad categories. Rather than showing us the similarity of the selections, it demonstrates the complexity present in today's literary fiction and how the human concerns that manifest themselves in stories appear unique, owing to each author's voice and perspective. With new editor Dark, Prize Stories has expanded the number of magazines from which it selects, including for the first time Canadian authors and publications. Selected alongside familiar names like Alice Munro and John Barth are exciting new voices like Arthur Bradford and Thomas Glave. Both BASS and Prize Stories belong in most fiction collections. In the Signet title, "best" refers to best sellers, as Signet celebrates its 50th anniversary by printing new stories by blockbuster authors such as Stephen King, Ed McBain, and Erica Jong. As popular fiction is a different animal from literary fiction; only two or three of the included stories would ever be found in a literary journal. Instead, we find diverting stories that easily fit into genres like mystery, suspense, or romance. For popular collections.?Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Idaho Lib., MoscowCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
Over 80 years old, this admirable series might consider a new rule: No stories included that will appear in book form before the "best" volume does. The latest entry features quite a few already reviewed by Kirkus as parts of story collections (Lydia Davis, Junot D¡az, Tobias Wolff, Tim Gautreaux, etc.) and even novels (by Cynthia Ozick and Clyde Edgerton). That caveat aside, Proulx selects stories from almost all major venues, which makes series editor Kenison's ramblings about on-line mags, none represented, a bit silly. Combative and feisty, Proulx clearly prefers more conventional narrative forms, though the subjects here are free-ranging. Standouts include Jonathan Franzen's ``Chez Lambert,'' a deft piece about an elderly couple and their daily lives in retirement. Equally textured and subtle is Jeffrey Eugenides's ``Air Mail,'' a chronicle of its narrator's post-collegiate Wanderjahr, which takes him to the East and an apparent experience of spiritual ecstasy. Heavily determined by place are Pam Durban's southern family tale ``Soon,'' about the legacies of tough-minded women; Donald Hall's anti-nostalgic ``From Willow Temple,'' spanning the century in Michigan and revealing the secret passions of some unforgiving people; and Alison Hagy's ``Search Bay,'' set on Michigan's Upper Peninsula and neatly reflecting the harsh life of its central figure, a retired seaman who lives alone. Richard Bausch defines the humor here with his hilarious ``Nobody in Hollywood,'' about two wayward brothers and the difficult women they encounter. Karen E. Bender's ``Eternal Love'' provides a touching counterpoint with its tale of two retarded adults getting married. Michelle Cliff and T.C. Boyle, both writers with heavy hands, consider the ironies of race and colonialism (Cliff) and the pro-life movement (Boyle). All in all, a strong sampling of what the major magazines (the New Yorker, Paris Review, GQ, etc.) are publishing these days. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Review
"A tastefully hot Christmas gift"


Review
"A tastefully hot Christmas gift"


Book Description
The preeminent short fiction series since 1915, The Best American Short Stories is the only annual that offers the finest works chosen by a distinguished best-selling guest editor. This year, E. Annie Proulx's selection includes dazzling stories by Tobias Wolff, Donald Hall, Cynthia Ozick, Robert Stone, Junot D'az, and T. C. Boyle as well as an array of stunning new talent. In her introduction, Proulx writes that beyond their strength and vigor, these stories achieve "a certain intangible feel for the depth of human experience, not uncommonly expressed through a kind of dry humor." As ever, this year's volume surprises and rewards.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The preeminent short fiction series since 1915, The Best American Short Stories is the only annual that offers the finest works chosen by a distinguished best-selling guest editor. This year, E. Annie Proulx's selection includes dazzling stories by Tobias Wolff, Donald Hall, Cynthia Ozick, Robert Stone, Junot D'az, and T. C. Boyle as well as an array of stunning new talent. In her introduction, Proulx writes that beyond their strength and vigor, these stories achieve "a certain intangible feel for the depth of human experience, not uncommonly expressed through a kind of dry humor." As ever, this year's volume surprises and rewards.

SYNOPSIS

The Best American Short Stories series has been the preeminent short-fiction series since the first volume was published in 1915. Today it is the only annual collection of stories chosen by a distinguished bestselling guest editor. Katrina Kenison, the series editor since 1990, worked with award-winning novelist E. Annie Proulx to choose this year's selection of stories.

In a break from the traditional format, Proulx has arranged this dazzling volume into four intriguing categories, allowing the reader to consider the choices in a broader literary context. Robert Stone's powerful story "Under the Pitons" falls beneath the heading "Manners and Right Behavior," while Tobias Wolff's brief, virtuoso "Powder" explores the theme of "Rights of Passage." In the category "Perceived Social Values" are brilliant new works by Donald Hall, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Clyde Edgerton, and Junot Díaz. "Identifying the Stranger" includes Cynthia Ozick's "Save My Child!" and Richard Bausch's "Nobody in Hollywood," two brutally funny tales. The quality of each selection -- whether by an established writer or by a stunning new talent -- exemplifies why the Best American Short Stories series is the bestselling anthology in the world.

Included in this volume are notes from the contributing short story writers, a list of 100 Other Distinguished Stories of 1997, and a list of addresses of American and Canadian magazines that publish short stories.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Although guest editor Proulx has arranged this year's 21 storiesas if for a high-school textbookin thematic clusters ("Perceived Social Values," "Rites of Passage," etc.), what really distinguishes the collection is the sly sense of humor to be found in many of its offerings. Richard Bausch's surreal "Nobody in Hollywood" displays a madcap comedy that serves this usually more restrained writer well, while Cynthia Ozick's "Save My Child!" gives a wry glimpse at the cultural misunderstandings between a retired New York lawyer (Ozick's redoubtable Puttermesser) and the materialistic young Russian cousin who comes for a visit and takes over her apartment. Tim Gautreaux's "Little Frogs in a Ditch," in which a shiftless young man plans to sell garden variety pigeons as homing pigeons, also draws a surprising amount of wisdom from its comic premise. But the best pieces here are, perhaps, the darkest: Robert Stone's "Under the Pitons," about an uneasy band of drug smugglers aboard a boat, and T. Coraghessan Boyle's surprisingly bleak and genuinely shocking "Killing Babies," which portrays a recovering crackhead's violent confrontation with anti-abortion protesters. Although not every story here lives up to its author's reputation, Proulx has proved herself an eclectic reader and has followed in the tradition of earlier editors, assembling fine recent work from the most talked-about practitioners of the form. (Nov.)

Kirkus Reviews

Over 80 years old, this admirable series might consider a new rule: No stories included that will appear in book form before the "best" volume does. The latest entry features quite a few already reviewed by Kirkus as parts of story collections (Lydia Davis, Junot Díaz, Tobias Wolff, Tim Gautreaux, etc.) and even novels (by Cynthia Ozick and Clyde Edgerton).

That caveat aside, Proulx selects stories from almost all major venues, which makes series editor Kenison's ramblings about on-line mags, none represented, a bit silly. Combative and feisty, Proulx clearly prefers more conventional narrative forms, though the subjects here are free-ranging. Standouts include Jonathan Franzen's "Chez Lambert," a deft piece about an elderly couple and their daily lives in retirement. Equally textured and subtle is Jeffrey Eugenides's "Air Mail," a chronicle of its narrator's post-collegiate Wanderjahr, which takes him to the East and an apparent experience of spiritual ecstasy. Heavily determined by place are Pam Durban's southern family tale "Soon," about the legacies of tough-minded women; Donald Hall's anti-nostalgic "From Willow Temple," spanning the century in Michigan and revealing the secret passions of some unforgiving people; and Alison Hagy's "Search Bay," set on Michigan's Upper Peninsula and neatly reflecting the harsh life of its central figure, a retired seaman who lives alone. Richard Bausch defines the humor here with his hilarious "Nobody in Hollywood," about two wayward brothers and the difficult women they encounter. Karen E. Bender's "Eternal Love" provides a touching counterpoint with its tale of two retarded adults getting married. Michelle Cliff and T.C. Boyle, both writers with heavy hands, consider the ironies of race and colonialism (Cliff) and the pro-life movement (Boyle).

All in all, a strong sampling of what the major magazines (the New Yorker, Paris Review, GQ, etc.) are publishing these days.