The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story

The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story

The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story

The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story

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Overview

A selection of the best and most representative contemporary American short fiction from 1970 to 2020, including such authors as Ursula K. LeGuin, Toni Cade Bambara, Jhumpa Lahiri, Sandra Cisneros, and Ted Chiang, hand-selected by celebrated editor and anthologist John Freeman

In the past fifty years, the American short story has changed dramatically. New voices, forms, and mixtures of styles have brought this unique genre a thrilling burst of energy. The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story celebrates this avalanche of talent.
 
This rich anthology begins in 1970 and brings together a half century of powerful American short stories from all genres, including—for the first time in a collection of this scale—science fiction, horror, and fantasy, placing writers such as Ursula K. Le Guin, Ken Liu, and Stephen King next to some beloved greats of the literary form: Raymond Carver, Grace Paley, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Denis Johnson. Culling widely, John Freeman, the former editor of Granta and now editor of his own literary annual, brings forward some astonishing work to be regarded in a new light. Often overlooked tales by Dorothy Allison, Percival Everett, and Charles Johnson will recast the shape and texture of today’s enlarging atmosphere of literary dialogue. Stories by Lauren Groff and Ted Chiang raise the specter of engagement in ecocidal times. Short tales by Tobias Wolff, George Saunders, and Lydia Davis rub shoulders with near novellas by Susan Sontag and Andrew Holleran. This book will be a treasure trove for readers, writers, and teachers alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781984877826
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date: 05/03/2022
Pages: 496
Sales rank: 144,697
Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

About The Author
John Freeman is the editor of Freeman's, a literary annual of new writing, and executive editor at Alfred A. Knopf. His books include How to Read a Novelist and Dictionary of the Undoing, as well as Tales of Two Americas, an anthology about income inequality in America, and Tales of Two Planets, an anthology of new writing about inequality and the climate crisis globally. He is also the author of two poetry collections, Maps and The Park. His work is translated into more than twenty languages, and has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and The New York Times. The former editor of Granta, he teaches writing at New York University.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Introduction by John Freeman ix

THE LESSON • Toni Cade Bambara, 1972 1

A CONVERSATION WITH MY FATHER • Grace Paley, 1972 10

THE ONES WHO WALK AWAY FROM OMELAS • Ursula K. Le Guin, 1973 17

BICYCLES, MUSCLES, CIGARETTES • Raymond Carver, 1973 25

THE FLOWERS • Alice Walker, 1973 36

GIRL • Jamaica Kincaid, 1978 38

THE RED CONVERTIBLE • Louise Erdrich, 1981 40

THE REENCOUNTER • Isaac Bashevis Singer, 1982 51

TAKING CARE • Joy Williams, 1982 58

STORY • Lydia Davis, 1983 69

CHINA • Charles Johnson, 1984 73

PET MILK • Stuart Dybek, 1984 96

THE WAY WE LIVE NOW • Susan Sontag, 1986 102

SALVADOR LATE OR EARLY • Sandra Cisneros, 1986 123

THE THINGS THEY CARRIED • Tim O’Brien, 1986 125

RIVER OF NAMES • Dorothy Allison, 1988 146

EMERGENCY • Denis Johnson, 1991 157

STICKS • George Saunders, 1994 170

FIESTA, 1980 • Junot Díaz, 1996 172

SILENCE • Lucia Berlin, 1998 188

THE TWENTY- SEVENTH MAN • Nathan Englander, 1998 201

BULLET IN THE BRAIN • Tobias Wolff, 1998 221

THE HERMIT’S STORY • Rick Bass, 1998 227

A TEMPORARY MATTER • Jhumpa Lahiri, 1998 242

THE PENTHOUSE • Andrew Holleran, 1999 262

THE FIX • Percival Everett, 1999 292

WATER CHILD • Edwidge Danticat, 2000 310

THE AMERICAN EMBASSY • Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2003 322

THE CONDUCTOR • Aleksandar Hemon, 2005 334

ST. LUCY’S HOME FOR GIRLS RAISED BY WOLVES • Karen Russell, 2007 354

THE LAST THING WE NEED • Claire Vaye Watkins, 2010 373

THE PAPER MENAGERIE • Ken Liu, 2011 389

THE DUNE • Stephen King, 2011 405

DIEM PERDIDI • Julie Otsuka, 2011 419

THE GREAT SILENCE • Ted Chiang, 2015 432

THE MIDNIGHT ZONE • Lauren Groff, 2016 437

ANYONE CAN DO IT • Manuel Muñoz, 2019 449

About the Contributors 467

Credits 477
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