"To read their stories felt to me the way I suspect other people feel
hearing jazz for the first time," recalls Curtis Sittenfeld of her
initial encounter with the Best American Short Stories series. "They
were windows into emotions I had and hadn't had, into other settings and
circumstances and observations and relationships." Decades later,
Sittenfeld was met by the same feeling selecting the stories for this
year's edition. The result is a striking and nuanced collection,
bringing to life awkward college students, disgraced public figures,
raunchy grandparents, and mystical godmothers. To read these stories is
to experience the transporting joys of discovery and affirmation, and to
realize that story writing in America continues to flourish.
THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 2020 INCLUDES T. C. BOYLE - EMMA
CLINE - MARY GAITSKILL
ANDREA LEE - ELIZABETH McCRACKEN - ALEJANDRO PUYANA WILLIAM PEI SHIH -
KEVIN WILSON and others