We Are the Stories We Tell: The Best Short Stories by North American Women Since 1945

by Wendy Martin (Editor)

A collection of 26 of the finest stories by the finest women writers to come out of the U.S. and Canada in the past 50 years. Authors include Ann Beattie, Ann Tyler, Tama Janowitz and Alice Walker.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Womens, Gender, Feminism

337 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 1990

Reviews

[Marcella · Rating 3 out of 5]

9 of the 24 Stories I would consider worthwhile reads and discoveries (see below). However that means that 15 of the 24 were just okay. As short story collections go, this was one of the better ones I've read and have uncovered some new authors whose longer fiction I will indulge in.

On the whole as commenting on the female experience, this does actually do a fairly good job, across genres, decades, and races. But again, only 9 of the stories would I truly recommend.

The Great:
* "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates
* "Souvenir" by Jayne Anne Phillips
* "The Abortion" by Alice Walker

The Good:
* "A View of the Woods" by Flannery O'Connor
* "My Man Bovanne" by Toni Cade Bambara
* "On Discovery" by Maxine Hong Kingston
* "The Slaves in New York" by Tama Janowitz
* "Lust" by Susan Minot
* "She Unnames Them" by Ursula K. Le Guin

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many of the individual stories here were definitely more than three stars, but I wasn't particularly inspired by the overall selection, as I tend to prefer a more cohesive whole. I suppose that's really a criticism of this type of anthology rather than anything the editor did or didn't do. In the same breath, I liked that this included a cross-section of genres, and a great variety of author backgrounds and voices, with brief author biographies included in the appendix. It was a much-appreciated introduction to some writers I was previously unfamiliar with.

[meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

the nice thing that comes with reading a "best of" anthology is that most of the stories are pretty good. this collection reunited me with some familiar authors (atwood, erdrich, cisneros, le guin), allowed me to finally start reading works by authors I've been meaning to get to for years (O'Connor, walker, munro, beattie), and introduced me to some new favorites I'll have to investigate more (Paley, McCarthy, Prose)

[Steve Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.9 The second collection ("More Stories We Tell") is better.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the past several years I've been reading *alot* of short stories (which are not my favorite literary form). My favorite short story collections have been from authors TC Boyle, Joyce Carol Oates, Jonathan Lethem (a surprise), Flannery O'Connor. This book is a collection of stories from many different writers; I find that stories in collections like this are even more difficult to fix in the mind, which is one of my complaints about the form in general. My favorite stories were "An Interest in Life" by Grace Paley (if I had a time machine I would love to have hung out w/ Paley - her stories are so feisty. Check out this first sentence: "My husband gave me a broom one Christmas. This wasn't right. No one can tell me it was meant kindly."); "Giving Birth" by Margaret Atwood about a woman thinking about her mother's pregnancy and about why the act of delivering a child is called giving; "Holding Things Together" by Anne Tyler about a practical woman who has to take care of the daily adult acts like taking care of the car and the lawn mower b/c her husband is not inclined - he sees it as her need to be in control of everything; he thinks she holds all the power but she finds it all exhausting; "The Abortion" by Alice Walker; "Janus" by Ann Beattie about a beautiful bowl that has an unusual pull on the narrator; "Fleur" by Louise Erdrich.

Another book completed as part of my quest to work through my stack of short stories; it was interesting how many of the stories were in other books I already owned...

[Eva Tipps · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe if I didn't need an uplifting read during this time of COVID, I would have rated this higher. The writing was good. I just can't say I "liked" the subject matter. I was familiar with some of the women authors and introduced to others. They focused on the challenges men and women face in our society. Often it was sexual in nature, or portrayed a lack of power. The most powerful story that sticks with me was the shortest. Written by Maxine Hong Kingston, "On Discovery" hit me like a brick by substituting a man to endure cultural norms that are traditionally acceptable to inflict upon women. You need to read it. Margaret Atwood's story of the birthing process was also compelling. One passage that I highlighted was in Paule Marshall's "Brooklyn." She said, "...for he had always thought of his life as divided into many small lives, each with its own beginning and end. Like a hired mute, he had been present at each dying and kept the wake and wept professionally as the bier was lowered into the ground. Because of this feeling, he told himself that his final death would be anticlimactic."

[Stuart Bargery · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice, diverse collection of short stories by female North American writers spanning the 1940’s to the 1980’s. Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro are represented, but there are many other writers whose names and work I would otherwise have been unaware of. I particularly liked the stories by Eudora Welty, Sandra Cisneros and Becky Birtha. There are some interesting thumbnails of each of the authors at the end of the book.

[A Yao · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just like short stories. I don't think these were all my fave, but most of them resonated with me.

[Braeden Udy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some terrific stories in here.

[Mare · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great selection of contemporary works covering a mix of different topics!

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were only a few stories that really appealed to me. Too many dark tales.

[Shelby Anne Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too much individual excellence to condense into a brief comment; however, it is worth mentioning that Atwood's "Giving Birth" is one of the stand-out stories in this wholly dazzling collection.

[lucie · Rating 4 out of 5]

short story slut

[Anita J. Dupree · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice collection of short stories written by women with differing backgrounds and sensibilities. They span years from the 1930s to the 1970s. The stories are thought-provoking, and at times, startling.

[carson · Rating 3 out of 5]

read for class—
i really enjoyed this collection. i think wendy martin did an excellent job at selecting stories that highlighted some famous authors’ best works. all of the stories fit very well together and are good indicators of the writing of the authors. can’t wait to read her next collection.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I hadn't read this, but I had. Interestingly enough, 3-4 stories felt new to me, they hadn't impacted my memory, I guess. They were no less good stories. A few were so indelibly in my memory I recognized them by first sentence. It was interesting to re-read a collection like this. I saw things, particularly foreshadowing, that of course I hadn't seen on first read.

A nice collection of stories, mostly very warm and human.

[Verena Siebert · Rating 3 out of 5]

as always with short story collections of various authors, it is hard to give a rating for the book in its entirety. I haven't read all of them yet, but so far I can say that there were many stories that did not appeal to me at all, while others were absolutely brilliant in my opinion. I'd recommend:
Joyce Carol Oates: Where are you going, where have you been?
Margaret Atwood: Giving Birth
Alice Walker: The Abortion

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, thought-provoking, often humorous short stories by great American female authors. I'm always impressed with writers of short stories. To be able to write a complete, fully-developed story in so few pages must be quite a challenge. If you enjoy short stories, this is a great book to try.

[Suzanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

it was a difficult read. hard to believe i read it before. i am having trouble explaining why it was difficult. some of the stories were sad or scary or odd and boring, kind of the way life can be. i guess the last story was my favorite but i don't know why, something about the texture of it, the feel. sorry for this weird "review".

[Marla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthology of stories by N.American women since 1945 -- really powerful pieces. Flannery O'Connor's "View of the Woods" struck me in a way no story had in a long time. I'll have to go look that one up again!

[UpstateNYgal · Rating 5 out of 5]

26 different short stories told by some of my favorite writers.
Alice Munro
Margaret Atwood
Anne Tyler
Joyce Carol Oates and Tama Janowitz to name a few

[Joana B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read about half the stories because they were for class, but they were all pretty twisted and weird which I definitely liked. I'll probably read the rest eventually.

[Lisa]

We Are the Stories We Tell by Wendy Martin (1990)