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The Best American Series: 14 Short Stories & Essays
The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the country’s finest short fiction and nonfiction. This special edition contains selections from the following 2015 Best American Essays edited by Ariel LevyThe Best American Mystery Stories edited by James PattersonThe Best American Science and Nature Writing edited by Rebecca SklootThe Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Joe HillThe Best American Short Stories edited by T.C. BoyleThe Best American Travel Writing edited by Andrew McCarthyThe Best American Sports Writing edited by Wright Thompson Each volume’s series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. The special guest editor then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected – and most popular – of its kind.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 17, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 16, 2015
Excellent
Some of the stories are a bit odd and require thinking.
Others are wonderfully educational, taken from the best magazines in the country.
Well worth your time.
Some of the stories are a bit odd and require thinking.
Others are wonderfully educational, taken from the best magazines in the country.
Well worth your time.
December 10, 2020
**From The Best American Essays 2015**
This Old Man by Roger Angell - 5/5
Beautifully written piece about growing older, death, and memory.
It Will Look Like a Sunset by Kelly Sundberg - 4/5
Heartbreaking account of an abusive relationship and why she stayed.
**From The Best American Mystery Stories 2015**
The Adventure of the Laughing Fisherman by Jeffery Deaver - 3/5
Fun meditation on the influence and legacy of Sherlock Holmes and the nature of role models.
Staircase to the Moon by Theresa E. Lehr - 4/5
Slow burning, character-driven exploration of motives driving a pretty solid who-dunnit.
**From the Best American Science and Nature Writing 2015**
The City and the Sea by Meera Subramanian - 3/5
Interesting piece about the steps humans are and can take to prevent storm surges and damage like that wrought by Hurricane Sandy.
One of a Kind by Seth Mnookin - 4/5
Emotional piece about disabled children and their parents, who stop at nothing to find the disease responsible for their children’s troubles.
**From the Best American Science Fiction Writing 2015**
The Thing About Shapes to Come by Adam-Troy Castro - 4/5
I really enjoyed this one; a plague has stolen a generation of humanity’s children, or has it?
How to Get Back to the Forrest by Sofia Samatar - 3/5
The idea that we’re all being watched and tracked is an old one, but I liked this take on it; very reminiscent of Brave New World in parts.
**From the Best American Short Stories 2015**
Fingerprints by Justin Bigos - 3/5
A heartbreaking story about stories and about fathers and how they intersect.
M&L by Sara Kokernot - 3/5
A love story of sorts.
**From the Best American Sports Writing 2015**
Thirteen Ways of Looking at Greg Maddux by Jeremy Collins - 3/5
The sports essay as personal narrative memoir is an old one, but done really well here, functioning more as a eulogy for a lost friend than as a play-by-play.
The Rage of the Squat King by Rick Bass - 3/5
What do power-lifters really think about? Where does their focus come from? This essay tries to answer those questions and mostly does so.
**From the Best American Travel Writing 2015**
The Sound of Silence by Lisa Abend - 5/5
Lovely, short piece on walking through one of the most remote corners of Scotland and realizing that when wishing for solitude, one still wants human contact.
Bonfire of the Humanities by Patrick Symmes - 5/5
Very interesting piece about the burning of the Timbuktu library in 2013; combines travel geography of a place I know little about with recent history I know nothing about.
This Old Man by Roger Angell - 5/5
Beautifully written piece about growing older, death, and memory.
It Will Look Like a Sunset by Kelly Sundberg - 4/5
Heartbreaking account of an abusive relationship and why she stayed.
**From The Best American Mystery Stories 2015**
The Adventure of the Laughing Fisherman by Jeffery Deaver - 3/5
Fun meditation on the influence and legacy of Sherlock Holmes and the nature of role models.
Staircase to the Moon by Theresa E. Lehr - 4/5
Slow burning, character-driven exploration of motives driving a pretty solid who-dunnit.
**From the Best American Science and Nature Writing 2015**
The City and the Sea by Meera Subramanian - 3/5
Interesting piece about the steps humans are and can take to prevent storm surges and damage like that wrought by Hurricane Sandy.
One of a Kind by Seth Mnookin - 4/5
Emotional piece about disabled children and their parents, who stop at nothing to find the disease responsible for their children’s troubles.
**From the Best American Science Fiction Writing 2015**
The Thing About Shapes to Come by Adam-Troy Castro - 4/5
I really enjoyed this one; a plague has stolen a generation of humanity’s children, or has it?
How to Get Back to the Forrest by Sofia Samatar - 3/5
The idea that we’re all being watched and tracked is an old one, but I liked this take on it; very reminiscent of Brave New World in parts.
**From the Best American Short Stories 2015**
Fingerprints by Justin Bigos - 3/5
A heartbreaking story about stories and about fathers and how they intersect.
M&L by Sara Kokernot - 3/5
A love story of sorts.
**From the Best American Sports Writing 2015**
Thirteen Ways of Looking at Greg Maddux by Jeremy Collins - 3/5
The sports essay as personal narrative memoir is an old one, but done really well here, functioning more as a eulogy for a lost friend than as a play-by-play.
The Rage of the Squat King by Rick Bass - 3/5
What do power-lifters really think about? Where does their focus come from? This essay tries to answer those questions and mostly does so.
**From the Best American Travel Writing 2015**
The Sound of Silence by Lisa Abend - 5/5
Lovely, short piece on walking through one of the most remote corners of Scotland and realizing that when wishing for solitude, one still wants human contact.
Bonfire of the Humanities by Patrick Symmes - 5/5
Very interesting piece about the burning of the Timbuktu library in 2013; combines travel geography of a place I know little about with recent history I know nothing about.
October 13, 2017
Excellent
A compilation that will teach, explain, entertain, engage another level of knowing and understanding these contemporary authors' unique views on " how it works", this thing called life. So very well written, put together, and presented.
A compilation that will teach, explain, entertain, engage another level of knowing and understanding these contemporary authors' unique views on " how it works", this thing called life. So very well written, put together, and presented.
March 25, 2020
Yay! Another one for this year’s Reading Challenge. 😆
I enjoyed the mystery and travel entries the most. The other ones, I just appreciated getting a taste of those genres even if I had trouble following the flow of the stories themselves. 🤷🏻♀️
I enjoyed the mystery and travel entries the most. The other ones, I just appreciated getting a taste of those genres even if I had trouble following the flow of the stories themselves. 🤷🏻♀️
November 29, 2015
Any collection of short stories is going to be a mixed bag, and this one more so because it's a selection from a variety of genres. 2 each from essays, mysteries, etc. (I could list them all, but it's right there in the book description.) Interestingly, it almost split exactly in half for me: I quite enjoyed the essays, science and nature, mysteries. The rest were so-so. (I totally skipped the sports writing; not my thing. I know, try new things and all...)
January 5, 2017
Some stories were okay, one or two great. I enjoyed the essays and the mystery stories, skimmed through science and nature writing ones, and was totally unimpressed by the dull SF they put there. Sports writing, filled with jargon that I'm not at all interested in, was just frustrating. The story about books and scholars surviving in Timbuktu redeemed the whole collection, which looks quite passable overall.
February 4, 2016
The best read of the year!
I tire quickly of one-topic magazines: all cooking, all sports, all politics, whatever -- they bore me. This series is akin to a custom magazine, just for me: a little travel, a little sci-fi, a little nature -- not boring at all. I hope to find more in this series!
I tire quickly of one-topic magazines: all cooking, all sports, all politics, whatever -- they bore me. This series is akin to a custom magazine, just for me: a little travel, a little sci-fi, a little nature -- not boring at all. I hope to find more in this series!
December 9, 2015
The Best
The title of this book lives up to it's name. Included is the years best fiction and non fiction in a variety of genres and subjects. This is a sampler so you may want to also purchase the individual volumes in this series.
The title of this book lives up to it's name. Included is the years best fiction and non fiction in a variety of genres and subjects. This is a sampler so you may want to also purchase the individual volumes in this series.
November 28, 2015
So glad I found this via Amazon& Kindle... Every story was fantastic, aptly named, indeed.
December 31, 2015
I loved this book! The stories made you laugh, cry, and think! Great collection!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews