The Ecco Anthology of Contemporary American Short Fiction

by Joyce Carol Oates (Editor), Christopher R. Beha (Editor), T. Coraghessan Boyle (Contributor)

A definitive collection of the very best short stories by contemporary American masters

Edited by Joyce Carol Oates, "the living master of the short story" ("Buffalo News"), and Christopher R. Beha, this volume provides an important overview of the contemporary short story and a selection of the very best that American short fiction has to offer.

Contents:

The toughest Indian in the world by Sherman Alexie
Lobster night by Russell Banks
The hermit's story by Rick Bass
1-900 by Richard Bausch
Poor devil by Charles Baxter
Lavande by Ann Beattie
O. by Aimee Bender
Mercy by Pinckney Benedict
The love of my life by T.C. Boyle
The identity club by Richard Burgin
The son of the wolfman by Michael Chabon
Night women by Edwidge Danticat
Television by Lydia Davis
Aurora by Junot Díaz
A house on the Plains by E.L. Doctorow
Death of the right fielder by Stuart Dybek
The girl who left her sock on the floor by Deborah Eisenberg
Disaster stamps of Pluto by Louise Erdrich
Reunion by Richard Ford
Rêve haitien by Ben Fountain
The girl on the plane by Mary Gaitskill
The paperhanger by William Gay
City visit by Adam Haslett
To those of you who missed your connecting flights out of O'Hare by Amy Hempel
Emergency by Denis Johnson
Double exposure by Greg Johnson
Old boys, old girls by Edward P. Jones
Adina, Astrid, Chipewee, Jasmine by Matthew Klam
Baboons by Sheila Kohler
Once in a lifetime by Jhumpa Lahiri
Some terpsichore by Elizabeth McCracken
Cowboy by Thomas McGuane
Sault Ste. Marie by David Means
Ranch girl by Maile Meloy
The new automaton theater by Steven Millhauser
Paper losses by Lorrie Moore
Stitches by Antonya Nelson
Land. ll by Joyce Carol Oates
On the rainy river by Tim O'Brien
The escort by Chuck Palahniuk
People in hell just want a drink of water by Annie Proulx
The red bow by George Saunders
Leslie and Sam by Douglas Unger
The brown chest by John Updike
Incarnations of burned children by David Foster Wallace
Cinnamon skin by Edmund White
Who invented the jump shot by John Edgar Wideman
Bullet in the brain by Tobias Wol

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Literature, Anthologies, Textbooks, Teaching, Classics

784 pages, softcover

First published October 1, 2008

About the author

Joyce Carol Oates is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels Black Water (1992), What I Lived For (1994), and Blonde (2000), and her short story collections The Wheel of Love (1970) and Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories (2014) were each finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. She has won many awards for her writing, including the National Book Award, for her novel Them (1969), two O. Henry Awards, the National Humanities Medal, and the Jerusalem Prize (2019).
Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014, and is the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing. From 2016 to 2020, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught short fiction in the spring semesters. She now teaches at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Oates was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.

Reviews

[Victoria]

The common thread running through the reviews of this book are that it's too dark and grisly. All I can say is, perhaps that's why I enjoyed reading it so much.

[Jason]

There's definitely a lot of amazing writers in this anthology, and it could've been a great gateway to get more readers interested in contemporary short stories, but their choice of Joyce Carol Oates (who has very dark sensibilities) as an editor makes this collection wallow way too much in disturbing subject matter. Almost every story involves some kind of grisly murder, or rape, or even babies in dumpsters.

Not that there weren't some highlights: "Some Terpsichore" by Elizabeth McCracken was one of the best stories I've ever read. I was also impressed by "The Girl on the Plane" by Mary Gaitskill, "Paper Losses" by Lorrie Moore (a new story to me, by one of my favorite authors), and "On The Rainy River" by Tim O'Brien. There were also some old favorites it was nice to read again: "The Red Bow" by George Saunders and "Once in a Lifetime" by Jhumpa Lahiri.

But unfortunately that's only 6 stories, out of 48... I have a feeling this collection will turn away more would-be readers than it attracts.

[H]

What a monster! This anthology had plenty of amazing stories, and a few not so amazing ones (some of which I skipped). I anticipate that I will have my students read "The Toughest Indian in the World" by Sherman Alexia, "The Hermit's Story" by Rick Bass, "Off" by Aimee Bender, "Son of the Wolfman" by Michael Chabon, "Night Women" by Edwidge Danticat, "Aurora" by Junot Diaz, "Disaster Stamps of Pluto" by Louise Erdrich, "Old Boys, Old Girls" by Edward P. Jones, "Once in a Lifetime" by Jhumpa Lahiri, "Cowboy" by Thomas McGuane, "Sault Ste. Marieb" by David Means, "People in Hell Just Want a Drink of Water" by Annie Proulx, "Incarnations of Burned Children" by David Foster Wallace. I also plan to supplement with "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien, as this anthology has his story "On the Rainy River," which is good, but loses some of its value when taken out of the context of the entire book, The Things They Carried.

[Jessica]

If every Aimee Bender story were as great as Off, I'd go live in her home.

Very creepy to read Mary Gaitskill gang rape story I swear I remember reading many years ago on a plane, like in Esquire or something, then being permanently traumatized. Did not realize it was written by a woman, and certainly no idea who Gaitskill was at that time.

First thing I've read by Jhumpa Lahiri and liked it. Cannot read fiction about immigrant groups with cuisine I like though, since it makes me too hungry when they describe the food.

George Saunders = really? Is this what all the fuss is about? Must read more.

Both stories I've read now by Edward P. Jones I've really loved certain aspects of, but both had, I thought, disappointing endings and some big problems (e.g. good v. evil; saint complex). Will read more though because there are some v special qualities I like.

[Heather]

As with any anthology, there are good stories and bad stories. Some reached me in a visceral way, others left me flat. But the main thing I took away from this collection is the stagnant sameness of contemporary literary fiction.

As a reader, I crave fiction that is daring. Fiction the plays with form and themes. While there is some evidence of that here, I ended with the overall impression of a ton of first person narratives, a lot of pretentious, repellant, or otherwise uninteresting protagonists, and the same themes repeated over and over again. I'd only read two of the thirty eight stories before picking up the collection (the Denis Johnson and the O'Brien), but I felt like I'd seen many of them before.

Maybe I'm being too jaded and cynical. Maybe I'm just tired of short form fiction. I don't know. But I hoped I'd like this collection a lot more than I ultimately did.

[Ashley]

I read another review that said you can tell these stories were selected by Joyce Carole Oates, and I completely agree. A good chunk of the stories are about death/murder/rape/other depressing/disturbing things like that, and that really strikes me as JCO's style. There is some pretty good stuff in here...but then there's other stories that I wondered why they were chosen. Those I particularly liked were "Lavande," "Off," "A House on the Plains," "To Those of You Who Missed Your Connecting Flights Out Of O'Hare" (mainly because I can completely identify), "Once in a Lifetime" (I like anything Jhumpa Lahiri writes), "People In Hell Just Want a Drink of Water," and "Bullet in the Brain."

This loses a star because the stories were selected by Joyce Carole Oates and she selected one of her own stories. Really?!

[Kayla]

An excellent short fiction collection. There are is a huge selection of varied, talented, interesting writers contained in this book. I only disliked one ("Double Exposure" by Greg Johnson) but I enjoyed all of the rest of the stories featured in this volume. Ten of them I thought were especially phenomenal, including Michael Chabon's "Son of the Wolfman", "Disaster Stamps of Pluto" by Louise Erdrich, and Elizabeth McCracken's "Some Terpsichore." I would recommend this book to anyone, whether you have read a significant amount of short fiction or you are just beginning to explore. I will say that it's fairly obvious Joyce Carol Oates' tastes run toward the unsettling, but frankly that suited me just fine.

[Stacey]

Of the 48 stories in this collection selected by Joyce Carol Oates, 7 are fabulous (those by Bausch, Danticat, Davis, Doctorow, Erdrich, Johnson and Lahiri).

Oates selected these stories because they were published in the 21st century, and because they represent the "variety" of the genre, including "abrupt and edgy" openings and traditional stories, beautifully written. She says that despite the lack of experimentation (though DFW is included here), all of the fiction is "unsettling".

I would have preferred a collection with such a list of authors, almost all published in big magazines, or award winners, to have included a more in depth analysis of what makes these stories so representative that they win awards and get published.

[David]

Finally made it through this 750-page fatty. Some wonderful stuff in here, of course. Richard Bausch's "1-900" was hilarious; Ann Beattie's "Lavande" and E.L. Doctorow's "A House on the Plains" reminded me how fantastic those two writers can be. The latter was my favorite story in the book until I hit Lorrie Moore's "Paper Losses" -- nobody does funny/sad Lorrie Moore. Annie Proulx's "People In Hell Just Want a Drink of Water" was terrific, too.

Hmm. Interesting that all but one of those writers are females. And Alice Munro couldn't even be in this collection, since she's a Canuck. Are women better short story writers? Mebbe so.

[Kate]

I like anthologies: their heft and their variety. For the most part, I like this anthology; among my favorite selections are E.L. Doctorow's "A House on the Plains," William Gay's "The Paperhanger," and Joyce Carol Oates' "Landfill" (which one should not read before bed, as I did, should one want to avoid nightmares of being killed in a trash compacter). A few selections puzzled me - the stories selected to represent Amy Hempel, Lydia Davis, Lorrie Moore, and Aimee Bender are not what I consider these authors' best works: not by a long shot. But, on the whole, a solid collection.

[Beth]

I am not a Joyce Carol Oates fan, so was worried (and rightly so) about an anthology of stories that she had selected. To me, Oates is heavy handed, looks at the world from a morbid and sinister perspective, and always goes for the tawdry and degrading detail. Unfortunately, that is also true of most of the work she collected here. Besides the stories by Lorrie Moore and Antonya Nelson, which I will always happily read, the only two I really liked were Ranch Girl by Maile Meloy and Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolff.

[Marc Kohlman]

Wonderfully written short stories. Lovers of contemporary American short fiction and aspiring writers will love the ones in this book. I used this book for my Creative Writing: Fiction class last year and I really enjoyed examining different authors writing styles. The stories I read for my class were great and helped me in writing some of my own work, drafting out plots, and creating characters. The stories in this book are some of the most masterful pieces of short fiction I have ever read.

[Kellie]

SO much fun- highly recommend. I haven't had such a good time reading in years. It was wonderful to get a fairly large sample of authors through this book- I have a tendency to stick with the same authors and genres for long periods, but after reading this I have so many "can't wait to reads" to look forward to.

[C. Woolf]

I agree with some of the other reviews: there's a lot of dark material in this collection. But I enjoyed many stories including "The Hermit's Story" by Rick Bass, "Mercy" by Pickney Benedict, "A House on the Plains" by E.L. Doctorow, "Cowboy" by Thomas McGuane, and "Leslie and Sam" by Douglas Unger.

[Mae]

pretty amazing collection but weirdly dark, does every marriage have to be awful, and every kid killed or scarred in some way? also there are at least two Mac grads included (Tim O'Brien and Charles Baxter) and lots of MN references.

[Robert]

Well, I finished it - the first story is actually probably my favorite, or at least way up there. Lots of really great ones. JCO is a subtle person. I think she's spent her life sexually repressed too! ;)

[Matt]

Worth reading, each successive story linked to the one before it with a theme, idea, or obscure word, and I discovered some great authors that I didn't know about. There is, however, a glut of graphic descriptions of gay sex and pregnancy, most of which made them both seem exceptionally unpleasant

[Gavin P]

The curatorial touch of Ms. Oates leans heavily on the darker side of things. Some disturbing stories in this collection, but a great range of American lit. Nice primer for those looking to delve deeper into short stories.

[Heather Gibbons]

My new favorite anthology for teaching beginning fiction writing. Great range.

[Andrew]

Fantastic collection.

[Em]

I will continue to go back to this book. Great selection.

[Harley]

Best story so far is "The Hermit's Story" by Rick Bass. Also a great Ann Beattie story called "Lavande." Only 9 stories into the 48 in the book.

[Stephanie]

Ugh. This just increased my mental to-read list by a million. If anything, read "Off" by Aimee Bender. Best opening two sentences ever.

[Kevin Gallan]

15/759

[Jocelyn]

Doctorow and Rick Bass stories are standouts among an excellent collection.

[Cid Mcdonald]

Some great stories, some good stories and some not so good or great stories. A good selection overall.

[Peter]

not my cup of tea.

[Aaron Mcilhenny]

the kind of book that makes you want to scribble pretentious things in the margins, even if the stories themselves weren't too good

[Robert Rozier]

I LOVED this book!!!!!

[Ch J Loveall]

various authors