Granta 139: Best of Young American Novelists 3

Granta: The Magazine of New Writing #139

by Sigrid Rausing (Editor), Jesse Ball (Contributor), Halle Butler (Contributor)

The third volume of Granta’s renowned and prescient, Best of Young American Novelists

Every ten years, Granta devotes an issue to new American fiction by writers under the age of forty, showcasing the young novelists deemed to be the best of their generation – writers of remarkable achievement and promise.

In 1997 and 2007 we picked out such luminaries as Edwidge Danticat, Jeffrey Eugenides, Jonathan Safran Foer, Jonathan Franzen, Nicole Krauss, Lorrie Moore, Yiyun Li, Karen Russell and Gary Shteyngart.

In this special issue, we bring you Granta’s Best of Young American Novelists of 2017: twenty-one outstanding writers, each able to capture the preoccupations of modern America.

Jesse Ball, Halle Butler, Emma Cline, Joshua Cohen, Mark Doten, Jen George, Rachel B. Glaser, Lauren Groff, Yaa Gyasi, Garth Risk Hallberg, Greg Jackson, Sana Krasikov, Catherine Lacey, Ben Lerner, Karan Mahajan, Anthony Marra, Dinaw Mengestu, Ottessa Moshfegh, Chinelo Okparanta, Esmé Weijun Wang, Claire Vaye Watkins

These are the novelists you will soon be reading, chosen by panel of judges who are themselves acclaimed Patrick deWitt, A.M. Homes, Kelly Link, Ben Marcus and Sigrid Rausing.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies

314 pages, Paperback

First published April 27, 2017

About the author

Sigrid Rausing is Editor and Publisher of Granta magazine and Publisher of Granta and Portobello Books. She is the author of History, Memory and Identity in Post-Soviet Estonia: The End of a Collective Farm and Everything is Wonderful, which has been translated into four different languages.

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's taken me a long time to read through the 21 pieces included in this collection, but that is partly because I went on holiday for 2 weeks and forgot to take it with me. It's a mixed bag that I found overall OK with a few great stories and a couple of very poor ones. But, I imagine, this is probably the case for everyone who reads it and it is simply that the list of good/bad ones changes for each person.

I thought the first and last stories were the two strongest (by Jesse Ball and Claire Vaye Watkins respectively), although you have to like your reading to have surreal element if you are going to like Jesse Ball's contribution.

There's a good mixture of experimental and more conventional writing. My other favourites were by Joshua Cohen, Rachel B. Glaser and Yaa Gyasi. For my personal tastes, the whole collection was tainted by an unpleasant and pointless story from Ottessa Moshfegh, but then I fell into the camp that disliked her Man Booker nominated novel last year and this is of a similar, but more unpleasant, ilk.

Overall, I think it provides an interesting cross-section of American writing, although I am sure it misses out a lot of what is happening. Some names to keep an eye out for, definitely, which makes it worthwhile spending the time reading it. My rating derives from an average of the ratings I gave to each individual contribution: that gave me 3.2 which I felt was actually a bit higher than I wanted to rate the complete collection, so I rounded it down.

[Leo Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed bag as these things always are. Lauren Groff still great.

Keep T-Prez out your fiction though! Hasn't he infected enough? What are you gonna tell me about him anyway? You didn't think he was gonna win and now you're playing the zeitgeist card? No.

[Vania Stoyanova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Попадайки на осмия брой на българското издание на списанието, нямаше как да не бъда изкушена, защото селекцията в него беше повече от интригуваща. Повечето автори, да не кажа всички с изключение на Динау Менгесту, ми бяха напълно непознати и доколкото знам не са издавани у нас. В Гранта са събрани гласовете на най-добрите американски романисти в момента и не устоях на шанса да се запозная с открояващите се писатели от моето поколение.
Не се стърпях и започнах да чета още в книжарницата, набързо изгълтах първите три разказа, които ме убедиха, че съм направила правилен избор. За съжаление след доброто начало поставено от Дежи Бол, Хали Бътлър и Ема Клайн, които веднага заеха челните места в личната ми класация, последваха автори като Джошуа Коен, Марк Дотън и Джен Джордж, които отидоха в дъното на листата и едва ги издържах. Мисля, че спрях да чета към средата на „Тръмп Скай Алфа“, направих пауза точно от един месец до преди три дни когато отново се върнах към сборника, за да го завърша за по-малко от 24 часа. Открих още много добри текстове, може би най-ярко се откроиха вече споменатите Джеси Бол и Хали Бътлар, също така много ми допадна стилът на Катрин Лейси и Каран Махаджан, които искрено ме забавляваха, разказа на Отеса Мошфег беше супер сбъркан и запомнящ се, а писането на Клеър Вей Уоткинс ми напомни за Хана от „Момичета“.
Не мисля, че има случайно попаднал автор в изданието, в предговора подробно е описано как точно са се спрели на конкретните писатели, подборът е бил изключително труден. Разбира се че всичко е много субективно, впоследствие изчетох доста мнения за сборника, в които се възхваляваха точно авторите, които не ми допаднаха или тези, които не ме впечатлиха особено, всичко е въпрос на лично възприятие и усещане.
Като цяло мнението ми е положително, един любопитен сборник с късчета от творчеството на едни от най-талантливите съвременни американски писатели под 40 години.
https://knijensviat.wordpress.com/201...

[Amellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Страхотна възможност да се насладим на списанието, за което адмирации на екипа и на преводачите. Всички автори са сравнително непознати за мен. Някои от откъсите определено провокираха желанието да прочета целия текст, а други по-скоро ми досадиха. Темите и цялостното звучене на списанието-сборник обаче са доста сходни, макар и интерпретирани по различен начин. Основен е мотивът за отчуждението на съвременния човек и самотота, която той изпитва, провокирана от неразбиранего на околните. Мултикултурализмът присъства отчетливо и въвежда въпроса за расизма, миграцията и интегритета. Тероризмът и загубата на близки хора насочват към теорията на травмата, а абсурдността на политическата ситуация е в основата на всички проблеми. Определено има много храна за мисълта и си струва да се прочете Granta. Едни от откъсите, които аз лично много харесах са на Ема Клайн, Джен Джордан, Гарт Риск Холбърт, Сана Карсиков (Тя най-силно ме впечатли) и Клеър Вей Уоткинс ( въпреки странното й писане).

[Jatan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors of my favorite stories in this anthology, in no particular order, are:

1. Emma Cline
2. Rachel Glaser
3. Karan Mahajan
4. Garth Risk Hallberg
5. Ottessa Moshfegh
6. Lauren Groff
7. Catherine Lacey
8. Greg Jackson
9. Joshua Cohen
10. Dinaw Mengestu

[Keith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sadly- as I've been a Granta subscriber for over 30 years, this was the most disappointing issue of Granta I've yet read. If this is the state of the new hopes for American literature ...

[Jason Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5- A solidly good, but not great collection. Most of the stories were quite readable, some compelling, but with a couple of duds. The stories that I flag as duds tend to engage some type of experimental writing. I like to be challenged on occasion, but I prefer straightforward writing. As I have stated before, I am intelligent, but not an academic, and my reading is primarily for leisure.

[Gwendolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not my favorite Granta issue. It is quite a bit longer than usual. Some of the stories (2-3) are great, but many of them are excerpts from longer works and feel incomplete in this format. Also, I miss the variety of having some essays and poetry mixed in with short stories. I do think that the list of the best young writers is wonderfully diverse and fresh, though. I congratulate Granta on that aspect.

[Yanislava · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed 22% of the writing, which felt fairly disappointing, though the story I picked it up for did deliver. In my humble opinion I'd say there's definitely some talented writers featured, but I felt like some set out to break barries nobody asked for and was ultimately boring to read. "I love you, but I've chosen darkness" is probably one that left the strongest mark on me.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patchy. Especially when most are excerpts rather than bespoke stories. V. Good - Ben Lerner, Emma Cline, Lauren Groff, Rachel B Glaser, Clare Vaye Watkins (natch), I.e., all the ones I'd already read 🙄

[Pearse Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ending on "I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness" was a great move. That story is probably the best thing I have read this season. Others really got me going, like Butler's "The New Me," Cline's "Los Angeles," or Mengestu's "This is Our Descent." Then, the collection featured a round of stories that didn't act of me too much. I couldn't finish "Trump Sky Alpha," or "The Meat Suit," or "Uri" or "Country & Eastern." Anthony Marra had a cute piece that was enjoyable, as were "The Answers," "Bright Circle," and "All the Caged Things." But those didn't cement my trust in the authors like some others. The penultimate story, "What Terrible Thing It Was," really was dull.

BUT these are new voices. Clearly youngin' that are up and comin'. And I loved that. I loved being able to see trends and tones and settings that I think the old guard is forgetting (or never new) and this next crop is rallying around. It worked! So although the stories fell short for a good third or more of them. But it gets four stars. Thanks Strand! Glad I didn't wait until I had access to Oberlin's Granta subscription to pick up this issue.

[RAFAEL GÓMEZ SALES · Rating 3 out of 5]

Los narradores norteamericanos de hoy en día están preocupados por el terrorismo en la vida diaria, pero también por el actual gobierno de EEUU, las nuevas tecnologías, la inmigración, el feminismo y el modo de vida... me han gustado bastante varios relatos del libro, sobre todo el de Emma Cline, Los Ángeles, donde una chica que se muda a L.A. para ser actriz acaba haciendo algo muy distinto, sobre todo por la forma de contarlo y las imágenes y porque tiene ese aire actual que te sumerge de golpe en el relato. También el de Yaa Gassi, un cuento sobre inmigración y los sueños frustrados de la comunidad senegalesa de NY. El traje de carne de Garth Risk Hallberg tiene también ese sabor actual, que mezcla yoga y adolescencia, Día 4 de Rachel B. Glasser cuenta cómo se afronta una muerte querida, el de Dinah Mengestu sobre las enfermedades y la muerte o los dos últimos, el de Esmé, que tratan acerca de una chica a la que le van a aplicar los TEC y el de Claire Vale Watkins, que narra lo que ocurre cuando un ex se muere.

[Susan Emmet · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me this was a mixed bag, some stories riveting and others (primarily those "experimental") not so much. I am a reader, but not an academic, and so my reactions are colored by this fact, I think.

I was drawn to pieces with strident, dark voice, often political, but also emotional and moral. As an older person who's lived through dark times socially and politically, I found it disburbing that so many young writers focus on those who are near hopeless, or who find hope in tiny things and acts that balloon into consequence. That's the state of the world right now - yet again.

The strongest writers and stories included those by Jesse Ball, Halle Butler, Joshua Cohen, Mark Doten, Lauren Groff, Yaa Gyasi, Greg Jackson, Ben Lerner, Karan Mahajan, Chinelo Okparanta and Clair Vaye Watkins. Don't have time to elaborate today on each; will have to save that for later.

[Kaltmamsell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spektakulär, welches Stil- und Themenspektrum die Geschichten umfassen, und alle ganz ausgezeichnet. Das ging von einer phantastischen Geschichte, die mit Typografie spielte, über dunkelgrauen Selbstbetrug (von einer Autorin, deren erster Roman „was called the ‚feeld-bad book of the year‘ by the Chicago Tribune˝) oder manieriertes Englisch wie aus dem 19. Jahrhundert (passte zur zentralen Hochstapler-Figur) bis zum Gedankenstrom über den Tod des Ex-Freunds, den die Erzählerin auf Myspace erfährt. Manche gefielen mir besser als andere, manche strengten mehr an als andere, doch alle waren sie sehr, sehr gut ausgedacht und geschrieben. Zumindest in der englischsprachigen Welt mache ich mir überhaupt keine Sorgen um die Zukunft der erzählenden Literatur.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Best of Young American Novelists. Wait, really?

Look, some of these stories are quite good. The ones that stood out to me were by Halle Butler, Emma Cline, Sana Krasikov, Garth Risk Hallberg, Esme Weijin Wang, Chinelo Okparanta, Anthony Marra, and Yaa Gyasi.

The rest were either not memorable for me, or downright unreadable; there's quite a bit of experimental stuff in here, which is really not my thing.

Even though there was good stuff here, the unevenness of the collection left a bad taste in my mouth. Hence I'm only leaving 3 stars.

[Jeffrey Milloy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess the novelist issue just isn't for me. I like Granta for its longer nonfiction, and with none of those (nor poetry, photo series, etc) and extra length, I had to give up on this issue. A lot of the same myopic themes, some excerpts which I rarely enjoy, unfinished work... for the first time Granta felt like a chore. It would be better to cut it in half to around 10 selections at most, and even then to split them across two issues along with other content.

"I love you but I've chosen darkness" was very good.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty solid collection and I'm looking forward to checking out the novels of many of the authors therein.

In particular, I thought Mark Doten's dystopian tale was a tour-de-force, and Ottessa Moshfegh's tale was surreal and creepy.

Others I liked:

Jesse Ball
Halle Butler
Emma Cline
Jen George
Lauren Goff
Yas Gyasi
Garth Risk Hallberg
Greg Jackson
Sana Krasikov
Anthony Marra

[Harry Hood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting collection showcasing young American writers. I discovered authors I didn’t know, and bought books by them. The quality is pretty high on average with a few stellar contributions ( I loved Anthony Marra and Lauren Groff stories) and very few clunkers. Often in these stories plot plays second fiddle to style, a bit to be expected with literary fiction maybe. A good albeit sometimes challenging read.

[Colin N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall rather disappointing. Was hoping to find some new authors but the good stories were all by the usual suspects: Cline, Groff, Hallberg, Lerner, Marra, & Watkins. The others were all okay, although goodness gracious what the heck was Brom. I've heard good things about Moshfegh but wow that was disturbing.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Granta under the new editor (Sigrid Rausing) that I have not loved. Maybe it's just the very modern style of some of the stories. I would read more of Emma Cline, and 'Trump Sky Alpha' by Mark Doten was a little too real, but most of the rest I could take or leave. Worth reading if you like semi-experimental writing, less appealing as a collection if you are looking for plot.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

All in all, I think this collection is absolutely a worthwhile purchase. I didn't know a single author in here until I started reading, and I'm thrilled to say that I definitely found some new interests. As many other reviews mention, some of the experimental stories were not quite my thing, but all in all I spent some very happy days introducing myself to these authors.

[Martyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the least enjoyable Granta I can remember (and I have read them all). There were a few pieces I enjoyed, but they were a small minority. On the whole it was a collection of depressing stories featuring characters with whom I could neither identify nor sympathise.

[Philip Coulter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The opening Jesse Ball story was easily my favourite. I also liked Yport by Lauren Groff (and I disliked her novel Matrix, so I might be open to giving her another chance) and Karan Mahajan's piece.

The rest, a bit of a mixed bag. I'm sure if I reread in the future, others will jump out at me.

[Ray Quirolgico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to believe some of the names in this collection of stories were just “young American novelists” back in the spring of 2017. This volume of Granta covers a variety of perspectives and voices that each feel very cutting edge.

[Vica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent selection of new (and known) literary voices, diverse and truly impressive.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Largely disappointing, parochial in concept, navel-gazing in style. Modern life just isn't that interesting. One or two were stronger, but too many covering the same kind of ground.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best stories are by the women, especially Cline and Watkins and Moshfegh. Really excellent collection.

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with all anthologies - some of it's great! And some of it really isn't to my taste. It was exciting to see some authors I liked in here, it was annoying to see Ben Lerner in here, etc, etc.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a depressing collection. Well written, but pessimistic. I don't need that right now, Granta!

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mixed bag.