The Best American Short Stories 1990

by Richard Ford (Editor), Shannon Ravenel (Series Editor), Edward Allen (Contributor)

Presents a collection of stories selected from magazines in the United States and Canada.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Literature, Anthologies

374 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1990

About the author

Richard Ford, born February 16, 1944 in Jackson, Mississippi, is an American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel The Sportswriter and its sequels, Independence Day, The Lay of the Land and Let Me Be Frank With You, and the short story collection Rock Springs, which contains several widely anthologized stories. Comparisons have been drawn between Ford's work and the writings of John Updike, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway and Walker Percy.

His novel Independence Day won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1996, also winning the PEN/Faulkner Award in the same year.

Reviews

[Rebecca Walsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dookie maybe 1-2 decent stories imo

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite dated, to be honest. Rather dull too, if I must.

[Billie Pritchett · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a lot of good stories in this one! The Best American Short Stories 1990 has Steven Millhauser's "Eisenheim the Illusionist," which I think is my favorite here. I like stories about 'real magic,' and here the man Eisenheim can do 'real magic.' I've loved every story I've ever read by Millhauser. He's wonderful.

There are several other stories I liked in this volume. Perhaps my second favorite is Pam Houston's "How to Talk to a Hunter" is about a woman who dates a man who likes to hunt, and he also likes to sleep around with other women. You can tell it's a deeply personal story, and Houston says in her note at the back of this book that this is so, and that she finished this story, more or less as it is, in ten hours one day. Lorrie Moore's "You're Ugly, Too" is typical quirky Moore. At a Halloween party, a woman talks to a man dressed as a naked woman. Other good stories are Denis Johnson's "Car-Crash While Hitchhiking," about a man on drugs who gets into a car that gets into an accident. Joan Wickersham's "Commuter Marriage" is about a commuter marriage, upper-middle class people who commute from each coast and meet in the middle to sustain their marriage; Siri Hustvedt's "Mr. Morning," which is a weird, almost kind of mystery story; and Madison Smartt Bell's "Finding Natasha," which I'd call a lonely-in-the-big-city story (Bell has written more like this).

Other works by usual suspects in this collection are two from Richard Bausch, two from Alice Munro, and one from Joy Williams. These weren't much of a draw for me, though, to tell you the truth. But maybe they'd be a draw for you.

[Christine Boyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been collecting this "Best of" series. I was excited to go retro and read the 1990 edition. I did not like it as much as I thought I would.

If you're unfamiliar, these books feature 20 short stories. They are chosen by the "guest" editor for the year. And that guest editor writes an interesting essay at the beginning of the book saying how, why, where, when he/she made the selections. I always find that part pretty interesting.

So for the 1990 book, guest editor was Richard Ford. I think what I learned is that Mr. Ford and I don't have similar tastes in short stories.

I'd say I only really enjoyed 5 of the stories:
Alice Munro, "Differently"
Alice Munro, "Wigtime"
Joy Williams, "The Little Winter"
Joan Wickersham, "Commuter Marriage"
Christopher Tilghman, "In A Father's Place"

Not to say there weren't solid writers in the collection, but the stories just didn't appeal to me.

However, now I will look for other short stories, novels, essays by the authors I mentioned above.

[Marla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Checked out from library after Christine's recommendation about the 1991 version. I should have asked her if she reads many short stories b/c I have other collections that are better.

[Paolo Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favourite stories:
- The fireman's wife
- A kind of simple, happy grace
- Mr Morning
- Nothing to ask for
- You're ugly, too
- Commuter marriage

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This did not particularly grab me at first. Most of the stories in this collection seem to focus on mundane situations, many of them unhappy (illness, death, and loneliness are common themes). Of course there is nothing wrong with dealing with these subjects; in fact it is commendable to do so, given that your major outlets of narrative entertainment rarely do.

Edward Allen checks in with a piece of faux journalism, a careful description of a typical suburban brook. Madison S. Bell's story "Finding Natasha" is a fairly unconvincing portrait of a recovered addict searching for an ex-love on the streets of NYC. Pam Houston has a witty, interesting story, a first person account of woman's dangerous attraction to a macho guy who does things his own way. Siri Hustedt's "Mr. Morning" was the most mysterious piece, and my favorite. In it, a graduate student gets involved in a bizarre research project in which an old fellow gives her objects which once belonged to a girl and asks her to relate her insights about them. Dennis McFarland's piece about a friend of the narration dying of AIDS is sensitive and direct. Steven Millhauser contributes a clever piece about a mysterious magician in 19th century Vienna. Lorrie Moore's "You're Ugly Too" is a good look at an aging, single woman's bitterness toward men. Alice Munro contributes two well-crafted stories about the ups and downs of middle-aged women. Padgett Powell gives us a first-person rant by a typical white trash bozo. Lore Segal presents an intriguing piece about an ESL class and a device straight out of J.G. Ballard. Elizabeth Tallent's "Prowler" was a good description of a divorced couple trying to deal with each other again as the man withholds their son from his supposedly unstable mother.

I guess I did kind of like this book after all.

[Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased this book after my senior year of high school, but I never completed reading all the stories. Nothing like losing twenty years. Not knowing which stories I had read or had skipped over, I decided to read the all of the stories; for some stories, this meant reading them again. Pam Houston's "How to Talk to a Hunter" was the most memorable then, and now, and the strongest story of this compliation. The story titled "Eisenheim the Illusionist" was the basis of the movie starring Ed Norton a few years ago, called "The Illusionist," but as usual, Hollywood spiced up the drama and action with its rewrite. Also, I am becoming a fan of Alice Munro's work, although I have only read a few short works. Her stories "Differently" and "Wigtime" were quite different from the last Munro story I had read, but nonetheless, still attained the same high standard.

[Julia Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

It will, perhaps, be difficult to rate BASS 1990 accurately before I've read them all.

This is a good one, though. I like the boldness of Richard Ford's choices, which include two Richard Bausch stories, and two Alice Munro stories.

Edward Allen's River of Toys is subtle opener that I find myself thinking about a lot, for no reason I can name.

C. S. Godshalk's The Wizard is expertly written, although her contributor's notes about this triumph of a story were a bit of a downer to read.

All I can say is "Yay!" to Denis Johnson's Car Crash While Hitchhiking.

Lore Segal's The Reverse Bug is *fantastic* (I'd first heard Jennifer Egan read this story for the New Yorker fiction podcast).

The Lorrie Moore story included here, You're Ugly, Too, is one of my favorites. And Joy Williams.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite Best American Short Stories. Two Richard Bausch stories. Denis Johnson's "Car-Crash While Hitchhiking." Millhauser's "Eisenheim the Illusionist." Lorrie Moore's "You're Ugly, Too." Two Alice Munro stories. "Typical" by the amazing Padgett Powell. Lore Segal and Joy Williams. Great stuff.

I really love the Segal story, "The Reverse Bug." It was the first thing I'd read by her, and there was, for me, something indescribably perfect about it. I don't really even want to analyze why. I prefer to let it just work on me.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a felt dip in overall quality this time around, but all in all, it was the usual motley mix — some not-so-good stuff, some gems. My favorites of the bunch:

Denis Johnson: "Car Crash While Hitchhiking"
Steven Millhauser: "Eisenheim the Illusionist"
Elizabeth Tallent: "Prowler"
Lore Segal: "The Reverse Bug"

And some honorable mentions:

Alice Munro: "Wigtime"
Richard Bausch: "The Fireman's Wife"
Christopher Tilghman: "In a Father's Place"
Siri Hustvedt: "Mr. Morning"

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read one story out of this collection. I watched the movie The Illusionist which is based on the short story by Steven Millhauser, Eisenheim the Illusionist. I thought the original story was pretty good. The movie added an aspect that was merely mentioned in the original story, and it made the movie. See the movie.

[g]

Per John Freeman from Granta, who recommended Richard Ford's notes on short story structure

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK stories, some better than OK.

[Andie Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

'How to Talk to a Hunter' should be required reading for every female on this planet.

[Maryanne]

ok endings disappointing!

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most memorable:
"The Fireman's Wife," Richard Bausch
"How to Talk to a Hunter," Pam Houston
"Car-Crash While Hitchhiking," Denis Johnson

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Wizard" by C.S. Godshalk is one of the best short stories I've ever read. Its details imprint immediately as one experiences the world of a sixteen-year old boy, a genius, caught up in the everyday survival of poverty and drugs in his neighborhood. He has been forced him to grow up too soon; he is no longer a boy, but a man. This is a story that is poignant, honest, and heartbreaking. You won't forget it.