American Short Stories of Today

by Esmor Jones (Editor), Julie Schumacher (Contributor)

Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso

Genres: Short Stories

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Nasria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this. A very American ordinary life feel to it. Some of the stories were from the point of view of teenagers so they had a coming-of-age vibe. There were a few Sci Fi stories in there which seemed a bit out of place next to the realistic fiction. But I guess it shows that Sci Fi is a big part of American writing as a whole, which is good to know.

Each short story has a 1 paragraph bio on the author/ story which is helpful. There are 15 short stories.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting old-school stories here and there!

[The Half-blood Reader]

2007
Read Star Light by Isaac Asimov

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Favourite stories: The Pajama Party by Shirley Jackson; Motel Chronicles (an excerpt) by Sam Shepard; Small Avalanches by Joyce Carol Oates; Bruns by Norman Rush.

[Charis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely to find some lesser known short stories from authors that are more famous now (Shirley Jackson for example).

[Tonje Tekle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave this book two stars because I thought "it was ok". This doesn’t really say anything about the quality of the stories, just my general enjoyment of reading them.

I am not a big reader of short stories and read this mostly because I wanted to widen my short story-horizons. (and also a few names caught my attention; Isaac Asimov, Ursula Le Guin, Kurt Vonnegut Jr).

Sadly, I did not enjoy it very much. Many of the stories felt pointless to me, which, I am afraid, is a tendency I have when it comes to short stories. The satisfaction I feel when I have finished a book, I have only gotten in like ten of all the short stories I've ever read.

Now, back to the book. I noticed it doesn’t say in the description which stories are in the book, so I thought I’d just list them up first.

Star Light by Isaac Asimov
The Stone Boy by Gina Berriault
The Solipsist by Fredric Brown
A Day in Town by Ernest Haycox
The Pajama Party by Shirley Jackson
The Thrill of the Grass by W. P. Kinsella
The Professor’s Houses by Ursula Le Guin
Graveyard Day by Bobbie Ann Mason
Victrola by Wright Morris
Small Avalanches by Joyce Carol Oates
The Fiend by Frederik Pohl
Bruns by Norman Rush
Reunion by Julie Schumacher
Motel Chronicles (an excerpt) by Sam Shepard
Tom Edison’s Shaggy Dog by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

There were some stories I outright disliked, others that were just weird and confusing and a few I thought were ok but wouldn't want to read again.
The ones I liked were The Thrill of the Grass, Bruns, Tom Edison’s Shaggy Dog and my favorite, The Solipsist by Fredric Brown. (ironically, it was less than two pages long).

Before every story, there was a short introduction with a few sentences about the author and what the story was about, which was really great. Unfortunately, there are no contemporary stories, as it was published in 1988. However, there is a great variety and any one reader will probably find one story that they like.

[Gergő Tóth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall I liked it a lot. I found especially interesting and entertaining the following stories:

Isaac Asimov: Star Light
Gina Berriault: The Stone Boy
Fredric Brown: The Solipsist
Ernest Haycox: A Day in Town
Shirley Jackson: The Pajama Party
Bobbie Ann Mason: Graveyard Day
Joyce Carol Oates: Small Avalanches
Frederik Pohl: The Fiend
Norman Rush: Bruns
Julie Schumacher: Reunion

I'd recommend the book for language learners as well, who might find additional motivation in the stories to keep reading.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dull selections in general.