Status Updates From The Best American Short Sto...

347 someone should have awards taken away from them. OMG. This is like, the anti-writers inspiration book. OMG. LAAAAAAAAME. 349 sounds awful. Skip! And I'm done.

314 author has completely left us all behind. 315 bullshit. Who's judging this show? 316 Disney call out! Woo hoo! I learned something. Thanks, multinational creepy corporation. 318 confusing situation! Now I have no idea what the deal is with this char. 322 This is boring! I'm skipping 340 lol I am this many pages in before I realize what flies it's talking about 346 I am dangerously close to throwing up. So. Lame.

312 again I cannot accurately relate how surreal it is to read an author so earnestly go for something and for it to fall so flat. Oh for fucks sake! It's a diving board. We've all been there, all distantly felt these things and on some level realized that if it were actually dangerous they wouldn't allow it so much. Again, this story is absolutely wild. It just keeps going w/ nothing happening. But it's more than th

308 author's descriptions are not as good and engaging as he thinks they are. 309 coming out story? (later) omg author nobody cares about all of these details about the pool! A good author would get to the point! 312 omg is anything going to happen in this story??

300 2nd eye injury 305 weird 307 GR peo help me out. Is it sexist that I can't help but find this funny? I'm learning about male adolescence (Is this sci acc?). But do many males feel this dramatic about it? All for self-love, just curious. It wouldn't surprise me actually now that I think about it. Still, lines like "too pure for anything made inside this body"? (not exact I know). Is this how anyone talks/feels?

300 2nd eye injury 305 weird 307 GR peo help me out. Is it sexist that I can't help but find this funny? I'm learning about male adolescence (Is this sci acc?). But do many males feel this dramatic about it? All for self-love, just curious. It wouldn't surprise me actually now that I think about it. Still, lines like "too pure for anything made inside this body"? (not exact I know). Is this how anyone talks/feels?

He is crazy. In this collection I've stopped giving peo the benefit of a doubt. 290 accurate desc of travel lag weirdness. 291 Totally crazy-or close to it. 293 I hear that 294 More "I get that" here. 296 TY 297 They're gonna blame you for it man. 298 men. In this collection! I get the sinking suspicion many a man looks a story that isn't going anywhere and decide it was about a time they had sex. I mean the char ;)

told the author that this dramatic image is stupid. 281 Stupid. 282 Convoluted, beautiful way to say you should just listen to your parents. Is this collection for a specific gen and their one realization? And people criticize my generation. 288 Finally someone who seems to understand the short story genre/format/thing! This is actually interesting. Catch you on the other side.

270 Getting to the end. Good glut at the end? See this is how you start a story. I'm betting this isn't lec either. A lot of rural and small town settings in this book; esp further in. 274 Another sympathetic parent. 279 If there's any criticism I have of the last story, it's that I want to read the book. I need to know what happens! Not quite as badly as GOT, but that's probably a good thing. 279 Someone should have

ds the same. 236 Ok you guys are criminal for not rec this. 238 Creepy. 249 Ugh Well off peo are transfixed, intrigued and made complete etc by rough direct peo and their ways. 254 Someone really needs to tell writers that small towns are boring! 254 Naked as a newt.

recommending this story so I am (as always) sus. 221 Fascinating - I'm still wondering if the $300 was supposed to be a joke, an exag cause it seems pretty realistic to me. 223 A look into the liberal mind. 229 Close enough Oates! TY 232 Possibly another dumb woman, shitty man story. But well written. I'm game. 232 I get that writers are doing things in these descrips but someone should tell them their style all soun

Ok we're just going to start here. That long story about carstairs is boring. 211 A woman goes to a doc appointment! Read how her low key day went! Plot lines and characters that go nowhere! 212 The excitement continues! Someone needs to tell this author that small towns are boring!!! 215 How can a short story (admittedly about nothing) feel THIS long? BORING 219 Now we're talking! However, I seem to recall someone

268 Seriously. I don't know if I need to stop or what but who is this over the top dramatic about it, even in the old South? Try doing and talking more things! Jeez. Weird . . . 270 I think that's part of the problem. Everyone tries to outline the setting in feelings and scarce, not helping details. So everything sort of runs together. We need to know where we are, names of characters. Something actually distinct.

Much as I appreciate the underrated competency of this story, this collection is starting to turn me into a sociopath. So you had a messy affair. There's no need to treat it like a world event. Chill out on the drama people. Is anyone really like this? Did these people even have sex? 263 idiot

The better are Same Place, Same Things, Days of Heaven, A Different Kind of Imperfection and A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain in case you wanted to know. 217 Cinemasins style question here - do people in real life have these dramatic, awkward thematic exchanges in real life? Do people mumble on like that when they aren't rambling old people? It happens in like all these stories, I don't think it's so common irl.

205 Not sure why we needed that descrip of the deadly accident. This very unusual romance story is getting creepy tho. 206 how many gross men can be in a short story co- don't answer that. I am still at a loss and totally baffled why everyone has recommended Emergency, Community Life and Pugilist at Rest. Is it politics? Are you all so blinded by ideology you can't tell that these are some if not the most weak ones?

saying it is the most poorly written. Seriously, is this series soley edited and read by old hippies or something? Emergency might make my list of worst things I ever read. Yes, I did read the comments at the back. I don't care. It is beyond terrible. 133 so are they gay or what? 140 Abortion story SKIP 167 Dumb people 171 called it! 179 I've about had it with all these loser adults

I don't really like anyone in this story except maybe the mother but I love all the refs and vocab. 93 what an idiot 101 Finally something to bite into, so to speak 102 men! 109 a great one 120 Seriously, that's the vaunted Emergency?! Someone took drugs in the middle of nowhere and wrote it down and EONE put it on their rec list?!!! It sucks. It's the worst story in the book so far. And I feel fairly confident in

Alright I am convinced these are all novels crammed into short stories. Various authors did not want the challenge of the page count and squeezed it all down to mixed results. Some manage to keep focus and be a short story. Others you just get lost and it needs to breathe.