Anthony’s Reviews > The Best American Short Stories 2021 > Status Update

Read C. Pam Zhang’s brutal “Little Beast,” which I found especially chilling as a father hoping to cultivate strong relationships with my two young sons.

Read Kevin Wilson’s tender “Biology,” which didn’t quite reach the depths of feeling I think he was attempting to.

Read Bryan Washington’s “Palaver.” While I largely enjoyed his sharply witty dialogue, aspects of the mother-son dynamic felt a wee bit contrived.

Read Stephanie Soileau’s “Haguillory,” a brutally naked portrait of a racist, spiteful, cantankerous old southern white man and his wife.

Read Shanteka Sigers’ “A Way with Bea,” a wonderfully incisive and touching portrait of a teacher striving to reach and help a student others had given up on.

Read George Saunders’ brilliant “Love Letter,” a shining example of his deeply satirical and humane gifts at using speculative ideas to dissect our current political reality.

Read Christa Romanosky’s intense, drug-addled “In This Sort of World, the Asshole Wins,” which didn’t always ring as true as it could have, but which unflinchingly looked at the inner life of a drug-addicted mother of a toddler son.

Read Tracey Rose Peyton’s very moving “The Last Days of Rodney”

Read Jane Pek’s somewhat evocative but ultimately muddled “Portrait of Two Young Ladies in White and Green Robes (Unidentified Artist, circa Sixteenth Century).” I’m always drawn to work that attempts to examine the inner lives of fantastical beings, but something about this fell flat for me.

Read Eloghosa Osunde’s searingly personal, inspiring “Good Boy”