| Title | : | PEN America Best Debut Short Stories 2018 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1936787938 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781936787937 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 224 |
| Publication | : | First published August 15, 2018 |
"A book of gems, each one carrying its own particular clarity and cut, that teaches students of writing how limitless the short story form can be." —Marie–Helene Bertino, author of 2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas
PEN America Best Debut Short Stories 2018 celebrates twelve outstanding stories by today’s most promising new fiction writers and the literary magazines that discovered them. The characters within these pages include a college dropout dressed up as Hercules at Disney World; a college graduate playing a prostitute in a ghost town in Montana; a father from Trinidad leading a double life on a temporary visa; and a housewife in Taipei perfectly performing her familial and marital duties while harboring secret desires.
This year’s selections were made by three award–winning writers, themselves innovators of the short story Jodi Angel, Lesley Nneka Arimah, and Alexandra Kleeman. Each work is accompanied by commentary from the editors who first published it, explaining what made the piece stand out from the submissions pile, and why they were moved to share it with readers.
PEN America Best Debut Short Stories 2018 Reviews
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As with any set of stories, there'll be some that are more your speed than others. And some of the stories in this collection were SUPER-DUPER my speed. I'm committed to reading this collection every year, because I guarantee there are going to be some superstar writers coming out of these batches and I can't wait to've been in on the ground floor.
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I got my hands on an ARC of this through the publisher and was just as delighted by this year's selections as I was by last year's. I am also biased, having nominated stories that ended up in both the 2017 and the 2018 anthology :)
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Every story here was absolutely breathtaking.
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This collection was STUNNING. I was glued to every word. The way these writers command prose to show complex emotions, identities, and human struggles took my breath away with every single paragraph. Absolutely captivating. These are stories you have to read slowly to savor all the meaning in them. I don't regret a single sentence I read in this collection.
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Great collection of short stories.
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What a treat! I don't read a ton of short story collections, but this was outstanding. It is hard to believe these gems are debuts. Even those that I can't say I liked sparkled with amazing writing. This is a perfect collection if are short on time and want to actually finish something in one sitting. Each story is fairly brief, but all are powerful, affecting, and sometimes heartbreaking. Keep an eye out for the included authors.
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Good book! Read it in two days! The best pieces were:
“Brent, Bandit King” by Grayson Morley, published in The Brooklyn Review
“Stay Brave, My Hercules” by Ernie Wang, published in McSweeney's
But the generally anthology was nice and warm, a great selection of Latinx stories and authors I want to follow. Not all hitting my mark so it's 8/10.
Connection: One of the judges taught at the Tin House Summer Workshop where I worked. -
I only got about halfway through this book - maybe it was just the anthology format, but I wasn't grabbed by these stories. I know these are EMERGING writers, but the stories felt a bit rough around the edges in a way that was wearing when read consecutively. I could see some of these writers having promising careers and there's some good ideas explored here, but nothing that made me feel like I HAD to keep going.
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“My sleep feels like a nothingness. I am either a one, or I am a zero. There is either all of me, or none of me.”
I really enjoyed reading these writers’ first publications, initially printed in various literary journals! Such energy! Such hope! There’s everything from a protagonist who’s an AI to a zombie yet non post-apocalyptic plot. Read and be entertained and encouraged. -
Wonderful debuts from a group of writers who I'll be eagerly watching to see what they do next. My favorites from the bunch: "Six Months," "Brent, Bandit King," "Zombie Horror," "New Years in La Calera ," "Stay Brave, MY Hercules," and "The Crazies." That's half of the book right there.
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Impressive collection.
