American Short Story Masterpieces: A Rich
Selection of Recent Fiction from America's Best Modern Writers (1989).
Edited by Raymond Carver and Tom Jenks.
Published by Dell.
Paperback.
ISBN-10: 0440204232
ISBN-13: 978-0440204237
Description:
Powerful short fiction that bears witness to
American lives … and dreams.
This highly acclaimed collection of short stories by American writers contains only the best literary art of the past four decades. With a bias towards realism, editors Raymond Carver and Tom Jenks have selected fiction that “tells a story” – and tells it with a masterful handling of language, situation, and insight.
But what is so special about this volume is
that it mirrors our age, our concerns, and our lives. Whether it’s the end of a
marriage, as in Bobbie Ann Manson’s “Shiloh,” or the struggle with self-esteem
and weight in Andre Dubus’s “The Fat Girl,” the 36 works included here probe
issues that give us that “shock of recognition” that is the hallmark of great
art – wonderful, absorbing fiction that will be read and reread for decades to
come.
“An essential collection of contemporary fiction. If you want to change your life (and if you don’t, why read at all?), this is one book you can’t afford to be without.” – David Jauss, The Short Story Review.
