Product Description

Culled from over one hundred prestigious writing programs around the United States and Canada, Best New American Voices 2000 offers a remarkable panoply of writing talent that showcases the literary stars of tomorrow. Included here are twenty of the finest stories to come out of such programs as Breadloaf, the Sewanee Conference, the Banff Centre for the Arts, the University of Iowa, and the PEN/Prison Writing Committee, as nominated by the directors of those programs. Represented are all facets of North American life, a diverse collection of visions and voices that will satisfy the most exacting of short-story readers. This dynamic collection is must-reading for all fans of innovative, cutting-edge new writing.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1191661 in Books
• Published on: 2000-11-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 388 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In compiling this anthology, Wolff sidestepped the prestigious literary journals and popular magazines publishing serious fiction, and collected 20 polished short stories from more than 100 North American writing programs and conferences, including the Bread Loaf Conference, the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Iowa Writers Workshop and the PEN/Prison Writing Committee. All the entries here are by emerging writers, many still studying their craft, but the quality of the work showcased is world class. The longest and most outstanding entry is Jennifer Vanderbe's "The Hatbox," an intricate look at the lives of three generations of women and the cumbersome secret that ties them together. The piece exhibits relaxed, old-fashioned storytelling reminiscent of W. Somerset Maugham. The opening story, "In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd" by Ana Menendez, is a litany of humorous anecdotes zeroing in on the plight of wealthy and educated Cubans who fled to the U.S. only to find their credentials useless and menial employment their only way of surviving. "The Tower Pig" by Scott Antworth captures a moment of compassion and understanding between a hard-nosed guard and the prisoner he is escorting to a funeral. Merrill Feitell's witty and moving "Bike New York" skillfully portrays the inner turmoil of a soon-to-be-married man on an unplanned, thought-provoking jaunt with a teenage girl. Other writers to watch are Ladette Randolph, Shimon Tanaka, William Gay and Maile Meloy. While unfamiliar names today, these voices are likely to show up in Best American Short Stories and The O. Henry Prize Stories in years to come. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Wolff, author of such well-received books as This Boy's Life (1989) and The Night in Question (1996), seems to be very concerned about discovering for readers the best fiction writers (or else he just loves the job of editor/compiler), because he has a few collections to his editing credit, including The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories ( 1994). The pieces in Best New come from graduate programs as well as nondegree fiction workshops and writing conferences; this collection is the first in a planned annual competition. Some of these "new voices" have begun to make noises beyond the "classroom." William Gay, represented here with his story, "The Paperhanger, the Doctor's Wife, and the Child Who Went into the Abstract," displayed his sizeable talent last year with his first novel, The Long Home (1999), and his second one, Provinces of the Night, is reviewed in on p.609. Another noisy new voice is that of David Benioff, "When the Nines Roll Over," whose first novel, The 25th Hour, is reviewed on p.611. A valuable collection. Bonnie Smothers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
In compiling this anthology, Wolff sidestepped the prestigious literary journals and popular magazines publishing serious fiction, and collected 20 polished short stories from more than 100 North American writing programs and conferences, including the Bread Loaf Conference, the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Iowa Writers Workshop and the PEN/Prison Writing Committee. All the entries here are by emerging writers, many still studying their craft, but the quality of the work showcased is world class. The longest and most outstanding entry is Jennifer Vanderbe's "The Hatbox," an intricate look at the lives of three generations of women and the cumbersome secret that ties them together. The piece exhibits relaxed, old-fashioned storytelling reminiscent of W. Somerset Maugham. The opening story, "In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd" by Ana Menendez, is a litany of humorous anecdotes zeroing in on the plight of wealthy and educated Cubans who fled to the U.S. only to find their credentials useless and menial employment their only way of surviving. "The Tower Pig" by Scott Antworth captures a moment of compassion and understanding between a hard-nosed guard and the prisoner he is escorting to a funeral. Merrill Feitell's witty and moving "Bike New York" skillfully portrays the inner turmoil of a soon-to-be-married man on an unplanned, thought-provoking jaunt with a teenage girl. Other writers to watch are Ladette Randolph, Shimon Tanaka, William Gay and Maile Meloy. While unfamiliar names today, these voices are likely to show up in Best American Short Stories and The O. Henry Prize Stories in years to come. (Nov.)
(Publishers Weekly )

Wolff, author of such well-received books as This Boy's Life (1989) and The Night in Question (1996), seems to be very concerned about discovering for readers the best fiction writers (or else he just loves the job of editor/compiler), because he has a few collections to his editing credit, including The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories ( 1994). The pieces in Best New come from graduate programs as well as nondegree fiction workshops and writing conferences; this collection is the first in a planned annual competition. Some of these "new voices" have begun to make noises beyond the "classroom." William Gay, represented here with his story, "The Paperhanger, the Doctor's Wife, and the Child Who Went into the Abstract," displayed his sizeable talent last year with his first novel, The Long Home (1999), and his second one, Provinces of the Night, is reviewed in on p.609. Another noisy new voice is that of David Benioff, "When the Nines Roll Over," whose first novel, The 25th Hour, is reviewed on p.611. A valuable collection.
(Booklist - Bonnie Smothers )

Customer Reviews

What a delight
BNAV2, as my friends and I like to call it, is a terrific collection of stories from a bunch of people I've never heard of (and some that I wouldn't care to meet, no offense you lifetime prisoners). A few tales miss the mark, but most are quite good, particularly Maile Meloy's "Tome," about an unlikely hostage situation in Montana.

It's nice to escape from the usual short story writer suspects and find a new batch of talented authors. Congratulations to Tobias Wolff for his astute selections.

Absolutely amazing!
This is a collection that will definitely appeal to short story enthusiasts and convert all others. The anthology was a gift and I was most pleasantly surprised--I read the whole collection in a day. Like most people, I don't have much spare time to read, but the little time I do find will be spent re-reading these stories and finding comparable short story collections. What a gem of an anthology.

Hors de combat
This is the fruit of an annual story competition. The Series Editors say, "Awfully good stories. More than that, we cannot say." The Guest Editor says, "This is not an apologia for creative writing workshops." You know you're in for it, but the first story is OK, it's all jokes and jokes are rudiments of art, but there's no inspiration and the stories are all about writing and things without being things written themselves.