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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.
Pros: love me a good anthology, enjoyed the forwards to each story, enjoyed more stories toward to the end of the collection Cons: despite being short, some were dense - not necessarily bad just expected to read more quickly; didn’t enjoy the beginning ones as much.
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.
This years crop of stories are gritty, touching and timely. These new writers clearly are going places. Their prose made me think, cry and be furious. I look forward to reading more from each of them.
Great collection of short stories.
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 :)
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.
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.
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.
Zombie Horror (Drew McCutchen)Bellevonia Beautee (Lauren Friedlander)The Crazies (Maud Streep)
Lin King's story was a masterpiece
Every story here was absolutely breathtaking.
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'sBut 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.
“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.
