Favorites:Yurt by Sarah Shun-Lien BynumRubiaux Rising by Steve de JarnattA Shadow Table by Alice FultonSagittarius by Greg HrbekHurricanes Anonymous by Adam JohnsonThe Anniversary Trip by Victoria LancelottaThe Briefcase by Rebecca MakkaiModulation by Richard PowersInto The Gorge by Ron Rash

A struggling South American actor who never manages to leave hiscountry as he planned; a public teacher reckoning with her late20s; an Iraq veteran trapped in Hurricane Katrina; and anaging John D. Rockefeller are just some of the characters whopopulate this commanding volume. Many of the stories in this year’scollection focus on questions of shifting communities: “The Farms,”for example, chronicles one rainy afternoon when a girl who findsherself quietly confronting questions of economic class

Strongest BASS in quite a while! I was absolutely knocked out by Steve De Jarnatt's amazing "Rubiaux Rising," which could make a short story reader out of any skeptic. Other standouts for me: stories by Richard Powers, Annie Proulx, Ethan Rutherford and Joseph Epstein. Wow, genius! Two stories on modern China (by Greenfeld and Li) also fascinated me.Hey! Somebody consult the legal department! There are no Alice Munro stories here. She lands three on the extended list, but it's hard to believe no...

As with all the 'Best American' anthologies, the enjoyment you're likely to take away varies from story to story, but most of the stories are above-average to great. The 2009 edition is no different, with a lot of really nice work, and only one dud (in my opinion).The one misfire was Steve de Jarnatt's Rubiaux Rising, which was just a bit beat-you-over-the-head for my taste. War veteran stories can work. Hurricane Katrina stories can work. But when your story is about a war veteran amputee locke...

"The Best American Short Stories" is, as they proudly like to point out on the cover, "best, first and best selling" collection of short stories published in the US over the preceding year. The second of these claims is of course entirely subjective, but there is no doubt that this series is one of the most respected and widely used anthologies of contemporary American short fiction. These anthologies give a snapshot of current trends in fiction writing, and are, for better or worse, representat...

I'm a glutton for punishment with this book series, which I think is in no wise a reflection of its title, or if it is the state of American fiction is only mildly interesting from year to year. Nevertheless, I probably won't stop reading the series. As for this volume, the first story is "The Idiot President," which is also the name of the play a troupe of Peruvian actors perform throughout Peru in the story. The second story "Yurt" is sort of about the semi-private love lives of elementary sch...

On finishing this, I realized why I am always slow to pick up every year's BA - they're exhausting (also why I am terrified of my phone-book sized Pushcart collections). This edition has the usual hits-and-misses, and I deducted a star for a) Sebold's obnoxious introduction about awards and her acquiescing in guest editing, and b) all the stories that really stood out were writers I expected to stand out (McCorkle, Moffett, Proulx) and there were only a few who I wanted to read more of (Bynum, d...

I really dug Alice Fulton's short story The Shadow Table. Annie Proulx did not fail to deliver an inhabitable universe that is not my own with her apt detail and voice. Kudos to Greg Hrbek for a very brave story. Hurricanes Anonymous by Adam Johnson also gets a tip of the hat. These stories stood out, though I did enjoy most of them. It is interesting to see the events, the politics, and the fears of our contemporary situation getting played out in fiction as happens in these annual compilations...

I've said it before. And I'll say it again. I LOVE collections of short stories, whether it be Faulkner, Welty, Cather, Wolfe, Hemingway, O'Henry or whomever. They are little snippets of tightly crafted literature. Not a word wasted. Little glimpses of life just perfect for reading yourself to sleep. Just right for reading in the waiting room of your doctor. Perfect for devouring over a fast food lunch."The Best American Short Stories" is, well, amongst the best. Insert: snicker. By way of histo...

I was teetering between two stars ("it was ok") and three stars ("I liked it") on this one, and in the end went with three stars because you know what, I did like it. As much as I've complained about this series in recent years, this was a stronger entry than they've had in a while. Which quite frankly I found surprising, since I wasn't expecting Alice Sebold to be the greatest editor. Does she even write short fiction? And in spite of the success of The Lovely Bones, I've never felt like her ot...

Generally, this year's stories dealt with tragedy, injustice, and reaching brick walls. Each story seemed to hinge on a difficult decision, urging the main characters to test their moral limits. Many of the stories verged on missing a conclusion - though, that is the era we're in. Many stories, many lives are lead without resolution - this is a time of clif-hangers and uncertainty. This collection reflected that well. While my rating of this book is rather neutral (mostly due to several bland or...

As with every year, an underwhelming anthology save for a few gems (I continue to feel as if there is just way too much stories out there for too many journals/mags; I'm of the school of writing less, but writing better). Maybe I'm just bitter because my picks didn't make the cut, but whatever. Highly recommend the Makkai piece, which was just wonderfully wrought. "The Anniversary Trip" manages so much with so little; reminds me just how soft subtle stories can really work. "Sagittarius" was pre...

This is one of the best BASS in recent years. My favorites from this excellent collection are Alice Fulton's "A Shadow Table" and Annie Proulx's "Them Old Cowboy Songs." With so many fine stories being written these days, I don't envy Alice Seybold having to select twenty. Sarah Shun-lien Bynum's "Yurt" is also a standout.

I finished about five of the short stories before I had to turn it back into the library. For a "Best of" series the short stories were very uneven. For those of you looking for great short stories, you might want to consider "The Year's Best SF" instead. Some of the stories in that series will knock your socks off.

I especially like short stories for the opportunity to discover new (to me) authors, to sample a bit of their work, and this collection was no exception.  While I didn’t like all 20 stories in The Best American Short Stories 2009, I liked many more than I disliked.  For the purposes of this review, I’ll highlight nine of my favorites and several authors well worth watching.  Steve De Jarnatt’s “Rubiaux Rising,” about a drug-addicted veteran trapped in an attic during Hurricane Katrina, remains m...