The Best American Short Stories 1986

The Best American Short Stories 1988
EditorShannon Ravenel and Raymond Carver
LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Best American Short Stories
Published1986
PublisherHoughton Mifflin Harcourt
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages325
ISBN0395383986
Preceded byThe Best American Short Stories 1985 
Followed byThe Best American Short Stories 1987 

The Best American Short Stories 1986, a volume in The Best American Short Stories series, was edited by guest editor Raymond Carver with Shannon Ravenel.[1]

Reception

The Kirkus Reviews’ reviewer of Carver’s anthology expressed disappointment in this year’s edition and concluded that there were only two "standout exceptions to the general fog, though—and their work should be looked for with real curiosity in the future. But, otherwise, tired nags ran this course, on the whole."[2]

Short story writer and creative writing instructor K. L. Cook credits this anthology with his discovery and later acquaintance with Charles Baxter, one of the contributors, as well as his life-long addition to many other short story writers he first read in this volume.[3] In a review of the collection and selected entries for the Florida Flambeau, Robyn Allers notes that not only does the volume contain some "real gems", but also "more important to short story fans, collections like this one … introduce readers to new writers who haven’t yet achieved the recognition that accompanies frequent publication in the mass-market glossies like The New Yorker, Esquire and The Atlantic."[4] In The Boston Phoenix reviewer Tim Appelo noted that "It’s heartening to see up-and-comers crowd out big names, because it makes the collection fresher. These writers are young and hungry, and most of their work hits the spot."[5]

Short stories included

Author Story Source
Donald Barthelme "Basil from Her Garden" The New Yorker
Charles Baxter "Gryphon" Epoch
Ann Beattie "Janus" The New Yorker
James Lee Burke "The Convict" The Kenyon Review
Ethan Canin "Star Food" Chicago
Frank Conroy "Gossip" Esquire
Richard Ford "Communist" Antaeus
Tess Gallagher "Bad Company" Ploughshares
Amy Hempel "Today Will Be a Quiet Day" The Missouri Review
David Michael Kaplan "Doe Season" The Atlantic
David Lipsky "Three Thousand Dollars" The New Yorker
Thomas McGuane "Sportsmen" Playboy
Christopher McIlroy "All My Relations" TriQuarterly
Alice Munro "Monsieur les Deux Chapeaux" Grand Street
Jessica Neely "Skin Angels" New England Review and Bread Loaf Quarterly
Kent Nelson "Invisible Life" The Virginia Quarterly Review
Grace Paley "Telling" Mother Jones
Mona Simpson "Lawns" The Iowa Review
Joy Williams "Health" Tendril
Tobias Wolff "The Rich Brother" Vanity Fair

References

  1. ^ Carver, Raymond and Shannon Ravenel (editors), The Best American Short Stories 1986, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1986.
  2. ^ "THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES, 1986". Kirkus Reviews. September 15, 1986. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  3. ^ Cook, K.L. (September 23, 2022). "The Wonderlands of Charles Baxter". goodriverreview.com. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  4. ^ Allers, Robyn (November 26, 1986). "Carver picks the best of a precious litter". Florida Flambeau. Tallahassee: Florida State College for Women. pp. 13, 16.
  5. ^ Appelo, Tim (December 16, 1986). "Reading frenzy. Booked for the holidays". The Boston Phoenix. Vol. 15, no. 50. pp. 6, 8.