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The Best American Mystery Stories 2002 (The Best American Mystery Stories)
by
James Ellroy ,
Otto Penzler , John Biguenet , Michael Connelly (Goodreads Author) , Thomas H. Cook , Sean Doolittle , Michael Downs , Brendan DuBois
,
more...
Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, a series editor reads pieces from hundreds of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to the twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is ...more
Paperback, 432 pages
Published
October 15th 2002
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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Spending as much time in hospitals as I have been lately, you have hours and hours to read. Short stories are perfect for hospital reading because you don't lose your train of thought with the constant interruptions of doctors and nurses. This collection of short stories really grabbed my attention. Some of my favorite authors were included in the anthology and I was introduced to some new writers. Some of the stories definitely stood out for me. Brendan DuBois wrote "A Family Game"...more
Not bad, but not great. I expected more from a book that featured mystery stories by such a diverse group of authors as Stephan King and Joyce Carol Oates. But I found that rather then push the author's limits to write in a new genre, the definition of "mystery" was expanded to include any story that was even remotely about a crime. It's difficult to write really good short mysteries, and many of these stories succeeded remarkably (I loved Bet on Red) but most of the works just weren't...more
this was abridged, so there were only 8 (I think) stories on the 4 tapes; the book itself probably has 20 or so. still, they were good driving material. Only one of them made me laugh out loud inappropriately -- the reader needed some serious help.
"Blah blah blah blah," [PAUSE:] he said.
"Blah blah blah blah," [PAUSE:] he said.
repeat FAR too many times and you'll get the idea. :)
"Blah blah blah blah," [PAUSE:] he said.
"Blah blah blah blah," [PAUSE:] he said.
repeat FAR too many times and you'll get the idea. :)
Great collection! "Lean, mean and to the point" and "a change of pace" as Michael Connelly said in the introduction of the 2003 book of the same title which I've started to read.
Most notable for me in the 2002 collection are "A Family Game" and "Inscrutable" with their twists in the stories.
Most notable for me in the 2002 collection are "A Family Game" and "Inscrutable" with their twists in the stories.
These stories were okay, but the overall book could not keep me occupied. So much so that I lost the book and now have no idea where it is. So yeah, not the best read.
Drew
added it
The Best American Mystery Stories 2002 (Best American) (2002)
like always some good stories some not so... lots of boxing stories for some reason.
Come December, I head for Vrooman's and look for the latest installment in the series. Every year's collection is put together by publisher Otto Penzler and new guest editor (James Ellroy, one of my favorites, in this case). Some years are better than others, but none are dogs. These are great books to bring along while traveling — because they're easier to put down.
I read about half the stories before I had to return it to the library. I enjoyed the ones I had a chance to read.
It's a hit and a miss; the introduction by James Ellroy is interesting, and I like his brief discussion of the difference between a short story and a novel. But the collection itself smacks of the literary snobbery that permeates ALL of The Best American Series.
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James Ellroy was born in Los Angeles in 1948. His L.A. Quartet novels—The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz—were international best sellers. His novel American Tabloid was Time magazine’s Best Book (fiction) of 1995; his memoir, My Dark Places, was a Time Best Book of the Year and a New York Times Notable Book for 1996. His novel The Cold Six Thousand was a New York ...more
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