In June 2010, the editors of The New Yorker announced to widespread media coverage their selection of “20 Under 40”—the y...
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reviews
Nov 11, 2011
Ed
rated it: 
As the title suggests this book consists of twenty short stories by authors chosen by the editors of the New Yorker. All the authors are under forty years old. I thought it was a good introduction to promising writers. I enjoyed the stories, though reading them one after another was probably a mistake. After a couple of weeks, I found that I could barely remember them. Perhaps that is my age or my limitations as a fiction reader. One that did stick with me was by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum callet "
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Jan 19, 2011
Jackie
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I always think that I love short stories, but I'm slowly realizing that it is a genre filled with pain. I guess that's part of the point--with a short piece you have to really say something, get to some emotion, and get to it quickly. If the emotion you're visiting is negative, you can get there much faster. I feel the same way about short stories from more established authors, Raymond Carver, for example, as I do about most of the stories in this collection. (Of course, it is not universal,
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Dec 29, 2010
Paige
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To put it simply: this was a great collection. More specifically, the standout stories were so great that they overshadowed the duller ones enough to warrant a four-star (maybe even 4.5-star) rating nonetheless. Those standouts, to me, were Téa Obreht's "Blue Water Djinn," Nicole Krauss's excerpt from Great House, "The Young Painters," Daniel Alarcón's excerpt from an unpublished book "Second Lives," Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "Birdsong," and Jonathan Safr
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Jan 01, 2011
rachel
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I wouldn't call my feelings about this collection "mixed," because frankly the majority of it was a delight. But I started feeling jaded by it somewhere around the middle of the alphabet, when I read and enjoyed the Nicole Krauss story and began browsing through Great House at work to decide whether or not it might be something I'm interested in buying. It was then that I realized that her "short story" in the collection was actually an excerpt from her new book.
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Feb 01, 2011
Kathy
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Finished the book a couple of weeks ago, and my opinion didn't really change.
Halfway through the book, for the most part, I not blown away by the insights, originality and talent of this younger generation of writers -- with two exceptions: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's story about a young professional women in Nigeria having an affair with a married man, and a brilliant story by Chris Adian, someone I had not hear of previously. Prior to returning to the US from 15 months ove More...
Halfway through the book, for the most part, I not blown away by the insights, originality and talent of this younger generation of writers -- with two exceptions: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's story about a young professional women in Nigeria having an affair with a married man, and a brilliant story by Chris Adian, someone I had not hear of previously. Prior to returning to the US from 15 months ove More...
Apr 09, 2011
Ally
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Overall, a solid collection of voices "under 40." Most fascinating was the introduction by editor Deborah Treisman who explains her reasoning for an age-specific collection: "What we noticed while reading the works of close to a hundred and fifty novelists and short-story writers in this age group, however, was that, for many of them, there had come a point where things seemed to fall into place: the voice was suddenly distinct; the influences less blatant, more absorbed; the plot
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Jan 27, 2011
Sarah
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I think what makes this book so appealing is the range of voices and style found in the collection. It is hard for me to pick my favorite, because it really is a matter of personal taste, especially for the range of subject matter involved. I liked that there were also a broad range of cultures included, as their writing really reflects their individual experiences.
The stories that really grabbed me and still will not let go are the ones by: Philipp Meyer, C.E. Morgan, and Dinaw Ma More...
The stories that really grabbed me and still will not let go are the ones by: Philipp Meyer, C.E. Morgan, and Dinaw Ma More...
Aug 31, 2011
Kathy
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I liked some of these stories better than others, but overall I can understand why the authors were chosen for this collection. I'm a fan of Jonathan Safran Foer, and I especially liked his contribution; it was unlike any of the others. All were well-written, polished stories; I guess my only complaint would be that they all conform to the current idea of a literary short story: deep on character and setting, very little dialog for the most part, light on plot and very ambiguous on resolution
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Dec 27, 2010
Michael
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My complaints with this anthology have more to do with the content within than the authors selected. I dipped in and out of this collection over the course of 3 weeks, and looking back over the titles, only a handful have stayed with me. The main problem is that several pieces are excerpts from forthcoming novels, and most of them read like excerpts rather than self-satisfying stories. I may eagerly seek out the novels when they are published (notably those by Nicole Krauss, Karen Russell, and
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Mar 05, 2011
Michael
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A Christmas present from Christine with the intention being, I could finish a short story before falling asleep. That may have been true for one or two of the stories, but for the most part I made periodic progress through the book. Being an assemblage of short stories previously published in the New Yorker magazine on a variety of topics, I found some of the topics pertinent and subjects that I could relate too, while others burly held my attention and one of them was absolutely tedious. Ov
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Feb 27, 2011
Black Dog
rated it:
For the first time since 1999, the New Yorker put together a collection of short stories by authors they feel are the up-and-coming writers sure to define American literature. All twenty authors are under forty years old. Half are women.
Like any compilation, some entries appealed to me more than others. All are worth reading, and even if the story or novel excerpt wasn’t for me, I enjoyed debating why the New Yorker chose it. This is a great way to explore new authors before committing More...
Like any compilation, some entries appealed to me more than others. All are worth reading, and even if the story or novel excerpt wasn’t for me, I enjoyed debating why the New Yorker chose it. This is a great way to explore new authors before committing More...
May 11, 2011
AdultFiction
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Teton Co Library call number: SS 20
Marisa's rating: 4 stars
This short collection really delivered. As a fan of both the New Yorker Magazine and short stories, these chosen selections are a great representation of the fiction section of a modern literary giant. I loved the creativity in both language and topics. I also enjoyed the quirkiness and multi-ethnic and gender topics discussed. Great use of style by some up and coming authors I look forward to reading more from such as Chimam More...
Marisa's rating: 4 stars
This short collection really delivered. As a fan of both the New Yorker Magazine and short stories, these chosen selections are a great representation of the fiction section of a modern literary giant. I loved the creativity in both language and topics. I also enjoyed the quirkiness and multi-ethnic and gender topics discussed. Great use of style by some up and coming authors I look forward to reading more from such as Chimam More...
May 13, 2011
Donald
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Of course it is hard to have an absolute opinion about a collection of fiction as varied as this. Naturally, there are pieces I like and some I don't. “The Pilot” by Joshua Ferris is far from clever and in its attempts to satirize the television industry the piece ultimately feels as trivial as the premise: A neurotic screenwriter neglects his work and becomes increasingly concerned with the petty details of Hollywood. But therein lays the problem, looking for revelations in a world that is all
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Jun 01, 2011
Paul
rated it:
A good cross-section of fiction today. The stories here, like all New Yorker fiction, have strong voices, are rigorously edited, and carry themselves with a quiet and sometimes powerful subtlety. But there's that "sometimes." Reading all of these together brings out what they have in common--the problems of the literary New Yorker stories.
Short fiction still lives in the very long shadow of writers like James Joyce: slow moving plots that serve mainly to set up and examine a More...
Short fiction still lives in the very long shadow of writers like James Joyce: slow moving plots that serve mainly to set up and examine a More...
Feb 07, 2012
Anna
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Wonderful introduction to amazing writers. A little disappointed when I recognized these "stories" from their larger novels -- I am looking at you Karen Russell and Gary Sheyngart. Still, I loved both of their books, so I can't fault the New Yorker for including them. And the best part about finishing this book is that now I have a great reading list of more authors to try!
May 30, 2011
Judith
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20 Under 40: Stories from the New Yorker, edited by Deborah Treisman collects 20 stories from the June 2010, annual summer fiction issue, and subsequent issues of the New Yorker written by 20 North American authors under the age of 40 that the New Yorker's editors expect to be among the most important authors of contemporary fiction in the coming decade. Young enough to be developing their art, but mature enough to have established their own unique voices, the authors are: Chimamanda Ngozi Adich
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Jan 19, 2011
Robert
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As is the case with pretty much any collection, I found some of the stories here to be very strong, others not so strong. The ones I really enjoyed were by "The Warm Fuzzies" by Chris Adrian, "Second Lives" by Daniel Alarcon, "The Pilot" by Joshua Ferris, "The Young Painters" by Nicole Krauss, "An Honest Exit" by Dinaw Mengestu, "What You Do Out Here, When You're Alone" by Philipp Meyer, and "Lenny Hearts Eunice" by Gary Shtey
Jul 10, 2011
Deidre
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Most of the stories I liked but I wasn’t bowled over like I am with Munro or Dubus or Nelson. Looks like you need to be from an immigrant family to be noticed as a writer by the New Yorker.
I definitely liked Yiun Li, whom I read before, Gold Boy, Emerald Girl.
I marked “Second Lives” by Daniel Alarcón as four stars.
I definitely liked Yiun Li, whom I read before, Gold Boy, Emerald Girl.
I marked “Second Lives” by Daniel Alarcón as four stars.
Jul 10, 2011
Jamie
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Well, I thought this would be one zinger after another and, for me, it wasn't. Sadly, the authors I was most looking forward to featured an excerpt from their already published (and read) novels (Nicole Krauss and Gary Shteyngart), or were just disappointingly self-absorbed in their "short stories" (Jonathan Safran Foer and Jonathan Ferris). I didn't read all the stories, though I did start almost all of them. Not a single one really rocked my world.
Mar 17, 2011
Jenna
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Loved Tea Obreht's "Blue Water Djinn" and Salvatore Scibona's "The Kid." Also really liked the stories by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Daniel Alarcón, and Dinaw Mengestu. Loathed the Shteyngart excerpt, but at least I will never waste time trying to read a whole novel by him. Hated the ZZ Packer story as I usually do. Everything else mediocre or good or pretty good--a wide range in this anthology, but that's to be expected, I suppose.
Dec 12, 2011
Maryn
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Some of these stories were really amazing, some i really just didn't like as much. It was a widely varied collection, which was nice. I read it all in one go but i think it would be better parceled out over a period of time, maybe with breaks to read other things. The book definitely did turn me on to new writers whose work i hadn't read before and now really want to.
May 29, 2011
kp
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What is there to say about such a cornucopia of style? Too often, "best of" equates to writing program students showing off to each other, but these New Yorker stories represent unique voices in top form. If you appreciate the art of the short story, the short sharp shock of it, you can do no better than this. Every other story had me thinking, "must check out this author's work in more depth." Fiction is alive and well in the US of A.
Jul 23, 2011
John
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20 Under 40 has been one of the high points of my reading year. Each story is engaging and keen, some tug at the heart strings, while others made me laugh out loud -- a well-balanced collection. All of the short stories expose a generational wit that I strongly identify with. In fact, this level of identification, which I think comes out of downright honesty, is this volume's strongest selling point, especially for readers under 40. I am loaning it to my parents next, so I will be interested
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Aug 10, 2011
A good way to find new favorite short story authors is to read short story collections. You may be particularly interested in this volume, as it makes a respectable attempt at identifying some of the most important writers of the coming generation.
Feb 20, 2012
Pat
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found some great new authors in here, and thoroughly enjoyed reading the ones i knew. nicole krauss's "the young painters" was one of the best short stories i've read in a long time...
Apr 23, 2011
jason
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loved "the kid" by Salvatore Scibona. my favorite contribution was by Rivka Galchen. mostly all the stories are great in some way. there were a couple i could do without.
Feb 18, 2011
Bruce
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GREAT writing! Rich variety. Some of these authors I had read before, many I had not. I have been buying a number of books by these authors since finishing the book.
Feb 13, 2011
Christa
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Although there are a few standout pieces that drive you to read through the end of their twenty or so pages, the collection as a whole dips and sags until you simply trudge through to the end to get to the finishing point.
Although a few of the stories gave interesting takes/views into other cultures and foreign situations, the pieces are generally too real, too literal, too straightforward, and ultimately do little new with fiction for my own tastes. Then again, it is fiction for th More...
Although a few of the stories gave interesting takes/views into other cultures and foreign situations, the pieces are generally too real, too literal, too straightforward, and ultimately do little new with fiction for my own tastes. Then again, it is fiction for th More...
Nov 15, 2011
Sarahanne
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Great collection of short stories. Very random - not thematic except for the age of the authors. Found some good new names to watch.
Apr 27, 2011
Nancy
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Enjoyable. Not some of the writers' best work (e.g. Jonathan Safran Foer). Discovered new authors that I'll have to read more of.
