The Pushcart Prize XXVI: Best of the Small Presses, 2002 Edition

by Bill Henderson

This exciting annual just keeps getting bigger and better.―Donna Seaman, Booklist... A tradition in American literature."―Kirkus Reviews...  "Essential."―Library Journal For the year 2002 edition, The Pushcart Prize presents over sixty stunning short stories, poems, and essays selected from hundreds of small presses and literary journals with the help of over 200 distinguished contributing editors. In the long-established Pushcart tradition, this fascinating collection combines the work of today's luminaries with a host of new talents, creating a deeply rewarding assembly of diverse voices. The most-honored literary series in America, The Pushcart Prize has been named a notable book of the year by the New York Times and hailed with Pushcart Press as "among the most influential in the development of the American book business" over the past century. The Pushcart Prize has been chosen for many Book-of-the-Month Club selections, and recently its editor was named small press "person of the year" by the Small Press Association.

619 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2001

About the author

Bill Henderson (born April 5, 1941) is an American author, editor and publisher best known for his memoirs and the Pushcart Prize series.

Reviews

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection had a high level of lucid well-written pieces--from essays to fiction to poetry--and I was surprised by how many pages I'd dogeared by the time I had finished. Of course, there were a few disappointments such as the fictions by Rick Bass and Thomas Lynch. Bass' seemed to be the framework to a good story had it been pressure-cooked a little, and Lynch's was predictably full of cadavers, funerals, and other things related to "the dismal trade." Neither seemed to explore new ground. But what do I know? I know the following were most certainly good reads:

"The Cavemen in the Hedges" by Stacey Richter, "An Official Reply" by Ha Jin, "Grief" by Pamela Painter, "The Ashes of August" by Kim Barnes, "Hippies" by Denis Johnson, "The Big-Breasted Pilgrim" by Ann Beattie, "The Bad Seed: A Guide" by Nicola Mason, "Khwaja Khadir" by David James Duncan, "It Is Hard Not to Love the World" by Jim Moore, "O Lost" by Thomas Wolfe, "Melba Kuperchmid Returns" by Peter M. Orner, "Alcyone" by Talvikki Ansel, "Bike Ride with Older Boys" by Laura Kasischke, "Death as a Fictitious Event" by Bert O. States, "Part of the Story" by Stephen Dobyns, "Seven Types of Ambiguity" by Dan Chaon, and "The Moor" by Russell Banks.

Note: Keep an eye out for more Stacey Richter as she is an interesting read, being able to humorously marry pop-cultural product contempt with a delightfully non-pretentious nonchalance, and when she goes for something darker, she succeeds with grace and aplomb.

[Alan]

The best of the small presses annual collection of short stories , essays, and poetry. For the most part the poetry leaves me clueless, but the short stories and essays this year were the best I've read in years.