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Prize Stories: the Best of 1999: The O. Henry Awards: The O. Henry Awards
The seventy-ninth anniversary of this annual collection of short stories "widely regarded as the nation's most prestigious awards for short fiction." ( The Atlantic Monthly ).
Edited and with an introduction by Larry Dark
1999 Top-Prize Selection Sherman Alexie, Stephen King, Lorrie Moore
Established in 1918 as a memorial to O.Henry, this esteemed annual collection has presented a remarkable collection of stories over the years. Recently, Series Editor Larry Dark has incorporated some exciting a magazine award, the eligibility of stories from Canadian magazines, a list of fifty Honorable Mention stories, an expanded listing of publications consulted, and a celebrity author top-prize jury.
Representing the very best in contemporary American and Canadian fiction, Prize Stories 1999: The O.Henry Awards is a superb collection of twenty inventive, full-bodied short stories brimming with life--proof of the continuing strength and variety of the genre.
Edited and with an introduction by Larry Dark
1999 Top-Prize Selection Sherman Alexie, Stephen King, Lorrie Moore
Established in 1918 as a memorial to O.Henry, this esteemed annual collection has presented a remarkable collection of stories over the years. Recently, Series Editor Larry Dark has incorporated some exciting a magazine award, the eligibility of stories from Canadian magazines, a list of fifty Honorable Mention stories, an expanded listing of publications consulted, and a celebrity author top-prize jury.
Representing the very best in contemporary American and Canadian fiction, Prize Stories 1999: The O.Henry Awards is a superb collection of twenty inventive, full-bodied short stories brimming with life--proof of the continuing strength and variety of the genre.
464 pages, Paperback
First published September 14, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 11, 2012
I've always wondered when this would happen, and it finally has. One, I've finally struck upon an anthology I had already read (borrowed from the library) and not recognized as having read before, and two, I've finally found the anthology that started it all for me. Yes, it was this very edition of Prize Stories that got me consuming annual short story anthologies with regularity. I wish I could remember what got me to pick it up -- I remember I was in my hometown, so options were sparse. It was on the new books shelf, near a guide to gun prices. Did my mom think I might like it? Was it because I had read literary fiction in the New Yorker? (This is something else that's been bugging me lately -- when did I start reading the New Yorker? What got me going on that?)
Regardless of what led to my checking it out, I definitely remember reading it. It was the summer I worked in the special collections department of an area liberal arts college, cataloging volumes of French plays from the late 19th century that I was pretty sure would never circulate. I was broke beyond belief, as nearly all of the meager salary I earned working there was spent on my commute there, a 45-minute bus trip I wouldn't wish on anyone. I couldn't afford to buy lunch and was too picky to bring it, so I'd spend my lunch hour lying on the quad and reading these short stories. For years I'd remembered vividly the tears that ran down my cheeks when I first read "A Nurse's Story," and how "The Depressed Person" introduced me to hating David Foster Wallace. But I didn't note what anthology it was, and I never ran across it again until my husband bought me a copy on Amazon. I've been filling out the collection that I own, and since when I was in college (back at my own college, not the summer job one) I read a large number of the Best American Short Stories anthologies (which I also helpfully never made note of having read), I figured it was sooner or later I'd hit one I read before.
And this one is SO GOOD. Surprisingly, some of the pieces I find the weakest are from authors I usually like (Alice Munro, Michael Cunningham). But the others -- WOW. Both Sheila Schwartz's "Afterbirth" and Michael Chabon's "Son of the Wolfman" have remained with me vividly through the intervening decade, and to finally be able to put names to them and know where to find them again is really exciting. George Saunders' "Sea Oak" is so vivid and strange I can't believe I don't remember it (or Charlotte Forbes' "Sign", for that matter). Really everything here is pretty darn good -- even writers I'm not usually that psyched for, like Pam Houston, have great pieces here. It's got some quirks to it as a collection (one thing I noticed is the odd repetition of quite specific themes in the stories) but on the whole, this was just a really, really good year for lit fic.
Regardless of what led to my checking it out, I definitely remember reading it. It was the summer I worked in the special collections department of an area liberal arts college, cataloging volumes of French plays from the late 19th century that I was pretty sure would never circulate. I was broke beyond belief, as nearly all of the meager salary I earned working there was spent on my commute there, a 45-minute bus trip I wouldn't wish on anyone. I couldn't afford to buy lunch and was too picky to bring it, so I'd spend my lunch hour lying on the quad and reading these short stories. For years I'd remembered vividly the tears that ran down my cheeks when I first read "A Nurse's Story," and how "The Depressed Person" introduced me to hating David Foster Wallace. But I didn't note what anthology it was, and I never ran across it again until my husband bought me a copy on Amazon. I've been filling out the collection that I own, and since when I was in college (back at my own college, not the summer job one) I read a large number of the Best American Short Stories anthologies (which I also helpfully never made note of having read), I figured it was sooner or later I'd hit one I read before.
And this one is SO GOOD. Surprisingly, some of the pieces I find the weakest are from authors I usually like (Alice Munro, Michael Cunningham). But the others -- WOW. Both Sheila Schwartz's "Afterbirth" and Michael Chabon's "Son of the Wolfman" have remained with me vividly through the intervening decade, and to finally be able to put names to them and know where to find them again is really exciting. George Saunders' "Sea Oak" is so vivid and strange I can't believe I don't remember it (or Charlotte Forbes' "Sign", for that matter). Really everything here is pretty darn good -- even writers I'm not usually that psyched for, like Pam Houston, have great pieces here. It's got some quirks to it as a collection (one thing I noticed is the odd repetition of quite specific themes in the stories) but on the whole, this was just a really, really good year for lit fic.
January 25, 2019
Whoo, there's some good stuff in here!
Want to read
June 7, 2025Cutting is for Miracle Boy
By Pinckney Benedict
By Pinckney Benedict
July 29, 2016
I bought this book for one reason, really: I couldn't believe Sherman Alexie, Stephen King and Lorrie Moore actually worked together on anything. On the one hand--cool! On the other--uh, these three authors, whose works are entirely disparate in style, form and subject matter, wound up judging O. Henry Prize stuff? I had to know what they came up with.
The answer surprised me. Alexie gave first prize to an emotional but otherwise unconventional story about a nurse and her would-have-been nurses' union, Stephen King chose a very old-fashioned, almost Faulknerian piece for second place, and Lorrie Moore's third place entry went for the story that had a strange, almost supernatural bent. I wouldn't have thought the authors would have gone for those selections. (Which were not the best stories in the collection for me, also a surprise.)
Another thing that struck me about this collection was the entirely different feel it has compared to the O. Henry collections I've read from other eras. These stories were long, a bit rambling and highly emotional. Much of what I've read in O. Henry collections from 2003 onward (and back in the early-mid-'90s) could be described as great writing, even innovative writing, but emotionally pared down. At least until those killer endings. These pieces were really...deep. Bonus points to a stand out story from Michael Chabon, 'Son of the Wolfman,' which had an unusually spot-on depiction of a woman's post-rape pregnancy experience via a midwife. I felt like Chabon had crawled inside the head of a pregnant woman to write that one.) In comparison, a lot of other O. Henry books feel half-assed.
So maybe Alexie, King and Moore did something right.
The answer surprised me. Alexie gave first prize to an emotional but otherwise unconventional story about a nurse and her would-have-been nurses' union, Stephen King chose a very old-fashioned, almost Faulknerian piece for second place, and Lorrie Moore's third place entry went for the story that had a strange, almost supernatural bent. I wouldn't have thought the authors would have gone for those selections. (Which were not the best stories in the collection for me, also a surprise.)
Another thing that struck me about this collection was the entirely different feel it has compared to the O. Henry collections I've read from other eras. These stories were long, a bit rambling and highly emotional. Much of what I've read in O. Henry collections from 2003 onward (and back in the early-mid-'90s) could be described as great writing, even innovative writing, but emotionally pared down. At least until those killer endings. These pieces were really...deep. Bonus points to a stand out story from Michael Chabon, 'Son of the Wolfman,' which had an unusually spot-on depiction of a woman's post-rape pregnancy experience via a midwife. I felt like Chabon had crawled inside the head of a pregnant woman to write that one.) In comparison, a lot of other O. Henry books feel half-assed.
So maybe Alexie, King and Moore did something right.
August 21, 2014
This was the first O Henry anthology I read and it was one with strong contenders. Back when I read it, it introduced me to David Schickler, Jhumpa Lahiri, George Saunders, and David Foster Wallace.
Not a fan of his, but Michael Chabon's "Son of the Wolfman" was awesome. The whole collection was worthy and turned me onto new authors.
The O Henry anthologies are good that way.
Not a fan of his, but Michael Chabon's "Son of the Wolfman" was awesome. The whole collection was worthy and turned me onto new authors.
The O Henry anthologies are good that way.
November 11, 2015
Full disclosure, I didn't read this whole book. I couldn't get through the story by David Foster Wallace. The writing style and never ending sentences were too much for me. I did enjoy Merry Go Sorry and Sea Oak the most.
March 9, 2015
This is a great collection of stories with something for everyone. I even enjoyed the one about soccer and sports are usually a major turn off for me. The winning story is "A Nurses Story" and recounts the importance of one life.
September 13, 2009
Highlights:
Son of the Wolfman by Michael Chabon
Sea Oak- George Saunders
The Depressed Person- David Forster Wallace
Son of the Wolfman by Michael Chabon
Sea Oak- George Saunders
The Depressed Person- David Forster Wallace
November 16, 2015
Wouldn't give all the stories a 5 rating, but would to many of them!
May 9, 2013
Excellent. Perfect for reading in order to avoid the HUGE novel I am slogging through.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews