The Penguin Book of New American Voices

by Jay McInerney

This is an anthology of fiction, by those who began publishing in the 1990s. The authors include Terry McMillan, Mark Leyner, Jeffrey Eugenides, Paul Watkins, William Vollman, Darcey Steinke and Dorothy Alison.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

John Barrett McInerney Jr. is an American writer. His novels include Bright Lights, Big City, Ransom, Story of My Life, Brightness Falls, and The Last of the Savages. He edited The Penguin Book of New American Voices, wrote the screenplay for the 1988 film adaptation of Bright Lights, Big City, and co-wrote the screenplay for the television film Gia, which starred Angelina Jolie. He is the wine columnist for House & Garden magazine, and his essays on wine have been collected in Bacchus & Me (2000) and A Hedonist in the Cellar (2006). His most recent novel is titled The Good Life, published in 2006.

Reviews

[Rich Gamble · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but not essential collection of American Fiction from the 1990's. Jay picks some future lit stars like Jeff Eugenides and Jennifer Egan and if you're a fan its interesting to read some of their earliest printed work. Other stories are by long forgotten authors with some being rather forgettable. Pick of the bunch is 'Sleepytown' by Donna Tart which is understandable given it was written around the same time as 'The Secret History', one of the best books published in the 90's.

[Alex Zeegers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een leuke bloemlezing van Amerkaanse auteurs uit de beginjaren '90 van de vorige eeuw.
Niet alle verhalen vond ik leuk er waren ook een paar die ik wat verwarrend vond of mij niet lagen. Zoals het verhaal van Meyner diie ik niet uitgelezen heb.

[Sofia Jeličić · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! My favorites were:
1. Her Real Name
2. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
3. Capricious Gardens
4. Cowboys are My Weakness

I don't get why this book is virtually unknown, as are most of the stories in here..

[ALM · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interestingly curated set of stories with some key highlights (Sleepytown, Fucking Martin, Her Real Name, Crusader Rabbit and Cowboys are my Weakness) but the lowlights were low and often confusing

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good stories, some forgettable, some annoyingly and datedly PoMo. Those by Dorothy Allison, Jeff Eugenides, David Foster Wallace and Jennifer Egan stood out for me – especially the Wallace story, which is the only one that felt like a ‘classic’.

[Amberle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bleacgh. Typical 90's bleak-for-no-reason-and-lack-of-content bullshit. Not a single one of these stirred my emotions. Nor did they even set me thinking about the woes of the world they try to poetically describe.