The Best American Short Stories 2006

by Ann Patchett (Editor), Katrina Kenison (Series Editor)

“While a single short story may have a difficult time raising enough noise on its own to be heard over the din of civilization, short stories in bulk can have the effect of swarming bees, blocking out sound and sun and becoming the only thing you can think about,” writes Ann Patchett in her introduction to The Best American Short Stories 2006.

This vibrant, varied sampler of the American literary scene revels in life’s little absurdities, captures timely personal and cultural challenges, and ultimately shares subtle insight and compassion. In “The View from Castle Rock,” the short story master Alice Munro imagines a fictional account of her Scottish ancestors’ emigration to Canada in 1818. Nathan Englander’s cast of young characters in “How We Avenged the Blums” confronts a bully dubbed “The Anti-Semite” to both comic and tragic ends. In “Refresh, Refresh,” Benjamin Percy gives a forceful, heart-wrenching look at a young man’s choices when his father -- along with most of the men in his small town -- is deployed to Iraq. Yiyun Li’s “After a Life” reveals secrets, hidden shame, and cultural change in modern China. And in “Tatooizm,” Kevin Moffett weaves a story full of humor and humanity about a young couple’s relationship that has run its course.

Ann Patchett “brought unprecedented enthusiasm and judiciousness [to The Best American Short Stories 2006],” writes Katrina Kenison in her foreword, “and she is, surely, every story writer’s ideal reader, eager to love, slow to fault, exquisitely attentive to the text and all that lies beneath it.”

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Collections, Short Story Collection, Literature, Unfinished

416 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2006

About the author

Patchett was born in Los Angeles, California. Her mother is the novelist Jeanne Ray.

She moved to Nashville, Tennessee when she was six, where she continues to live. Patchett said she loves her home in Nashville with her doctor husband and dog. If asked if she could go any place, that place would always be home. "Home is ...the stable window that opens out into the imagination."

Patchett attended high school at St. Bernard Academy, a private, non-parochial Catholic school for girls run by the Sisters of Mercy. Following graduation, she attended Sarah Lawrence College and took fiction writing classes with Allan Gurganus, Russell Banks, and Grace Paley. She later attended the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where she met longtime friend Elizabeth McCracken. It was also there that she wrote her first novel, The Patron Saint of Liars.

In 2010, when she found that her hometown of Nashville no longer had a good book store, she co-founded Parnassus Books with Karen Hayes; the store opened in November 2011. In 2012, Patchett was on the Time 100 list of most influential people in the world by TIME magazine.

Reviews

[صان · Rating 5 out of 5]

خیلی مجموعه‌ی جالبیه. هر ساله چاپ می‌شه و بهترین داستان‌های کوتاه آمریکایی به انتخاب ویراستارهاش انتخاب می‌شه. به نظرم خیلی جالبه که چکیده‌ی تعدادی از بهترین داستان‌های سال رو بخونی. و همیشه غبطه می‌خورم که چنین ادبیات پرکاری دارن.
ندیدم که سال‌های دیگه‌ی این مجموعه چاپ شده باشه. این نسخه رو نشر چشمه سال ۹۳ چاپ کرده بوده و منم خیلی وقت پیش خریده بودمش.
در کتاب اصلی ۲۰ داستان کوتاه چاپ شده اما در این نسخه مترجم ایرانی ۷ تاشو به سلیقه‌ی خودش ترجمه و چاپ کرده.

برای من خیلی جذابه که ببینم معاصران فارسی زبانم چه داستان‌هایی می‌نویسن. دوست دارم بدونم زندگی‌ای که داریم می‌کنیم، نتیجه‌ش چه داستان‌هایی می‌شه. ولی داستان کوتاه ایرانی خیلی کم خوندم و جز مجله‌ی سان، جای دیگه‌ای رو نمی‌شناسم که داستان‌های ایرانی چاپ کنه.

داستان‌های این مجموعه رو خیلی دوست داشتم. تقریبا همه‌شون برام جالب بودن. از آلیس مونرو که یه سری یادداشت قدیمی خانوادگی رو به داستانی جالب تبدیل کرده بود تا داستانی که تمامش توی یک تاکسی می‌گذشت و راوی‌های مختلفی داشت و در عین یکسان بودن موقعیت پرکشش بود. داستان انتهای کتاب که سرگذشت یک نویسنده‌ی بوسنیایی رو بعد از رفتن از کشورش روایت می‌کرد؛ وقتی ترک وطن کرده بود و توی کشورش جنگ شده بود؛ و شاعر بزرگ کشورش و حسادتی که بهش داشت و تمام این احساسات ضد و نقیضِ محرمانه رو عریان و بی‌ترس نوشته بود.
سه داستان هم مربوط به جنگ ویتنام بود، اما از زاویه دید کسایی که توی جنگ نیستن. مثلا نوجوان‌هایی که پدرهاشونو رو در جنگ از دست دادن و خشمی که به شکل کنترل‌ناپذیری در وجودشون ریشه می‌دوانه، یا بچه‌هایی که از جنگ تقلید می‌کنن و جنگ بازی هرروزه‌شون می‌شه، یا ارتباط دوستانه‌ی دو فردی که کشورهاشون با همدیگه در جنگن.

بیشترین چیزی که در این کتاب برای من پررنگ بود، چرخه‌ی خشونت بی‌معنی‌ای بود که شرایط جنگی برای آدم‌های معمولی و بی‌آزار ایجاد می‌کنه. آدم‌هایی که در سیاست هیچ نقشی ندارن و هیچ ایده‌های تمامیت‌خواهانه‌ای هم ندارن، اما به علت‌های بی‌معنی پاشون به جنگ باز می‌شه و بعد دیگه این چرخِ آتشین رو نمی‌شه کنترل کرد؛ مثل سورتمه‌ای که با سرعتی فزاینده داره به قعر گودالِ یخیِ داستانِ «ایمیل» کشیده می‌شه.

جذاب‌ترین داستان این مجموعه برای من «مسافربران غیررسمی» بود.
همون داستانی که روایتگر قصه‌ی سه آدمیه که در یک ماشین در ترافیک به سر می‌برن. موقعیتی کاملا ایستا، که با شرح درونیات و زندگی این سه نفر جذاب و خوندنی شده. دلم می‌خواد این داستان رو کپی کنم به عنوان یک مشق داستان‌نویسی. سه شخصیت رو بذارم توی یک تاکسی، همینجا در تهران مثلا، و ببینم می‌تونم قصه‌ای با این ساختار بنویسم؟

راستی، ویراستار این مجموعه هم مقدمه‌ی خیلی جذابی نوشته بود. از این که خونه‌‌ای در حومه‌ی شهر می‌خرن، یک خونه‌ی ویلایی ساکت، که در اون داستان‌های زیادی خونده و دورهمی‌های داستانی جذابی تجربه کرده. این زندگی برام خیلی قشنگ بود. چنین خونه‌ای و چنین جمع‌های داستانی‌ای. مثلا جمع شیم دور هم داستان بخونیم و بعد دربارش حرف بزنیم. خوبی داستان کوتاه همینه که می‌شه در یک نشست خوندش و می‌شه راحت به تجربه‌ای جمعی تبدیلش کرد.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve had this book on the nightstand for so many months, available for dipping into for a few pages before turning out the light and getting some sleep, that it’s going to seem like something’s missing now that I’m finished. I appreciate the short form, a sort of refreshing palate cleanser between novels, and this one is chock-full of worthy entries, including Alice Munro’s The View from Castle Rock. Why 2006? Because Ann Patchett was the guest editor that year, and I was curious to see what she selected for inclusion. I’ve been a reader of her novels for many years, but my fandom was absolutely cemented by her essay, titled These Precious Days, in Harper’s magazine last fall. (Look it up and read it—I guarantee it’ll be the best thing you read for a while. It’s about how an email friendship with Tom Hanks’s personal assistant Sooki morphed into something profound when Ann and her doctor husband offered to house Sooki in their Nashville home while she participated in a clinical trial in the local hospital—and then COVID slammed in, turning the visit into a months-long stay.) I am now a cheerleader for all things Patchett, so I had to check this out. By the way, the essay These Precious Days will be included in a collection of Patchett’s essays being published this Novenber, called—you guessed it—These Precious Days.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting group of short stories. I decided to pick up and read all the way through due to Ann Patchett being the editor. I was interested to see if I could discern a link. Not sure. Some I enjoyed and some not so much. A more complete review to come. 4 start collections overall.

[Billie Pritchett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable collection of short stories. Here are some of the memorable short stories. Benjamin Percey's "Refresh, Refresh" is about a small town whose best job opportunity for the men is joining the army and about the young men who try to cope with the absence of their fathers. Maxine Swann's "Secret" is a story about sexually coming of age in high school. Patrick Ryan's "So Much for Artemis" involves a father whose recent actions aren't quite comprehensible to his son (but which are comprehensible to the reader). Kevin Moffett's "Tattooizm" is about a young woman and her boyfriend, the latter an aspiring tattoo artist. Other enjoyable stories I remember, but I'm too lazy to recall are "Cowboy" and "Today, I'm Yours." Some of the other stories were enjoyable and instructive, but not as much as these were. I would dissuade folk from reading the final story in this collection, because I couldn't find much to merit the inclusion of the story: it's called "Mr. Nobody at All," and, aside from the various perspectives people have on the man's life, he is not a person you would want to spend too much of your time with nor are many of the people who are close to him and who recount their experiences with him.

[Sheri Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Ann Patchett's writing, but she's no editor. I've read every book in this Best American series since 1996, and this is the worst so far. Choosing from among 100 or so stories, Patchett couldn't help but include a few strong ones, and she has (stand-outs for me include Patrick Ryan, Aleksander Hemon, Katherine Bell). But most are only okay or just blah, especially compared to a few I'd read that made the "Top 100" list, and she chooses far too many stories that are essentially the same (kids playing war games at home while soldier fathers are away at war; marriage troubles in Beijing) and then puts them right next to each other.

I teach these books in writing workshops, where it can be valuable for students to read a poor collection and find the weaknesses of "successful" writing. They understand that they *can* do better than this, and anger at bad (false, pretentious, insincere) writing is a fine motivator. If you're looking to read some good stories, though, skip this one.

[Thruder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love short stories and this collection i always look forward to reading each year. Typically a good mix of touching, humor, dramatic stories slightly reflective of the guest editors tastes. This year’s collection though selected by Ms. Patchet was a hard read. The theme for every story seemed to be family tragedy, death or tragic deaths! Mind you I thoroughly enjoyed the collection but given time…I was not able to read a story a night and move on. Each and every one of the stories was beautifully put together and thought provoking. Putting words to some of mankind’s deepest thoughts of mortality. Only the last story did I not connect with on some level. Good- great read if you want to delve deeper into yourself.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a compilation of 20 short stories first selected by editor Katrina Kenison from a huge selection of periodicals and then narrowed down by guest editor Ann Patchett. In Kenison’s forward, she says goodbye to us after serving as the standing editor since 1998. Is sounds like it was an amazing job that she has enjoyed for a number of years.

In Ann Patchett's introduction, she tells us how short stories do not get the press and accolades they deserve. I fully agree, although whether someone enjoys short stories or not is a personal choice. As Ms. Pachett says, this anthology is not necessarily the best short stories in America, they are ones that she likes best. That is what I am finding in reading this series. Depending on the guest editor, some collections work, some do not. But it exposes you to different genres without devoting a great deal of reading time.

Patchett writes about how short story authors may not necessarily be good novelists, This is something I wonder about because when I really enjoy a particular story, I look the author up to see what else they may have written. I’ve added a number of books to my TBR list this way.

My two favorites were: Grandmother’s Nose by Robert Coover. I found this very clever.
The Casual Carpool by Katherine Bell. Again a very clever way of telling the story by switching points of view very seamlessly. Other good ones were: The Ambush by Donna Tartt
So Much for Artemis by Patrick Ryan
Refresh, Refresh by Benjamin Percy
Cowboy by Thomas McGuane
Other than two that did not work for me, the rest of the stories had their good points.
I will continue my quest to read this series going forward to this year's selections.

[Chris Waterford · Rating 2 out of 5]

I chose to read this because Ann Patchett was the editor and she is one of my favourite authors. However, I didn't find the magic in these stories that I have enjoyed in her books. They were mostly slice of life type stories with very little focus or moral or end point.
5.5/10

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I've said before, it's difficult to review collections like this, because I read them over such a long stretch of time, a story here and a story there. What I remember about this one is that there seemed to be a lot of "short story-y" stories, particularly in the first half -- a lot of the summer that changed our lives or the childhood friend with the severe medical condition or troubled home life. The story selection seemed too safe.

When I picked up the book for the last time and decided to knock off the rest of the stories in one go, I hit a stretch of very good stories that seemed poised to redeem the book and bring it up to the high standards of the Best American series. Thomas McGuane's "Cowboy," in particular, is memorable -- a Cormac McCarthy-esque summation of a ranch hand's life (albeit without brutal murders or crushing bleakness). Stories like Jack Livings' "The Dog," Yiyun Li's "After a Life," Aleksandar Hemon's "The Conductor," Nathan Englander's "How We Avenged the Blums," and David Bezmozgis' "A New Gravestone for an Old Grave" take what could be standard short story fare and craft quite memorable, worthwhile stories. The collection seemed to have righted itself, cruising towards a 4-star rating.

Then came Ann Beattie's "Mr. Nobody at All." This story, the final entry in the collection, clocks in at just under 50 pages, when it consists of little more than a gag that shouldn't take more than 15 pages. In the author's own words: "I've burned out on memorial services in which you sit immobilized while people, in the guise of talking about the dearly departed, talk about themselves, so I thought it would be funny to do a send-up of memorial services." Well, yes, it could be funny. But the problem is that, in this case, it isn't that funny. The story consists strictly of speeches given at a memorial service, but none of them are really that funny or entertaining. And when taken in the aggregate, they don't really tell a larger story; you don't get much of a picture of the deceased's life (which is, I guess, kind of the point), nor do you really understand much about how all these people are connected to each other. And it just goes on and on and on. By the fourth or fifth speech, you get the joke. By the eighth or tenth, you realize that there is no larger story being told beyond the original joke. By the twentieth or thirtieth, you realize that there is nothing new or better coming down the pike, and you start to wish that it was your memorial service.

To sum up: This collection starts out slowly and blandly, delivers a number of solid stories in the second half, and then grinds to a soul-bleaching halt as you slog through the last story.

[Elizabeth Raines · Rating 3 out of 5]

How I came up with my star rating for this collection was simply by rating each story individually and then calculating the average. I ended up with a rating of 2.6. This collection evoked a strong sense of nostalgia for me. It was first published when I was seven years old, and many of the stories brought back memories of my childhood and teenage years. Looking back at that time filled me with a sense of nostalgia. This collection also introduced me to many new writers, including favorites like Donna Tartt. Overall, most of the stories were average. Below, I will list my favorite stories from the collection in no particular order:

- "The Ambush" by Donna Tartt
- "Secret" by Maxine Swann
- "So Much For Artemis" by Patrick Ryan
- "Refresh, Refresh" by Benjamin Percy
- "The Casual Carpool" by Katherine Bell.

[Chelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Remembering now why I didn’t enjoy short stories in school. Every last one of these was a major bummer! Not sure anyone needs to read stories about war, suicide, fear of death, etc back to back to back. Confession: I didn’t finish. Maybe the stories lighten up after the halfway mark, but I didn’t want to stick around and find out.

[Karel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave up on this after reading 50%. Short stories just aren't my thing, I guess. And if these are the best of the best of an entire year, short stories truly... are not my thing.

[Vivian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not quite sure how you rate one of these. Liked and/or enjoyed Secret, So Much For Artemis, Refresh, Refresh, The View From Castle Rock, Cowboy, How We Avenged The Blums, and A New Gravestone For An Old Grave. As far as the rest of them, I have absolutely no idea how they could have been "the best American short stories of 2006". Either there was an extreme shortage that year or there were a lot of really horrible short stories because these were utter garbage. Since I've always had a secret desire to write a book, the fact that these short stories were published to "rave reviews" gives me hope that I could pump out a bestseller too. There, maybe that is the best that could be said for them. On to the next book (and hopefully better written).

[Beth Hartnett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I set out to read a short story collection at the suggestion of Anne Patchett who absolutely RAVED about the genre. While there were some interesting stories and I am glad that I tried it, I once again confirmed that I would rather read a novel or memoir or anything that lets me get into the story and characters more than a short story. I am not ruling out future short story forays, but will be choosing elsewhere in general!

[Kristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love reading short stories. You can pick it up and put it down and not forget what you've read previously. Maybe it's because I finished a short story collection not long ago that was amazing and fresh in my mind. None of these stories really stood out to me.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite story was shockingly not from an old favorite author in this mixed-bag collection--I was pleased to discover Katherine Bell's "The Casual Car Pool."

[Georganne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love short stories and these volumes, published yearly, are always some of the best.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most stories were good, although I did not like the last story and could not finish it.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories are starting to grow on me. The more I read them, the more I understand them. Their focus is on the moment and how it feels.

With that in mind my favorite of this collection was Yiyun Li's “After a Life,” about a family who has spent a lifetime taking care of a child with special needs and the guilt they feel for imagining what life will be like “later.”

I also enjoyed Edith Pearlman’s “Self-Reliance.” I came across three odd sentences while reading it and discovered at the end that they were clues to what would happen. In my past experiences with short stories, those clues would have been lost on me.

My other favorite was Thomas McGuane’s “Cowboy.” Although I struggled with the opening paragraph, confused by what was happening, I quickly enjoyed the voice and the growing relationship with the main characters.

Runners up go to Nathan Englander’s “How We Avenged the Blums,” David Bezmozgis’ “A New Gravestone for an Old Grave,” and Jack Livings’ “The Dog.” All three created a tension in their stories and brought me into worlds I wasn’t familiar with.

Rounding out my favorites were Katherine Bell’s “The Casual Carpool,” Aleksandar Hemon’s “The Conductor,” and Alice Munro’s “The View from Castle Rock.” All three had characters that I enjoyed.

As for the other eleven stories, they provided brief moments of enjoyment for me, either based on nostalgia or an intellectual idea but didn’t hit me deep enough to put them at the top of my list.

Overall, I’d recommend these short stories to anyone who isn’t familiar with the genre but is curious to try something new.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kenison's last batch as series editor. Neither a peak nor a trough for the series -- i.e., it was a pretty good edition to go out on. Plenty of good stuff to be found, as usual, with a few standouts and only one total dud. My favorites of the bunch, in rough order of preference:
* Ann Beattie with Harry Mathews - "Mr. Nobody at All"
* Benjamin Percy - "Refresh, Refresh"
* Nathan Englander - "How We Avenged the Blums"
* Thomas McGuane - "Cowboy"
* Donna Tartt - "The Ambush"
* David Bezmozgis - "A New Gravestone for an Old Grave"

And some honorable mentions:
* Tobias Wolff - "Awaiting Orders"
* Mary Gaitskill - "Tonight I'm Yours"

[David Abrams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This entry in the annual anthology series didn't hook me as much as other years of the Best American Short Stories. Sure, there were plenty of highlights and standout tales: Benjamin Percy's "Refresh, Refresh," Tobias Wolff's "Awaiting Orders" and Thomas McGuane's "Cowboy" were predictably good (and, frankly, I'd read those three before and it was pleasant to see how well they held up). But this BASS was also bogged down with some long stories (bordering on novellas) and experimental stories that didn't always hit the mark for me. Ann Beattie's concluding, 46-page "Mr. Nobody At All" was particularly grueling to get through. All in all, I liked this collection, but I didn't love it.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose this book because it was edited by Ann Patchett and I’d already read everything that she’s written. I almost never read collections of short stories, but I will definitely continue after this. My favorites in the order they appear:
1. The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro
2. Cowboy by Thomas McGuane
3. After a Life by Yiyun Li
4. Mr. Nobody at All by Ann Beattie

My two that I oscillated on enough that I came back here to add them to the list:
1. Self-Reliance by Edith Pearlman
2. The Casual Car Pool by Katherine Bell

[Cdubbub · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of short stories, selected by my favourite author? YES PLEASE! There were so many good stories in this collection, particularly "Today I'm Yours", "The Dog" & "The Casual Car Pool". There were quite a few where my attention wasn't kept, but not enough to make it an unpleasant reading experience. And most importantly it confirmed one thing: no matter how many stories of hers I read, I just don't get Alice Munro.

[Ronald Wise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology contains some powerful stories pertaining to the events and issues of the first decade of the 21st century. The most impressive were: “Once the Shore” by Paul Yoon; “The Ambush” by Donna Tartt; “Secret” by Maxine Swann; “So Much for Artemis” by Patrick Ryan; “Refresh, Refresh” by Benjamin Percy; “Self-Reliance” by Edith Pearlman; “The Dog” by Jack Livings; and “The Conductor” by Aleksandar Hemon.

[tenseManatee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly most of the stories were good as usual but to end the book on the fifty page Ann Beattie story which was so incredibly boring was a mistake. I can see how this would come out of a McSweeneys literary magazine because they have an extremely light touch when it comes to editing things down, looking for quantity and length over actual quality. That story made me never want to read another word by Beattie.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Ann Patchett, love this series, love this year of stories.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection with several thoughtful and atmospheric stories by known authors.

[Shelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many heart wrenching stories. Especially enjoyed Alice Munro's story.

[Craig Hinners · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Mr. Nobody at All” by Ann Beattie had me laughing out loud.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better stories overall than some others in this series.