Best New American Voices 2001

Best New American Voices

by John Kulka (Editor), John Kulka (Series Editor), Natalie Danford (Series Editor)

Gathered from one hundred prominent writing workshops around the United States and Canada, this second anthology of short fiction presents a wide variety of new voices, settings, and styles that capture all facets and visions of North American life. Original. 25,000 first printing.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

310 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 2001

Reviews

[Mark Wilkerson · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Best of" compilations are always hit-and-miss; "Best of"s are always subjective, after all, decided on by a guest editor. This collection, while a bit uneven, certainly has a few gems.

In selecting pieces for this collection, he guest editor for this edition, Charles Baxter, chose an extremely diverse body of works, from a diverse crowd of authors.

The best stories here focus on outcasts who feel singled-out by society, or special, for a variety of reasons. Take, for example, "Beheadings," by Kira Salak, about a woman searching in a war-time Cambodia for her recently-converted-to-Buddhism brother; Patrick Ryan's "Before Las Blancas," about a gay teenage runaway; and Lysley Tenorio's "Superassassin," about a comic-book loving Phillipino-American outcast who dreams of dispensing justice on the school's bullies.

I always enjoy discovering new writing talent, and it was well worth my time sifting through the ordinary to find the extraordinary.

[Kendall]

Interesting collection of stories from writers I've never heard of. All the writers are drawn from some sort of writing program at schools throughout the US. A couple of the stories- such as The Mean- I liked very much. There's a lot of interesting subject matter in this collection- including some gay fiction- which I've never read before. It was done very well- though.

[lila · Rating 3 out of 5]

mostly, all the stories are about people from the usa being sad, and, since i am not from the usa, it gets a little old
there's a bunch of good ones like pilgrims, the mean, beheadings and before las blancas
and there's a couple of bad ones lol
i also appreciate the lgbtq representation and the diverse group of author

[Artaudx · Rating 3 out of 5]

some good stories - f.i. lydia peelle - shadow on the way Land

[Kelsey Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this book was a bit like eating mash potatoes while crying. Kind of bleak, kind of unusual. I did like two stories very much: "Beheadings", by Kira Salak, and "The Mean" by Matthew Pitt.

"Beheadings" is about a woman who travels to Cambodia to search for her brother, who has been hiding from something in his past. I love the rich narrative and the exploration of the character's life, present, and uncertainty.

"The Mean" is an interesting story I found engaging. It concerns the people we meet and the unique situations we plunge into when we only have the now, and our future has receded from us.

I also liked "Home, James, and Don't Spare the Horses" by Antoine Wilson, about an artist trying to gain recognition for his nighttime photography, who finds himself jumping through strange and unexpected hoops.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

great collection of short stories - and with all short story collections, some are better than others.

[Abby Peck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like short story collections with various authors represented but I prefer the 'Best Of' to the 'Best New' ...

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed these stories. I'd pick a favorite but there are too many...maybe "Before Las Blancas" by Patrick Ryan. Or maybe "Pilgrims".

[Marcelo · Rating 3 out of 5]

First story is amazing...the others are not nearly as great.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Substantially better than the 2000 version. All seventeen of these stories are at last passable. Highlights for me were "Pilgrims", "Beheadings", "Intervention", and "Loss".

[Richard Jespers · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Beheadings” by Kira Salak is great.
“The Mean” by Matthew Pitt is also quite fine.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-read this - forgot I read it before! My favorite stories: Superassassin by Lysley A. Tenorio, Beheadings by Kira Salak, and The Sharp Light of Trespassers by Whitney Davis