The Best of the Best: 18 New Stories by America's Leading Authors

by Elaine Koster (Editor), Joseph Pittman (Editor), Various

An anthology of eighteen original short stories features contributions by Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, E.L. Doctorow, Lawrence Block, Ed McBain, Erica Jong, and Nancy Taylor Rosenberg

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Short Story Collection, Collections, Horror

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Angie S]

An ok selection of short stories, but I can't say I enjoyed it much. I didn't read everything, but I decided to count it for review rather than Did Not Finish since I read what I wanted to. Short story compilations often work that way, so I don't feel like I'm cheating. It was interesting to have stories by both Stephen and Tabitha King even if neither story was quite to my taste. Not bad, but, overall, not for me.

[Carol Waters]

Such a disappoint! 18 writers who have nothing in common except their publisher, who probably twisted arms to get this thing together. Stephen King and Joyce Carol Oates came through but “A Place for Nathan” by Rosenberg was was pathetic and “The Unsung Song of Mary Gallinger” was another pitiful story about a woman who gets it all in the end. I could have skipped the last few stories.

[Khanson919]

I like to read a short story between finishing a book and starting a new one. Kind of like a palate cleanser. I really liked some of these stories, but I did not understand why there was a pottery section in the book. The poems felt really out of place.

[Lynn Howard]

My favorite authors had excellent stories and those that are not on that list tended to have less interesting stories. Great selection of authors and interests.

[Rebecca]

Read this years ago