Best African American Fiction 2010

by Dorothy Sterling

Bursting with energy and innovation, the second volume in the annual anthology collects the year's best short stories by African American authors.
 
Dealing with all aspects of life from the pain of war to the warmth of family, the superb tales in Best African American Fiction 2010 are a tribute to the stunning imaginations thriving in today's African American literary community. Chosen by this year's guest editor, the legendary Nikki Giovanni, these works delve into international politics and personal histories, the clash of armies and of generations—and come from such publications as The New Yorker, Harper's, The Kenyon Review, and Callaloo.

In "Ghosts," Edwidge Danticat portrays an aspiring radio talk show host in Bel Air—which some call the Baghdad of Haiti—who is brutally scapegoated, and in "Three Letters, One Song & a Refrain," Chris Abani gives a searing account of the violent life of a thirteen-year-old member of a Burmese hill tribe. Jeffery Renard Allen dramatizes the mysterious arrival in Harlem of a child's hated grandmother, and Wesley Brown fictionalizes the life of the great saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, with cameo appearances by Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, and other immortals. John Edgar Wideman contributes dense and textured "Microstories" that interweave everything from taboo sex acts to Richard Wright's last works to murder in a modern family. Desiree Cooper depicts a debutante from Atlanta moving to Detroit, "a city where there's no place to hide," while in "Been Meaning to Say" by Amina Gautier, a widower gets an unforgettable holiday visit from his resentful daughter.

From Africa to Philadelphia, from the era of segregation to the age of Obama, the times and places, people and events in Best African American Fiction 2010 reveal inconvenient truths through incomparable fiction.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Dorothy Sterling (Dannenberg) was a Jewish-American writer and historian.

She was born and grew up in New York City, attended Wellesley College, and graduated from Barnard College in 1934. After college, she worked as a journalist and writer in New York for several years. In 1937, she married Philip Sterling, also a writer. In the 1940s, she worked for Life Magazine for 8 years. In early 1968, 448 writers and editors including Dorothy put a full-page ad in the New York Post declaring their intention to refuse to pay taxes for the Vietnam War.

Dorothy was the author of more than 30 books, mainly non-fiction historical works for children on the origins of the women's and anti-slavery movements, civil rights, segregation, and nature, as well as mysteries. She has won several awards for her writings, including the Carter G. Woodson Book Award from the National Council For The Social Studies For The Trouble They Seen: Black People Tell The Story Of Reconstruction, in 1976.

Reviews

[Walter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked some of the stories (such as Edwidge Danticat's "Ghosts" and Desiree Cooper's "Night Coming"), but this anthology contained the highest ever number of stories that I started but was not interested enough in to finish.

[Samm · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a few stories I loved and I enjoyed the wide range of topics and themes. However, there were a lot of stories I didn't like. In general, I have a hard time with short stories b/c they end right when I get into them! There are a few authors though that I would like to check out and read full length novels by them.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really, solidly good. I enjoyed every selection, though some were definite standouts, like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "The Headstrong Historian," "Where the Line Bleeds" by Jesmyn Ward, and "The Gangsters" by Colson Whitehead. I enjoyed that they had a separate section at the end focusing on young adult literature, all 3 choices that i really liked. My one quibble is that there were no bios for any of the authors included. Instead, there's a website you have to go to. That seemed odd. But I was excited to see that some of my favorite stories were actually excerpts from novels that i can now read. On the strength of this collection, I think I will also be checking out the companion volume, Best African American Essays 2010. Yay for these two new annual collection series.

[Reka Beezy · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, when I read the title, I'm thinking ALL the stories would be written by black people...was I wrong for thinking that? I picked this book up because it was on display for Black History Month at my local public library; I wasn't impressed. I find that there is a lack of realistic, contemporary African-American fiction that I can stomach. I really am tired of reading about how all of my people used to be slaves; I mean, I get it, we struggled. Where's the hope? Where's the I'm here in America now, and I'm living a middle-class life like white people? I don't know, I'm disappointed: half of the stories didn't actually make we want to finish. I finished out of obligation mostly: it's Black History Month, I'm black, so I read the book. Whatever.

[Titilayo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would not say that these were among the best stories in African American Fiction. Two of them were really wonderful. Some of them were amazingly horrid. Then there is the nationality and ethnicity of some of the writers that challenges the notion that African Americans wrote these words. I expected more. There was a wide variety of styles and voices. Not a bad read.

[Anna]

I just began reading this book and it is good so far.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

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A "done-well" short story requires much more than a demonstration of brevity…
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[Jennings Peeler · Rating 2 out of 5]

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A "done-well" short story requires much more than a demonstration of brevity…
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