The Best Christian Short Stories

by Bret Lott (editor)

The first volume in a collection of contemporary fiction that combines the artistry of critically accaimed writers with a clear Christian worldview. From Homer Hickam, the best-selling author of Rocket Boys --which later became the movie October Sky to editor and contributing best-selling author Bret Lott, this collection spans a talented community writing an eclectic blend of fiction.Each piece stands alone as stellar fiction.And each piece confronts us with who we are and forces us to look deeply at the human condition.From the dirt lanes of North Africa to the suburbs of California, exuding lightheartedness and profundity, hilarity and tragedy, these stories will take you on a fresh and entertaining journey.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Christian Fiction

270 pages, Paperback

First published July 4, 2006

About the author

Bret Lott is the bestselling author of fourteen books, most recently the nonfiction collection Letters and Life: On Being a Writer, On Being a Christian (Crossway 2013) and the novel Dead Low Tide (Random House 2012). Other books include the story collection The Difference Between Women and Men, the nonfiction book Before We Get Started: A Practical Memoir of the Writer’s Life, and the novels Jewel, an Oprah Book Club pick, and A Song I Knew by Heart. His work has appeared in, among other places, The Yale Review, The New York Times, The Georgia Review and in dozens of anthologies.

Born in Los Angeles, he received his BA in English from Cal State Long Beach in 1981, and his MFA in fiction from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1984, where he studied under James Baldwin. From 1986 to 2004 he was writer-in-residence and professor of English at The College of Charleston, leaving to take the position of editor and director of the journal The Southern Review at Louisiana State University. Three years later, in the fall of 2007, he returned to The College of Charleston and the job he most loves: teaching.

His honors include being named Fulbright Senior American Scholar and writer-in-residence to Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv, speaking on Flannery O’Connor at The White House, and having served as a member of the National Council on the Arts from 2006 to 2012. Currently he is nonfiction editor of the journal Crazyhorse. He and his wife, Melanie, live in South Carolina.

Reviews

[David Gregg]

There is much too little good Christian fiction out there that isn't sappy or romantic, and the genre of the short story is even more hard to come by. This is a book for people who like a story for its own sake. The stories can be considered Christian, but without an agenda--no big feeling of forced spirituality.

I found the literary quality to be quite good. This selection of short stories makes a good introduction to quality, non-preachy Christian literature.

[Peter DeHaan]

Normally if I don't like a book, I don't post a review, but since the title includes the word "best" in it I want to share my warning.

I expected much and received little.

Perhaps I focus too much on flash fiction. Possibly I read too many YA books to appreciate writing that is more “serious.” It could be I lack patience. Maybe I don’t know how to truly appreciate short stories. But just possibly this collection is not all that good. I wouldn't call it is “the best.”

I started every storiy but only finished a few.

Too often the stories failed to hook me at the beginning – and I always gave them a full page to do so. (I think a short story needs to grab readers in the first sentence, certainly the first paragraph.) And the few with promising openings that had me turn a couple of pages, failed to establish any reason why I should care about the protagonist. When you don’t wonder what happens to the lead character, there is no reason to turn the page.

Maybe I am missing something here, but maybe it's the book that is at fault. Sorry.

[Rick]

Some good stories. And some very good stories!

[Starry]

I love compilations of short stories
I have often been disappointed with Christian fiction.

So this book of Christian short stories was a bit of a gamble. But I enjoyed. It contains a good mix of settings and perspectives and even concepts of faith (some not necessarily Christian but that give Christians something to think about). And one of the authors is a friend of my mother's, which was a pleasant surprise.

[David Drury]

What I learned from this book, which re-published my short story "Things We Knew When the House Caught Fire," is that my short story is not only Christian (who knew?)but that it is apparently VERY Christian. My story, in fact, looks down its nose at me and tells me that it has a lot of good news for me out in the lobby.

[Stephanie]

My husband's has a short story in here. I like the story a lot, but I don't necessarily like Christian short stories because I feel that art that is specifically "christian" is usually not very good. So I can't account for the rest of the stories in the book.

[Mary]

A lovely collection of sharp and insightful short stories. Lott gives a good introduction to what a "Christian short story" is. These are pleasurable and scintillating.

Enjoy!

[Grace]

I wasn't blown away by anything here. Probably my favorite story was the one by Bret Lott, who edited the volume.