The Best American Short Stories 2020

by Curtis Sittenfeld, Heidi Pitlor

2020 · 400 pages

american literature
fiction & literature
books

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About this book

"Twenty masterfully crafted short stories" by T.C. Boyle, Emma Cline, Mary Gaitskill, and more: "Outstanding and well worth the read." —Booklist (starred review)

"To read their stories felt to me the way I suspect other people feel hearing jazz for the first time," recalls Curtis Sittenfeld of her initial encounter with the Best American Short Stories series. "They were windows into emotions I had and hadn't had, into other settings and circumstances and observations and relationships."

Decades later, Sittenfeld was met by the same feeling selecting the stories for this year's edition. The result is a striking and nuanced collection, bringing to life awkward college students, disgraced public figures, raunchy grandparents, and mystical godmothers. To read these stories is to experience the transporting joys of discovery and affirmation, and to realize that story writing in America continues to flourish. The Best American Short Stories 2020 includes selections by:

T. C. BOYLE • EMMA CLINE • MARY GAITSKILL • ANDREA LEE • ELIZABETH McCRACKEN • ALEJANDRO PUYANA • WILLIAM PEI SHIH • KEVIN WILSON • JANE PEK • CAROLYN FERRELL • SCOTT NADELSON • MENG JIN • and more

Quotes by Curtis Sittenfeld

From Wikiquote

As for the politics here, what can you do? There’s a lot of posturing, but it’s all kind of meaningless.
At Ault, it wasn't just that we weren't supposed to be bad or unethical; we weren't even supposed to be ordinary, and stealing was worse than ordinary. It was unseemly, lacking subtlety, revealing a wish for things you did not already have.
I always worried someone would notice me, and then when no one did, I felt lonely.