The Best American Short Stories 1991 [antikvár]

Foreword What is the secret of a good short story? When I took on the job of series editor of The Best American Short Stories, I expected that a year of reading would result in some answers to that age-old question. Now, nearly two thousand sto- ries later, I am beginning to suspect that it is the question itself that will keep me reading through the years ahead, for each good story offers a unique answer, not a formula that can be handily lifted and applied to some other piece of fiction. A good story has a way of announcing itself, rendering irrelevant any precon- ceived maxims or standards of excellence. When you're done reading, you don't have to ask yourself whether it worked or not. However, the very process of reading and winnowing that nar- rowed 2000 stories to 120, and then 120 to the 20 that Alice Adams selected for this volume, gives rise to the temptation to general- ize. What are writers writing about? Where are the good stories coming from? What are the trends? I'm happy to report that I had only to identify a trend tentatively for it to vanish into thin air. The more I read, the more variety I encountered, in voice, theme, and setting. One cannot read this collection without a deepening respect for the sheer range of human experience. And yet, these stories do have something in common. All of them give voice to our universal quest for connection. If there is one sweeping statement that can legitimately be made about these twenty stories, it is this: each is about a struggle to connect. There is a Vietnamese woman, happily transplanted to America yet fer- vently awaiting the arrival of her grandfather, the only person