The Best American Short Stories (2019): Book Review


Book Review

Title: The Best American Short stories
Edited by: Anthony Doerr (All the light we cannot see)
Genre: short stories/Anthology

The Best American Short stories start off with an introduction by Author Anthony Doerr. This book is an anthology of 20 short stories that captures lives, idiosyncrasies and emotions of people in several settings. It ranges from cities, countryside, a restaurant, high school party, a clinic to a train. 

The stories that stood out to me are 'No more than a bubble' by James Brinkley which is about a youth at a party, delving deep into his past. It takes place in one night. 'Anyone can do it' by Manuel Munoz is about a woman being betrayed by her neighbor and 'Omakase' by Weike Wang is about a couple belonging to different ethnicities dining at a restaurant. It captures the dynamics of race and relationships. 

The settings are described with a great eye for detail. Some of the stories delve into a parallel narrative of the characters. The language is colloquial in some stories and the engaging dialogues between the characters, make it quite relatable. The pacing in some of the stories is slow. It requires a tremendous amount of patience to get through them. While others hook you right from the beginning. This anthology is an eclectic mixed bag of stories which are intense, insightful, evocative and open a window to a new world. 

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