100 Years of the Best American Short Stories Read online

  Contents

  * * *

  Title Page

  Contents

  Copyright

  Introduction

  1915–1920

  EDNA FERBER, The Gay Old Dog

  1920–1930

  SHERWOOD ANDERSON, Brothers

  ERNEST HEMINGWAY, My Old Man

  RING LARDNER, Haircut

  1930–1940

  F. SCOTT FITZGERALD, Babylon Revisited

  KATHERINE ANNE PORTER, The Cracked Looking-Glass

  WILLIAM FAULKNER, That Will Be Fine

  1940–1950

  NANCY HALE, Those Are as Brothers

  EUDORA WELTY, The Whole World Knows

  JOHN CHEEVER, The Enormous Radio

  1950–1960

  TILLIE OLSEN, I Stand Here Ironing

  JAMES BALDWIN, Sonny’s Blues

  PHILIP ROTH, The Conversion of the Jews

  1960–1970

  FLANNERY O’CONNOR, Everything That Rises Must Converge

  JOHN UPDIKE, Pigeon Feathers

  RAYMOND CARVER, Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?

  JOYCE CAROL OATES, By the River

  1970–1980

  DONALD BARTHELME, The School

  STANLEY ELKIN, The Conventional Wisdom

  1980–1990

  GRACE PALEY, Friends

  CHARLES BAXTER, Harmony of the World

  MONA SIMPSON, Lawns

  RICHARD FORD, Communist

  ROBERT STONE, Helping

  DAVID WONG LOUIE, Displacement

  1990–2000

  ALICE MUNRO, Friend of My Youth

  MARY GAITSKILL, The Girl on the Plane

  JAMAICA KINCAID, Xuela

  AKHIL SHARMA, If You Sing Like That for Me

  JUNOT DÍAZ, Fiesta, 1980

  2000–2010

  JHUMPA LAHIRI, The Third and Final Continent

  ZZ PACKER, Brownies

  SHERMAN ALEXIE, What You Pawn I Will Redeem

  EDWARD P. JONES, Old Boys, Old Girls

  BENJAMIN PERCY, Refresh, Refresh

  TOBIAS WOLFF, Awaiting Orders

  2010–2015

  NATHAN ENGLANDER, What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank

  JULIE OTSUKA, Diem Perdidi

  GEORGE SAUNDERS, The Semplica-Girl Diaries

  LAUREN GROFF, At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners

  Read More from The Best American Series®

  About the Editors

  Copyright © 2015 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

  Introduction copyright © 2015 by Lorrie Moore

  Historical introductions copyright © 2015 by Heidi Pitlor

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  The Best American Series® and The Best American Short Stories® are registered trademarks of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

  No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without the proper written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. With the exception of nonprofit transcription in Braille, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is not authorized to grant permission for further uses of copyrighted selections reprinted in this book without the permission of their owners. Permission must be obtained from the individual copyright owners as identified herein. Address requests for permission to make copies of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt material to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

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  ISSN 0067-6233

  ISBN 978-0-547-48585-0

  Cover design by Christopher Moisan

  eISBN 978-0-544-05606-0

  v1.1015

  “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie (2004). First published in The New Yorker. From Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie. Copyright © 2003 by Sherman Alexie. Used by permission of Grove/Atlantic, Inc. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited.

  “Brothers” by Sherwood Anderson (1921). First published in The Bookman.

  “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin (1958). First published in Partisan Review. Collected in Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin, Vintage Books. Copyright © 1957 by James Baldwin. Copyright renewed. Used by arrangement with the James Baldwin Estate.

  “The School” by Donald Barthelme (1975). First published in The New Yorker. Copyright © 1974 by Donald Barthelme. Reprinted by permission of The Wylie Agency, LLC.

  “Harmony of the World” by Charles Baxter (1982). First published in Michigan Quarterly Review. From Harmony of the World: Stories by Charles Baxter. Copyright © 1984 by Charles Baxter. Used by permission of Vintage Books, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Penguin Random House LLC for permission.

  “Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?” by Raymond Carver (1967). First published in December. From Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? by Raymond Carver. Copyright © 1966 by Raymond Carver. Copyright © 1989 by Tess Gallagher. Reprinted by permission of The Wylie Agency, LLC.

  “The Enormous Radio” by John Cheever (1948). First published in The New Yorker. From The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever. Copyright © 1978 by John Cheever. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Any third party use of this material, outside of publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Penguin Random House LLC for permission.

  “Fiesta, 1980” by Junot Díaz (1997). First published in Story. From Drown by Junot Díaz. Copyright © 1996 by Junot Díaz. Used by permission of Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

  “The Conventional Wisdom” by Stanley Elkin (1978). First published in American Review. From The Living End by Stanley Elkin. Copyright © 1980 by Stanley Elkin. Reprinted by permission of Georges Borchardt, Inc., on behalf of the Estate of Stanley Elkin.

  “What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank” by Nathan Englander (2012). First published in The New Yorker. From What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank: Stories by Nathan Englander. Copyright © 2012 by Nathan Englander. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Penguin Random House LLC for permission.

  “That Will Be Fine” by William Faulkner (1936). First published in the American Mercury. Copyright © 1935 by Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright renewed © 1963 by Penguin Random House LLC. From Collected Stories of William Faulkner by William Faulkner. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Penguin Random House LLC for permission.

  “The Gay Old Dog” by Edna Ferber (1917). First published in Metropolitan Magazine.

  “Babylon Revisited” by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1931). First published in The Saturday Evening Post. Reprinted with the permission of Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. From Babylon Revisited and Other Stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Copyright © 1960 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. Copyright 1920, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1931, 1932, 1937 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. Copyright renewed © 1948, 1950,
1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1965 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. All rights reserved.

  “Communist” by Richard Ford (1986). First published in Antaeus. From Rock Springs by Richard Ford. Copyright © 1987 by Richard Ford. Used by permission of Grove/Atlantic, Inc. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited.

  “The Girl on the Plane” by Mary Gaitskill (1993). First published in Mirabella. Reprinted with the permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc. From Because They Wanted To by Mary Gaitskill. Copyright © 1997 by Mary Gaitskill. All rights reserved.

  “At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners” by Lauren Groff (2014). First published in Five Points. Copyright © 2013 by Lauren Groff. Reprinted by permission of The Clegg Agency, Inc.

  “Those Are as Brothers” by Nancy Hale (1942). First published in Mademoiselle. Copyright © 1941 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates Incorporated, as agent for the McDowell Colony, Inc.

  “My Old Man” by Ernest Hemingway (1923). Reprinted with the permission of Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. From The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway by Ernest Hemingway. Copyright © 1925 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. Copyright renewed © 1953 by Ernest Hemingway. All rights reserved.

  “Old Boys, Old Girls” by Edward P. Jones (2005). First published in The New Yorker. From All Aunt Hagar’s Children by Edward P. Jones. Copyright © 2006 by Edward P. Jones. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

  “Xuela” by Jamaica Kincaid (1995). First published in The New Yorker. From The Autobiography of My Mother by Jamaica Kincaid. Copyright © 1996 by Jamaica Kincaid. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.

  “The Third and Final Continent” by Jhumpa Lahiri (2000). First published in The New Yorker. From Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. Copyright © 1999 by Jhumpa Lahiri. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

  “Haircut” by Ring Lardner (1925). First published in Liberty magazine. Reprinted with the permission of Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. From The Best Short Stories of Ring Lardner by Ring Lardner. Copyright © 1926 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. Copyright renewed © 1954 by Ellis A. Lardner. All rights reserved.

  “Displacement” by David Wong Louie (1989). First published in Ploughshares. Copyright © 1989 by David Wong Louie. Reprinted by permission of David Wong Louie.

  “Friend of My Youth” by Alice Munro (1991). First published in The New Yorker. From Friend of My Youth by Alice Munro. Copyright © 1990 by Alice Munro. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Penguin Random House LLC for permission.

  “Everything That Rises Must Converge” by Flannery O’Connor (1962). First published in New World Writing. From Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O’Connor. Copyright © 1965 by the Estate of Mary Flannery O’Connor. Copyright renewed © 1993 by Regina O’Connor. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.

  “By the River” by Joyce Carol Oates (1969). First published in December. Copyright © 2014 by Ontario Review, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Joyce Carol Oates.

  “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen (1957). First published in the Pacific Spectator. Reproduced from Tell Me a Riddle, Requa I, and Other Works by Tillie Olsen. Copyright © 2013 by the Board of Regents at the University of Nebraska, Jewish Publication Society. Reprinted by permission of the University of Nebraska Press.

  “Diem Perdidi” by Julie Otsuka (2012). First published in Granta, Issue 117. Copyright © 2011 by Julie Otsuka, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Julie Otsuka.

  “Brownies” by ZZ Packer (2000). First published in Harper’s Magazine. From Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer. Copyright © 2003 by ZZ Packer. Used by permission of Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

  “Friends” by Grace Paley (1980). First published in The New Yorker. From The Collected Stories by Grace Paley. Copyright © 1994 by Grace Paley. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.

  “Refresh, Refresh” by Benjamin Percy (2006). First published in The Paris Review. From Refresh, Refresh: Stories by Benjamin Percy. Copyright © 2005, 2007 by Benjamin Percy. Reprinted with the permission of the Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Graywolf Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota, www.graywolfpress.org.

  “The Cracked Looking-Glass” by Katherine Anne Porter (1933). First published in Scribner’s Magazine. From Flowering Judas and Other Stories by Katherine Anne Porter. Copyright © 1933 by Katherine Anne Porter. Copyright renewed © 1961 by Katherine Anne Porter. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

  “The Conversion of the Jews” by Philip Roth (1959). First published in The Paris Review. From Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth. Copyright © 1959 by Philip Roth. Copyright renewed © 1987 by Philip Roth. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

  “The Semplica-Girl Diaries” by George Saunders (2013). First published in The New Yorker. From Tenth of December: Stories by George Saunders. Copyright © 2013 by George Saunders. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Penguin Random House LLC for permission.

  “If You Sing Like That for Me” by Akhil Sharma (1996). First published in the Atlantic Monthly. Copyright © 1996 by Akhil Sharma. Reprinted by permission of the Clegg Agency, Inc.

  “Lawns” by Mona Simpson (1986). First published in the Iowa Review. Copyright © 1985 by Mona Simpson. Reprinted by permission of Mona Simpson.

  “Helping” by Robert Stone (1988). First published in The New Yorker. Copyright © 1987 by Robert Stone. Reprinted by permission of Donadio & Olson, Inc.

  “Pigeon Feathers” by John Updike (1962). From Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories by John Updike. Copyright © 1962 by John Updike. Copyright renewed © 1990 by John Updike. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Random House LLC for permission.

  “The Whole World Knows” by Eudora Welty (1948). First published in Harper’s Bazaar. From The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty. Copyright © 1980 by Eudora Welty. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reprinted by the permission of Russell & Volkening as agents for the author. Copyright © 1949 by Eudora Welty. Copyright renewed © 1977 by Eudora Welty.

  “Awaiting Orders” by Tobias Wolff (2006). First published in The New Yorker. From Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories by Tobias Wolff. Copyright © 2008 by Tobias Wolff. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Penguin Random House LLC for permission.

  Introduction

  A STORY IS A noise in the night. You may be lying there quietly resting in the international house of literature and hear something in the walls, the click and burst of heat through pipes, a difficult settling of eaves, ice sliding off the roof, the scurry of animals, the squawk of a floorboard, someone coming up the stairs.

  This is life itself, surprising and not entirely invited. And yet we come to short stories seeking it. Or at least some vivid representation of it: a dark corner that is either turned and gone around or fixed with a light in order to discover what is lurking there. In a civili
zed society there arrives in a person’s day a pause long enough to allow for the reading of it—the corner, the pause, the day, the society: the exquisite verbal bonsai of a moment, of another’s life and consciousness, presented with concision and purpose—from a certain angle, in a certain voice, fashioned from a frame of mind that is both familiar and strange, recognizable and startling as a pinch.

  It is a lovely shock of mercy and democracy to find that we need to spend time in the company of people whose troubles we might ordinarily avoid. Ring Lardner’s clueless barber. (“‘Shut up,’ he explained,” as Lardner wrote elsewhere.) Lauren Groff’s bewitched eccentrics. Edward Jones’s lovelorn convicts. This is why storytelling exists in the first place. To inform us from and of Georgia O’Keeffe’s “faraway nearby.” It keeps us posted on the colorful swarming muck beneath a log. It both crashes in and lifts us out of the many gated communities of the mind. It animates (rather than answers) a question or two you may have about, say, Jesus. Finish a story and then you can return to healthy living, getting moderate exercise, appreciating unspoiled nature (good luck to you), and swooning at the wondrous universe as viewed in a clear night sky (rather than that narratively familiar dark and stormy one).

  Make it interesting and it will be true: this is what story writers live by. In the way of Flaubert, storytelling is investigative and conjectural: we tell stories to find out what we believe. In the way of Joan Didion, we tell them “in order to live.” In the way of Scheherazade, we tell them in order not to die. Dreams, it turns out, are physiologically necessary for life. Presumably waking dreams are just as essential. Neurological experiments have shown that animals deprived of dreams die faster than they would by physical starvation. Science has also shown that stories help the mind make order and sense of random events. Furthermore, in a new study reported in the journal Science, subjects who read Alice Munro stories—specifically, the collection Too Much Happiness—demonstrated sharper social and psychological insight than those who did not.