Prize Stories 2001: The O. Henry Awards Book

It's a real pain having to rate a novel, especially if you have to rate a collection of stories written by different authors with only one focal point or common denominator- which is capturing the essence of O.Henry's writing legacy. For the uninitiated, O.Henry is a celebrated classic writer known for his plot twists and ironies. The ironic experience I had while reading this compilation was that I didn't enjoy the top 3 selected prize winners compared to the shortlisted selections. Cancer had been a common theme in these short stories, but the plot twist I enjoyed best was one in which the characters suffered series of identity crises after going through life-changing tragedies as portrayed best in Andrea Barrett's Servants of the Map which is also a favorite, by the way, next to George Saunder's Pastoralia and Pickney Benedict's Zog-19: A Scientific Romance which lent the novel a humorous streak after its series of dark and tragic stories. This novel, while enjoyable, ends up being a hit and miss.