The Best American Short Stories 2001 Book

I was delighted to see a shelf of these at the library and zeroed in on the Kingsolver edition. Short stories feel so new to me that the idea of seeing how people of literary merit judge them is incredibly appealing. The author section in the back that tells the inspiration for the story is also great.

I'm embarrassed to be rating this one star. I feel like I must be the problem here, not the stories chosen. And I don't know if perhaps I don't like the style of stories these were culled from or Kingsolver's taste! I feel like a lot of these heavily showcased a character's "inner life" when a lot of what I savor about a short story is how little interactions between people can signal volumes, and the way an author communicates that.

The first few stories seemed off to me. Enjoyable to a degree, but lacked a certain finish. I was excited to read Ha Jin's Cowboy Chicken. The clash of Eastern and Western cultures it espoused sounded right up my alley, but I couldn't finish it. I thought many of the stories went on for much longer than they really needed to. Halfway through the book I utterly dreaded the start of a new one. This book sucked the story-loving life out of me!

I loved My Mother's Garden by Katherine Schonk.

I feel like I don't have enough experience with short stories that I can say "don't read this." Obviously these were considered to be good stories by a number of people, who am I to disagree with that? I'd recommend one read this and come to their own conclusion.