The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories

"In twenty-nine separate but ingenious ways, these stories seek permanent residence within a reader. They strive to become an emotional or intellectual cargo that might accompany us wherever, or however, we go. . . . If we are made by what we read, if language truly builds people into what they are, how they think, the depth with which they feel, then these stories are, to me, premium material for that construction project. You could build a civilization with them." Ben Marcus, from the Introduction Award-winning author ofNotable American WomenBen Marcus brings us this engaging and comprehensive collection of short stories that explore the stylistic variety of the medium in America today. Sea Oakby George Saunders Everything Ravaged, Everything Burnedby Wells Tower Do Not Disturbby A.M. Homes The Girl in the Flammable Skirtby Aimee Bender The Caretakerby Anthony Doerr The Old Dictionaryby Lydia Davis The Father's Blessingby Mary Caponegro The Life and Work of Alphonse Kaudersby Aleksandar Hemon People Shouldn't Have to be the Ones to Tell Youby Gary Lutz Histories of the Undeadby Kate Braverman When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dineby Jhumpa Lahiri Down the Roadby Stephen Dixon X Number of Possibilitiesby Joanna Scott Tiny, Smiling Daddyby Mary Gaitskill Brief Interviews with Hideous Menby David Foster Wallace The Sound Gunby Matthew Derby Short Talksby Anne Carson Field Eventsby Rick Bass Scarliotti and the Sinkholeby Padgett Powell From the Trade Paperback edition.

Ben Marcus is the author of <b>Notable American Women</b> and <b>The Age of Wire and String</b>. His work has appeared in <i>Grand Street, Harper’s, McSweeney’s, Conjunctions, </i>and elsewhere. The recipient of two Pushcart Prizes, a Whiting Fellowship, and a National Endowment for the Arts grant, he is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Columbia University and lives in New York City.