I have recently checked the
"Best Books of 2014" postings for the following twenty different
newspapers, magazines, and websites:
New York Times
The Huffington Post
Publisher's Weekly
Buzzfeed
Kirkus
The Telegraph
Time Magazine
Library Journal
Washington Post
The Globe
National Public Radio
Amazon's Best Books of 2014
Wall Street Journal
Good Reads
Guardian
The Economist
Slate
Los Angeles Times
Boston Globe
Bookpage.com
Although there are many more novels listed than short story
collections, according to the experts at the sources listed above, the
"Best" or "Notable," or "Recommended collections of
short stories (and the number of times they were picked) this year are:
Phil Klay, Redeployment, 8
Lorrie Moore, Bark, 8
Hilary Mantel, The Assassination
of Margaret Thatcher 5
Lydia Davis, Can't and Won't
4
Margaret Atwood, Stone Mattress
4
The Stories of Jane Gardam 3
Elizabeth McCrackin, Thunderstruck
2
Alice Munro, Family Furnishings
2
Also listed are three books that are not short story collections, but
on which I may post:
Steven Pinker, The Sense of
Style: Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century
Leslie Jamison, The Empathy Exams
Peter Mendelsund ,What We See When We Read
Other collections of stories that were picked at least once are:
Julia Elliott, The Wilds
Rivka Galchen, American Innovations
Tove Jansson, The Woman who Borrowed Memories
Paul Theroux, Mr. Bones: Twenty Stories
Graham Swift, England and Other Stories
The Derek Smith Omnibus
During December and January, I plan to post on :
Lorrie Moore's Bark
Phil Klay's Redeployment
Hilary Mantel's The Assassination
of Margaret Thatcher
Lydia Davis, Can't and Won't
Leslie Jamison, The Empathy Exams
Steven Pinker, The Sense of Style
Peter Mendelsund, What We See
When We Read
3 comments:
No Aussie writers here that I can tell - I don't think our short stories make much of a splash outside of Australia do they? My favourite collection this year - though it's more anthology than the work of one writer - is Australian love stories edited by one of our top short story writers, Cate Kennedy.
This is a very useful round up, Charles, thank you so much. Is there any way you would consider looking at Elizabeth McCracken's Thunderstruck,would love to know what you think of that collection
Thanks for this.
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