I got this collection for Christmas and have been slowly but steadily working my way through. It’s a collection of more than fifty stories published throughout the 20th century in the annual publication of the same name. Originally edited by Edward O’Brien, and later Martha Foley, and then Shannon Ravenel, this collection was compiled by Katrina Kenison and John Updike. They are the best of the best, stories that defined the eras in which they were written, stories from some of America’s best known authors, Ernest Hemingway, Willa Cather, Flannery O’Connor, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Vladimir Nabokov, Tennessee Williams, and the list goes on. It’s nothing short of a fat slice of history.

Some of the stories are admittedly a little weird. I suppose you’ll never get published in a collection like this one without trying something daring, and I highly doubt that every single person will enjoy every single story. That said, all of them are inspired works with a lot to be learned from, whether or not they are your cup of tea. My favorite from the early era of the book, published in 1917, is a story called ‘A Jury of Her Peers’ by Susan Glaspell. The wife of a farmer meets with the sheriff’s wife as their husbands investigate a grisly murder. The neighboring farmer seems to have been slain by his own wife. Tiny details that escape the sheriff’s notice (poorly sewn quilting, a kitchen in disarray, a body hidden where nobody would think to look) lead the narrator to a stunning conclusion, and a motive for the killing. It’s a great piece with a concept that resonates perfectly with the themes at hand. The mystery is compelling, the characters jump right off the page, and the story is firmly rooted in the time it was written, like a capsule waiting to be found for future readers such as myself.

Many such examples can be found throughout the collection. Other favorites of mine so far are ‘The Golden Honeymoon’ by Ring Lardner and ‘Theft’ by Katherine Anne Porter. I’m sure to find more as I continue to get closer and closer to modern times. This is a book I can safely recommend to anybody with an interesting in short fiction, history, publishing, or anything else literary really. There’s no other experience quite like stepping through time via the stories borne from years long past.

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley