Full Description
Best of the West: New Stories from the Wide Side of the Missouri, an annual anthology of exceptional short fiction rooted in the western United States, debuted in 1988 and continued publication until 1992. Recognizing that the West remains rewarding territory for literary explorations, James Thomas and D. Seth Horton revived the series in 2009.
Best of the West 2010 brings together established and emerging writers who reinterpret this most vital of literary regions and create, as Kent Meyers puts it in his foreword, "gift[s] the nation needs right now." Editors Horton and Thomas have chosen nineteen stories by writers including Sherman Alexie, Rick Bass, Ron Carlson, Julia Glass, William Kittredge, Kent Nelson, and Deb Olin Unferth. Their subjects vary from a Greek community in Wyoming dealing with a suicide, to a re-creation of Christ's crucifixion in New Mexico, to an unlikely friendship that peaks at a burial ground in Alaska. Best of the West 2010 is the latest indication that the West has become one of the most crucial settings for contemporary American fiction.
Contributors:
Sherman Alexie
Rick Bass
John Blanchard
Elea Carey
Ron Carlson
Natalie Diaz
Darren Dillman
Ben Ehrenreich
Julia Glass
Dina Guidubaldi
Ben Kostival
William Kittredge
Paul Mihas
Kent Nelson
Daniel Orozco
Kirstin Valdez Quade
Aurelie Sheehan
Justin St. Germain
Deb Olin Unferth
Contents
Editor's Note, D. Seth Horton
Foreword, Kent Meyers
Green World, from Harper's Magazine (SHERMAN ALEXIE)
Fish Story, From The Atlantic Magazine (RICK BASS)
CinÉma VÉritÉ, from Southwestern American Literature (JOHN BLANCHARD)
One Time, from The Georgia Review (ELEA CAREY)
Victory at Sea, From The Iowa Review (RON CARLSON)
How to Love a Woman with No Legs, from The Iowa Review (NATALIE DIAZ)
Cloudcroft, from Shenandoah (DARREN DILLMAN)
Everything You See Is Real, from BOMB Magazine (BEN EHRENREICH)
The Price of Silver, from Five Points (JULIA GLASS)
The Desert: A Field Guide, from The Santa Monica Review (DINA GUIDUBALDI)
Stone Boat, from Narrative (WILLIAM KITTREDGE)
Islanders, from The New England Review (BEN KOSTIVAL)
This Is Not a Barren Place, from Nimrod International Journal (PAUL MIHAS)
The Spirit Bird, from The Virginia Quarterly Review (KENT NELSON)
Only Connect, from Ecotone (DANIEL OROZCO)
The Five Wounds, from The New Yorker (KIRSTIN VALDEZ QUADE)
Gentle Future, from Copper Nickel (AURELIE SHEEHAN)
Tortolita, from ZYZZYVA (JUSTIN ST. GERMAIN)
Wait Till You See Me Dance, from Harper's Magazine (DEB OLIN UNFERTH)
Other Notable Western Stories of the Year
Publications Reviewed
Notes on Contributors
Credits
