The Best American Short Stories 1982
| Editor | Shannon Ravenel and John Gardner |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | The Best American Short Stories |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| ISBN | 978-0395322079 |
| Preceded by | The Best American Short Stories 1981 |
| Followed by | The Best American Short Stories 1983 |
The Best American Short Stories 1982, a volume in The Best American Short Stories series, was edited by Shannon Ravenel and by guest editor John Gardner. The volume was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.[1][2]
Background
The series is considered one of the "best-known annual anthologies of short fiction"[3] and has anthologized more than 2,000 short stories, including works by some of the most famous writers in contemporary American literature, curated by well-known guest editors since 1915.[4] Specifically, Amy Hempel considered it and the O. Henry Award's prize anthology to compile "the best short fiction published in American and Canadian magazines during the preceding year."[5]
In particular, the Willa Cather Review wrote that The Best American Short Stories series "became a repository of values" for creative writing programs and literary magazines, specifically with considerable "influence" in college libraries, short fiction courses, and fiction workshops.[6]
Critical reception
Kirkus Reviews called John Gardner's curation a death blow to the "Foley legacy" that had previously marked the anthology series. The reviewer concluded that "As a sampling of what moral-crusader Gardner likes in short-story fiction, then, this is certainly informative. But it's hardly a fair reflection of the year's best—and perhaps this series should take on a new title if such unbalanced collections are to be expected in the future."[7]
Le Anne Schreiber, writing in The New York Times, lauded Gardner for "a collection that demonstrates the variety and vigor of American short-story writing far better than any comparable collection in recent years."[8]
Short stories included
| Author | Story | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Raymond Carver | "Cathedral" | The Atlantic Monthly |
| James Ferry | "Dancing Ducks and Talking Anus" | The Literary Review |
| Joanna Higgins | "The Courtship of Widow Sobcek" | MSS |
| William Hauptman | "Good Rockin' Tonight" | Playboy |
| Fred Licht | "Shelter the Pilgrim" | The Hudson Review |
| Mary Robison | "Coach" | The New Yorker |
| Charles Johnson | "Exchange Value" | Choice |
| Nicholson Baker | "K. 590" | The Little Magazine |
| Joyce Renwick | "The Dolphin Story" | Choice |
| Lissa Maclaughlin | "The Continental Heart" | The Massachusetts Review |
| Alvin Greenberg | "The Power of Language is Such That Even a Single Word Taken Truly to Heart Can Change Everything" | StoryQuarterly |
| Roberta Gupta | "The Cafe de Paris " | MSS |
| R. E. Smith | "The Gift Horse's Mouth" | The Texas Review |
| Charles Baxter | "Harmony of the World" | The Michigan Quarterly Review |
| Edith Milton | "Coming Over" | The Yale Review |
| Anne Hobson Freeman | "The Girl Who Was No Kin to the Marshalls" | Virginia Quarterly Review |
| Anne F. Rosner | "Prize Tomatoes" | TriQuarterly |
| Ian MacMillan | "Proud Monster—Sketches" | The Carolina Quarterly |
| Rosanne Coggeshall | "Lamb Says" | The South Carolina Review |
| Joyce Carol Oates | "Theft" | The Northwest Review |
References
- ^ Gardner, John; Ravenel, Shannon, eds. (1982). The best American short stories 1982. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. ISBN 978-0-395-32207-9.
- ^ DeYoung, Andrew (2021-08-17). "Grendel at 50: How John Gardner's Finest Novel Undermines His Ideas About Moral Fiction". Literary Hub. Retrieved 2025-04-08.
- ^ "Short and Sweet" by Mark Harris, Entertainment Weekly, 11/05/99, issue 511, page 73.
- ^ "The Best American Short Stories of the Century," Publishers Weekly, 3/8/1999, volume 246, issue 10, page 47.
- ^ Hempel, Amy (1986-02-09). "The Best American Short Stories 1985 : edited by Gail Godwin with Shannon Ravenel (Houghton Mifflin; $14.95, hardcover; $8.95, paperback; 300 pp.)". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-04-08.
- ^ "'Long-Cellared Wine': 'Double Birthday,' Edward J. H. O'Brien, and the Best American Short Stories Series" by Timothy W. Bintrim and Scott Riner, Willa Cather Review, spring 2023, volume 64, issue 1, page 18.
- ^ THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES | Kirkus Reviews.
- ^ Schreiber, le Anne (1982-10-11). "BOOKS OF THE TIMES". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-04-09.