2024 the best american short stories 2023 review

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America’s most talented storytellers share their most interesting, engaging, unputdownable work in a collection made for story lovers.

Praised early on by numerous award-winning and bestselling authors, COOLEST AMERICAN STORIES 2023 is the second volume of the annual short story anthology whose guiding philosophy is that a collection of widely appealing short stories can make for common ground that could unite rather than divide Americans.

Toward this end, COOLEST AMERICAN STORIES 2023 features a previously uncollected heartbreaking story by Morgan Talty, author of the widely acclaimed Night of the Living Rez; a witty story about growing up fast by widely published crime writer Nikki Dolson; and a candid tale about motherhood in the wake of tragedy by T.E. Wilderson.

And since interesting storytelling―rather than a bunch of publishing credits―matters most to story-hungry readers, COOLEST AMERICAN STORIES 2023 also includes a page-turner about celebrity stalking written by brand new author Georgia Smith; a previously unpublished and sensual story about love versus the American Dream by up-and-coming author Patricia García Luján; and R.C. Goodwin's striking tale about a dying parent's wish―among others in this treasure trove of unputdownable, sharply written, sometimes comic, sometimes frightening, always suspenseful stories loaded with twists and turns.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BJQC4G5J
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Coolest Stories Press (January 8, 2023)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 8, 2023
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 899 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 274 pages
Reviewer: Terri Brown Davidson
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The Best Short-Story Collection in Decades, Bar None
Review: This is the best short-story collection I've read in years.It's difficult for me not to get emotional when describing COOLEST AMERICAN STORIES 2023. What has this story collection done for me except for reawakening my joy as a reader when I was convinced it was dead?Yes, who knew that the childhood pleasures of reading could be reignited by stories that--unlike those found in the annual O'HENRY AWARDS or BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES--are actually INTERESTING for most readers? These are stories about real human beings in real human situations, stories that are full of the pathos of everyday life, stories where something actually happens (there are PLOTS in these stories, folks, believe it or not!), stories that are not about dull university professors and their dry, ivory-tower dilemmas.When I was a child, the best story/novella I ever read was "The Red Pony" by John Steinbeck. The situation, on the surface, seems simple--a young boy, Jody, is given the gift of a beautiful pony that then becomes sick and dies. The pathos of this story, though, is unimaginable. Who hasn't had the experience of a gut-wrenching loss, of a pet that dies, of family members that die? Everyone. This is a universality of experience that the BEST literature explores but that much contemporary fiction fails to address at all."The Red Pony" stayed with me so powerfully that I can remember, five decades later, exactly where I was when I read Steinbeck's novella. I can remember the sentences that describe the pony's dead body and how one buzzard dipped down to devour the body and how the innocent boy Jody fought the buzzard off.The stories in COOLEST AMERICAN STORIES 2023 are JUST AS POWERFUL.These are stories that explore such diverse characters as a migrant worker with an affinity for riding "The Dog" (the Greyhound bus) while he pines for the unattainable woman of his dreams; a son who explores the depths, losses, and poignant power of his relationship with his dying father; a woman whose infatuation with an actor takes a disastrous turn when she finally meets him; an elderly woman who's suddenly thrust into the position of caring for a seriously troubled child.These are truly the most spectacular stories I've read in years. IN YEARS. Each one is lodged as deeply in my memory as "The Red Pony." Each story in this collection is a mini masterpiece just waiting to be discovered.If you buy this volume, you will NOT be disappointed.That's a promise.And you may just reawaken a joy of reading that you thought you'd lost forever.

Reviewer: Martin Ott
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Best American Fiction Anthology
Review: “You meet the damnedest people and see the wildest things on the bus.” This line from Nathan Alling Long’s story “The Dog” in COOLEST AMERICAN STORIES 2023 might as well be referring to America or this collection of urgent, accessible stories.Thirteen is a lucky number for the reader as we get to experience a breadth of American life in thirteen stories curated with care and attention in the best current fiction anthology on the market. This series that sprouted out of the dysfunction of COVID reminds me why this is such a powerful storytelling format, particularly when each story has its place in creating a tapestry of American life, our families and friends in celebration and crisis.This anthology is also a vibrant sampler to some of our best writers, today. If you want to get a friend hooked on short stories or to reach a student who thinks this genre is filled with stodgy tales of our aristocratic and cultural elites, COOLEST AMERICAN STORIES 2023 is for you.

Reviewer: Kindle Customer
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Top NotchUnite or divide?
Review: Coolest American Stories 2023 is a collection of diverse human interest stories that are equally sad and enlightening. From ''Meet and Greet" to the "A Mother's Last Request", you'll visit heartache, loneliness and despair in a series of well-written characters that you've either known or read about. Love--lost, gained, wished upon...the tragedies or pleasure that come with it. The writing is superb, the editor's artful arrangement makes this a serious collection that reflects maybe too much of the present day's unrest.

Reviewer: David Shawn Klein
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Violent, Funny, Suspenseful, Emotional
Review: Another highly readable collection of new short fiction from Mark Wish and Elizabeth Coffey. Many of these stories are the type that would be published in commercial, general audience magazines if those still existed that also published fiction. Standouts include the funny and horrible (in a good way) "Meet and Greet" by Georgia Smith, "A Thin Line Rises" by Morgan Talty; "Views" comes close to being better than excellent, as does "Lucy Lucy Lucy." The biggest standout, for me, is Nathan Alling Long's "The Dog," a moving story written with truly fine control.

Reviewer: Interested01
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Another Riveting Collection
Review: As with Coolest American Stories 2022, each reader will probably have more than one favorite. Mine for 2023 (in Table of Contents order): Attachment,” by David Borofka, “A Thin Line Rises,” by Morgan Talty, “Lucy Lucy Lucy,” by Nikki Dolson, and “You Don’t Have Very Far to Go,” by Francisco Uribe. Also liked a lot: “The Dog,” by Nathan Alling Long, “The Brick,” by Nancy J. Fagan, and “Auras,” by Elizabeth P. Glixman, and more. All the stories are skillfully written and edited.So many different points of view, and so many real glimpses into contemporary life. This book ought to be placed in a time capsule in the cornerstone of some new building, to be opened at a time when things are better for the average American. By and large, the main characters in this volume demonstrate the kind of resilience we’re all likely to need, now and in the coming years. That’s something worth reading about. Congrats to the editors for putting it together.

Reviewer: Kevin Malloy
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Perfect Title
Review: I'm hooked! Uncommonly entertaining and impressively well-written stories that aren't aimed at getting you to adopt a certain view; they are, simply put: compelling and uniquely interesting.Buy this book, then enjoy feeling a wide range of emotions. I was disappointed only to run out of stories to read at the end. Is it too soon to anxiously await the 2024 anthology!?!?

Reviewer: Rhonda Holle
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Delightful!
Review: I saw this mentioned on Twitter and bought the book, and I am reading one story at a time.