The Best American Short Stories 2021

by Jesmyn Ward, Heidi Pitlor Narrated by LIsa Flanagan, Robin Eller, Tre Hall, Katy Tang, Emily Ellet, Ryan Vincent Anderson, Alex Meraz, Adan Rocha, Piper Goodeve, Frankie Maria Corzo, Sterling Sulieman, JD Jackson, Brittany Pressley, Robert Fass, Bahni Turpin, Jonathan Davis, Priya Ayyar, Graham Halstead, Michael Crouch, Catherine Ho

Overview

A collection of the year's best stories selected by celebrated*two-time*National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward

In her introduction to The Best American Short Stories 2021, guest editor JesmynWard says that the best fiction offers the reader a “sense of repair.”The stories in this year's collection accomplish just that, immersing the reader in powerfully imagined worlds and allowing them to bring some of that power into their own lives. From a stirring portrait of Rodney King's final days to a surreal video game set in the Middle East,with real consequences, to an indigenous boy's gripping escape from his captors, this collection renders profoundly empathetic depictions of the variety of human experience. These stories are poignant reminders of the possibilities of fiction: as you sink into world after world, become character after character, as Ward writes,you“forget yourself, and then, upon surfacing, know yourself and others anew.

The Best American Short Stories 2021 includes

GABRIEL BUMP ¿ BRANDON HOBSON ¿ DAVID MEANS¿ JANE PEK ¿ TRACEY ROSE PEYTON ¿*GEORGE SAUNDERS ¿ BRYAN WASHINGTON ¿ KEVIN WILSON ¿ C PAM ZHANG and others

Performed by Lisa Flanagan, Robin Eller, Tre Hall, Katy Tang, Emily Ellet, Ryan Vincent Anderson, Alex Meraz-Mon, Adan Rocha, Piper Goodeve, Frankie Maria Corzo, Sterling Sulieman, JD Jackson, Brittany Pressley, Robert Fass, Bahni Turpin, Jonathan Davis, Priya Ayyar, Graham Halstead, Michael Crouch, and Catherine Ho

Editorial Reviews

NOVEMBER 2021 - AudioFile

The annual tradition of collecting a year's worth of memorable fiction continues with this audiobook. Story topics range widely and make for a varied anthology. One thing all the tales share in this audiobook version, though, is the astute pairing of each story with a specific narrator. In Shanteka Sigers’s "A Way With Bea," Bahni Turpin offers a vivid performance that transports listeners from the first sentence. Michael Crouch's rendition of "Biology," by Kevin Wilson, is at once heartbreaking and inspiring. The immersive nature of "Playing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain," by Jamil Jan Kochai, is thanks in large part to Adan Rocha's narrative skill. Every story is matched with its narrator so well that listeners will want to savor it slowly, following each performer briefly into another world. L.B.F. 2022 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

From the Publisher

"As guest editor of this year’s entry in the Best American Short Stories series, Ward has assembled a brilliant and moving collection...These 20 stories capture beautiful and devastating human experiences and the tales we tell to persevere. Contributors' captivating prose and incredible storytelling will plunge readers into fascinating worlds and challenge them to take on new perspectives."—Booklist, STARRED review   —

NOVEMBER 2021 - AudioFile

The annual tradition of collecting a year's worth of memorable fiction continues with this audiobook. Story topics range widely and make for a varied anthology. One thing all the tales share in this audiobook version, though, is the astute pairing of each story with a specific narrator. In Shanteka Sigers’s "A Way With Bea," Bahni Turpin offers a vivid performance that transports listeners from the first sentence. Michael Crouch's rendition of "Biology," by Kevin Wilson, is at once heartbreaking and inspiring. The immersive nature of "Playing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain," by Jamil Jan Kochai, is thanks in large part to Adan Rocha's narrative skill. Every story is matched with its narrator so well that listeners will want to savor it slowly, following each performer briefly into another world. L.B.F. 2022 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175807067
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/12/2021
Series:	Best American Series
Edition description:	Unabridged

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