Heidi Pitlor

So rare to find an intelligent book about a woman with very realistic issues. Even though the gig jobs, single motherhood, undefined boyfriends wasn’t my path, Heidi Pitlor writes so well I felt like it could have been my life. At first I wasn’t sure where the plot was going, but once I realized the writer had no choice but to mingle her life with her subject as a ghostwriter I was rooting for her, until the ending that ties it all together. All the characters, even the writers show more mother,are complex and very current. show less

Strongest BASS in quite a while! I was absolutely knocked out by Steve De Jarnatt's amazing "Rubiaux Rising," which could make a short story reader out of any skeptic. Other standouts for me: stories by Richard Powers, Annie Proulx, Ethan Rutherford and Joseph Epstein. Wow, genius! Two stories on modern China (by Greenfeld and Li) also fascinated me.

Hey! Somebody consult the legal department! There are no Alice Munro stories here. She lands three on the extended list, but it's hard to show more believe none deserved inclusion. Of course, she doesn't really need the recognition anymore. But with Updike gone, it feels like the passing of an era.

Along those lines, the series needs to look to the future. Good to see some historical fiction included here, but the series still needs more genre stories. (Guest editor Chabon pointed this out in 2005.) Hrbek's "Sagittarius" clearly got the annual slot that's gone recently to Karen Russell for a story in the literary/surreal approach to genre. My strongest word of advice to series ed. Heidi Pitlor (who has my dream job!) is embrace more genre fiction. Rid yourself of the workshoppy deadweight and go for a killer mix of literary and genres that truly encompasses the full spectrum of American stories. show less

I received an Advance Reader's Copy of this book.

Set in 2016 soon after the presidential election, this story is a sharp commentary on feminism, motherhood, and privilege. Allie is a ghostwriter whose clients are celebrities. She is hired to ghostwrite the memoir of a celebrated feminist, Lana Breban, who wants to tell her story of being an immigrant and a mother. The collaboration, however, doesn't go smoothly, as Lana is too busy to give Allie details for the book. Instead Allie is left show more with inserting anecdotes from her own life as a single mother into Lana's story. Heidi Pitlor's writing is sharp, smart, and witty. There is a lot to contemplate here. This book would make a great book club book. show less

This is a yearly anthology that attempts to collect the best short stories written by American authors and published that year. After reading this, I wrote an essay about why the short story form just doesn’t appeal to me as a reader:

I have never been a big fan of the short story. I like to immerse myself in a world, really get to know and love the characters of a story, and read a complete narrative–beginning, middle and end. For me, this can only happen satisfactorily in novel form. In show more fact, I prefer longer novels, and I am not daunted by books weighing in at 500 pages or more.

I wanted the collection Best American Short Stories 2007 to add to my Stephen King collection (King was the guest editor). But since it represents the best of contemporary short story writing, I thought I’d challenge myself and see if I could find something to like about the short story in reading it.

A short story is only really long enough to do one of two things well: explore a single character or detail a single incident. In doing so, a good story will reveal a truth about the human condition. Both types of stories are presented in this collection. I prefer the incident stories, which seem to be more about something than the character-driven ones.

But even though I recognized that the writing overall was very good and all the stories were engaging, I still failed to connect with many of them on any more than an appreciative level. At the end of the story, I usually found myself asking, “So what?” These stories seem so fraught with meaning, so important, and yet so little happens. The meaning is subtle and hidden, requiring a more patient or insightful reader than me to dig it out.

I realize this is not necessarily the fault of the writer, but I am not going to blame the reader either. The short story is just not a form of literary conversation that engages me. My husband, an avid reader of short stories, would disagree with me, but isn’t it wonderful that there are all sorts of books and stories available to us, and both of us can find something to satisfy?

I will note the exception that proves the rule. One story out of the entire selection of the year’s best spoke to me very strongly. It’s also the story with the best title: “Where Will You Go When Your Skin Cannot Contain You?” by William Gay. I responded to it because it made vivid an emotional state I have never personally felt but that I could understand and experience just by experiencing this story. I also liked it because it is one of the darkest stories in the book. Runners-up were “Balto” by T.C. Boyle and “Allegiance” by Aryn Kyle.

But overall, reading this collection only served to convince me that the short story is just not for me. And that’s okay. show less