The O. Henry Prize Stories 2008

Each year, short story lovers eagerly anticipate two collections of stories: The Best American Short Stories collection published by Houghton Mifflin, and the O. Henry Prize Stories, edited by Laura Furman and published by Anchor. While the "Best American" series contains many worthy stories and authors (this year, the series editor is Salman Rushdie and the winners include Nicole Krauss, A.M. Homes, and Jonathan Lethem), the choices tend to be a bit more conventional than the O. Henry stories. For that reason, if I had to pick one short story anthology to read all year, I'd pick the O. Henry, if only to be introduced to writers whose work is unfamiliar to me. (There is a bit of crossover, since Alice Munro, unsurprisingly, turns up in show more both volumes, as does Steven Millhauser).

This year's series doesn't disappoint. The subjects range from a woman who joins a polyamorous society that she stumbled upon somewhere in an unspecified country outside the United States ("The Necessity of Certain Behaviors" by Sharon Cain) to a pre-teen growing up with her gruff, secretive father in a remote part of America ("Scenes from the Life of the Only Girl in Water Shield, Alaska," by first-time author Tony Tulathimutte) to a composer whose unwilling babysitting for his girlfriend's bird brings unexpected benefits to his art ("A Composer and His Parakeets," by Ha Jin). The narrative forms also vary widely -- we get conventional narrative; a couple of stories written as a series of scenes; and another story that contains no characters at all, save the bizarre, baroque dresses designed by a mysterious fashion designer calling himself "Hyperion" ("A Change in Fashion" by Steven Millhauser, which, thanks to its strange flights of fancy, is at turns the most intriguing and most frustrating story in the collection.)

While not all the stories make a hugely favorable impression ("Bye Bye Natalia," by Michael Faber, about a Russian, HIV-positive mail-order bride, is a bit forced and obvious in spots), there's not a real dud in the lot. Some, like Rose Tremain's little jewel "A Game of Cards," stun with their ability to convey so much truth in such a compact package. Alexi Zentner's "Touch" and Olaf Olafsson's "On the Lake" also deserve special mention for their extraordinarily controlled and beautiful tone -- you find yourself almost holding your breath while reading, for fear you'll break the spell.

If you love short stories -- heck, if you even like short stories -- pick this one up. show less

One of the best collections in the series.