The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story

Marvelous collection. I bought this book to follow along with the audiobook that is also phenomenal.

It's a wonderful collection of short-short stories. So easy to carry around to read whenever you need a few minutes to fill. Stories are well selected and well written. I love this book.

I usually find these short story collections to be hit-or-miss.But I found this book to contain many enjoyable stories, with only a few clinkers.

Book arrived on time and is in excellent condition

Some excellent stuff in here. Of special note, in my opinion, are stories by Bambara, Williams, Johnson, Sontag, Holleran.... Students of such should note the contemporary American narrative prose style: cute, jaunty, occasionally colloquial (in a self-consciously defiant, whimsical way). Like contemporary American poetry, but I believe, as this book demonstrates, that the prose writers win hands down.

I adored this book. I loved the diversity in writers and genres. It is probably my favorite short story collection I've ever read.

Book shipped quickly and arrived in perfect condition!

I enjoyed 11 of the 37 stories. The short stories were originally published between 1972 and 2019. A few of the stand-outs are "The Lesson" by Toni Cad Bambara; "Sticks" by George Saunders; and "The Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu.

I'm reading some short stories in this book right now

E' interessante leggere questo testo perché offre la possibilità di conoscere una vasta gamma di autori contemporanei americani attraverso alcuni dei loro racconti più salienti. Ci sono racconti di vario genere: classici, fantasy, fantascientifici, horror. Il lettore si può veramente sbizzarrire. E' una lettura davvero piacevole che oltrettutto offre la possibilità di approfondire la conoscenza della lingua inglese.

I have to say that John Freeman is to be congratulated for the diverse collection of short stories he has assembled in this volume. I believe that this book represents wonderful entertainment for anyone who purchases it. The stories are not light hearted or amusing but rather reflective and somewhat melancholy but all are really excellently crafted tales. Some like "The Lesson" and "The Flowers" show what can be achieved in a minimum of words. Others like "Fiesta 1980", "Silence" and "Bullet in the Brain" are wonderful stories showing just what can be achieved by a succinct assembly of words in a limited piece of fiction. Stephen King has lost nothing of his skill in his story "The Dune" both intriguing and macabre. And for something you won't find replicated in most any other collection "St Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolves" is original, clever as well as thoughtfully commenting on what it is to be human. I cannot praise this collection too much, it is in my opinion a great addition to any person's library and something I feel sure you will return to more than once or twice.