The American Story

This collection gathers 17 short stories, chosen by the editors of StoryQuarterly as the best the magazine has published in its 15-year tenure. Several tales consist of deeply felt, first-person childhood recollections. "My Father's Roses" by Glyn Hughes, about a working-class British socialist and his unhappy wife, exhibits a successful use of language, with beautiful passages: "The roses were a little way past full blossoming, and petals, winged, flesh-soft, sensual, butterflied over neighbouring gardens." There's also Ann Beattie's "Late Summer: Driving North," a satisfying tale of academia, adultery and pita bread in the late '70s. The collection also presents informative interviews with several writers, including Grace Paley, Richard Stern and John Cheever.