The American Story: Short Stories from the Rea Award - Softcover

Here's a treat for spring: outstanding American fiction published during the last four decades, gathered together by seven leading writers, who each chose three winners from the nominees for the Rea Award, a literary prize established in 1986. Selections include John Updike's coming-of-age story, "The Happiest I've Been" (selected by Joyce Carol Oates), and "The Shawl," Cynthia Ozick's mesmerizing Holocaust fantasy (selected by Shannon Ravenel). Tobias Wolfe's choices include "A Vintage Thunderbird" by Ann Beattie, which details love and heartache in New York City, and Beattie herself selected Charles Baxter's "Snow," Eudora Welty's "No Place for You, My Love," and Richard Bausch's "Consolation," all of which treat the mysteries of human connections from very different perspectives. The remaining narratives range from Joy Williams's child's-eye view of family disintegration, "Escapes" (selected by Stanley Elkin), to Donald Barthelme's playful "The Balloon" (selected by Ozick). A wide-ranging reading experience; recommended for any library with user interest in first-class short fiction.
Starr E. Smith, Fairfax Cty. P.L., Va.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.