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PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2010 (2010)

by Laura Furman(Favorite Author)

3.63 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0307472361 (ISBN13: 9780307472366)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Anchor

review 1: The 2010 edition of this ongoing series is pretty solid overall. The stand outs are not surprising: Annie Proulx's story of a young cowboy and his wife is as spare and brutal as you would expect from Proulx; Daniel Alarcón's tale of a young man learning about his blind uncle is as beautifully written as anything else Alarcón has penned; and William Trevor's story of a woman caring for an ailing elderly man is lovely, haunting, and a bit nerve wracking all at once.In general, if you like short stories, any one of the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories compilations are worth picking up.
review 2: I'm giving this barely three stars, more like two and a half. Sadly, this 2010 edition of the venerable O'Henry Prize best of the year story collection favors literary pyrotec... morehnics over readability (particularly in Allio's "Clothed, Female Figure," Bradley's "East Egg Update," and Ted Sanders' "Obit") and exotic locations over intriguing characters (Samarasan's "Beech Memorial," Galgut's "The Lover"). Thank goodness for the selection of Alice Munro ("Some Women") and James Lasdun ("Oh, Death"). The choice of their stories give me hope that in future editions the lure of the foreign and the experimental for the series editor might fade, leaving only what I, at least, turn to these collections to find - great stories. less

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