The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story

A selection of the best and most representative contemporary American short fiction from 1970 to 2020, including such authors as Ursula K. LeGuin, Toni Cade Bambara, Jhumpa Lahiri, Sandra Cisneros, and Ted Chiang, hand-selected by celebrated editor and anthologist John Freeman. IN THE PAST fifty years, the American short story has changed dramatically. New voices, forms, and mixtures of genres have brought this unique US genre a thrilling burst of energy. This rich anthology celebrates this avalanche of talent. Beginning in 1970, it culls together a half century of powerful American short stories from all genres, including--for the first time in a literary anthology--science fiction, horror, and fantasy, placing writers such as Usula Le Guin, Ken Liu and Stephen King next to some of the often-taught geniuses of the form--Grace Paley, Toni Cade Bambara, Sandra Cisneros, and Denis Johnson. Culling widely, Freeman, the former editor of Granta and now of his own literary annual, brings forward some astonishing work to be regarded in a new light. Often overlooked tales by Dorothy Allison, Charles Johnson, and Toni Morrison will recast the shape and texture of today's enlarging atmosphere of literary dialogue. Stories by Lauren Groff and Ted Chiang raise the spectre of engagement in ecocidal times. Short tales by Tobias Wolff, George Saunders, and Lydia Davis rub shoulders with near novellas by Susan Sontag and Andrew Holleran. This book will be a treasure trove for readers and teachers alike.

John Freeman is the editor of Freeman's, a literary annual of new writing, and executive editor at Alfred A. Knopf. His books include How to Read a Novelist and Dictionary of the Undoing, as well as Tales of Two Americas, an anthology about income inequality in America, and Tales of Two Planets, an anthology of new writing about inequality and the climate crisis globally. He is also the author of two poetry collections, Maps and The Park. His work is translated into more than twenty languages, and has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and The New York Times. The former editor of Granta, he teaches writing at New York University.

CONTENTS Introduction by John Freeman ix THE LESSON • Toni Cade Bambara, 1972 1 A CONVERSATION WITH MY FATHER • Grace Paley, 1972 10 THE ONES WHO WALK AWAY FROM OMELAS • Ursula K. Le Guin, 1973 17 BICYCLES, MUSCLES, CIGARETTES • Raymond Carver, 1973 25 THE FLOWERS • Alice Walker, 1973 36 GIRL • Jamaica Kincaid, 1978 38 THE RED CONVERTIBLE • Louise Erdrich, 1981 40 THE REENCOUNTER • Isaac Bashevis Singer, 1982 51 TAKING CARE • Joy Williams, 1982 58 STORY • Lydia Davis, 1983 69 CHINA • Charles Johnson, 1984 73 PET MILK • Stuart Dybek, 1984 96 THE WAY WE LIVE NOW • Susan Sontag, 1986 102 SALVADOR LATE OR EARLY • Sandra Cisneros, 1986 123 THE THINGS THEY CARRIED • Tim O’Brien, 1986 125 RIVER OF NAMES • Dorothy Allison, 1988 146 EMERGENCY • Denis Johnson, 1991 157 STICKS • George Saunders, 1994 170 FIESTA, 1980 • Junot Díaz, 1996 172 SILENCE • Lucia Berlin, 1998 188 THE TWENTY- SEVENTH MAN • Nathan Englander, 1998 201 BULLET IN THE BRAIN • Tobias Wolff, 1998 221 THE HERMIT’S STORY • Rick Bass, 1998 227 A TEMPORARY MATTER • Jhumpa Lahiri, 1998 242 THE PENTHOUSE • Andrew Holleran, 1999 262 THE FIX • Percival Everett, 1999 292 WATER CHILD • Edwidge Danticat, 2000 310 THE AMERICAN EMBASSY • Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2003 322 THE CONDUCTOR • Aleksandar Hemon, 2005 334 ST. LUCY’S HOME FOR GIRLS RAISED BY WOLVES • Karen Russell, 2007 354 THE LAST THING WE NEED • Claire Vaye Watkins, 2010 373 THE PAPER MENAGERIE • Ken Liu, 2011 389 THE DUNE • Stephen King, 2011 405 DIEM PERDIDI • Julie Otsuka, 2011 419 THE GREAT SILENCE • Ted Chiang, 2015 432 THE MIDNIGHT ZONE • Lauren Groff, 2016 437 ANYONE CAN DO IT • Manuel Muñoz, 2019 449 About the Contributors 467 Credits 477