Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Today's Voices





PEN America Best Debut Short Stories 2019 is a surprisingly accomplished collection of work. Confession: I skipped the editor’s introductions, which may be important, but I did not want to have any framing device to read these works.  

Solid throughout, there are, for me, some standouts: “The Rickies,” “The Manga Artist,” “Tornado Season,” and especially, “Bad Northern Women.”  This last story has a particularly unique style and rhythm, and is a voice we rarely hear and very much need to hear it; I eagerly await more work from Erin Singer.

The range of stories here truly represent the voices of our time, tackling the challenges of this strange American moment.  This is a worthy book all around.

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