So here are my picks for best short story collections of the decade. If you want another take, check out the A.V. Club's choices -- we got a few in common, but a whole lot of differences.
If you think I missed one, you're wrong. Probably. But if you insist on the point, leave a comment. We'll hash out a few reader's favorites that seem to have been overlooked in this great decade of short story resurgence.
Pastoralia, by George Saunders (2000)
After the Quake, by Haruki Murakami (2002)
Things you Should Know by A.M. Holmes (2003)
Runaway, by Alice Munro (2004)
All Aunt Hagar's Children by Edward P. Jones (2006)
Twilight of the Superheroes by Deborah Eisenberg (2006)
The Dead Fish Museum by Charles D'Ambrosio (2007)
Last Evenings on Earth, by Roberto Bolano (2007)
Dangerous Laughter, by Steven Millhauser (2008)
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (2008)
Bless you for acknowledging Millhauser. The AV Club list is O.K. even if it does have Charles Strauss and Lore Segal (which are all right books in their own right, but better choices of the decade?). I guess a lot of that applies to whatever collection I'm thinking of. Is Chris Adrian's "A Better Angel" really surpass Lahiri? (Well, yes. But Eisenberg? No.) What about the best anthology -- "My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead"? And "Oblivion," in the context of David Foster Wallace doesn't stand as strongly as "Girl with Curious Hair" or the bigger tomes, but goodness!
Speaking of David Foster Wallace, actually, why hasn't there been a best essays collection of the decade yet? I'm horribly unread in the genre, but it feels a lot of these lists sort of just mash them into the nonfiction choices. DFW -- again, and Chabon's "Maps & Legends" is mostly brilliant.
It seems like I'm complaining, but I like your list. Nice survey.
Posted by: Matt | December 14, 2009 at 10:17 PM
Yeah, I considered "Oblivion" and "A Better Angel." But I think my lavish affection for "A Better Angel" might be too idiosyncratic (you could say that "Best of" lists always are, but . . .). And considered the DFW addition of Oblivion, but it couldn't squeak past some of the others.
I figured some Lydia Davis fans would come into the building screaming, but they haven't arrived yet.
Posted by: BookFox | December 14, 2009 at 10:59 PM
I am more concerned about the lack of Kelly Link than Lydia Davis, but still excited that you mentioned Millhauser, and the A.M. Homes collection too. Good stuff.
Posted by: Richard Larson | December 15, 2009 at 07:36 PM
I posted this on the other topic, but it's actually meant to be here:
Wells Tower's Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned was a great read--definitely one of my favorite short story collections of the decade, and period.
Posted by: J Reynolds | January 15, 2010 at 01:27 PM
Yes, there were a few short story debuts that I wanted to include, but ultimately were just too recent, too freshly minted, for me to gain enough perspective. Wells Tower's book was one. Nam Le's The Boat was another. And Chris Adrian's A Better Angel was the third.
Instead, I opted for those I thought were a bit more tried and true.
Maybe we're still too close to the decade to really determine which collections were the great ones. There is a principle in postmodernity by which you defer judgment -- hopefully not indefinitely, but it's wise not to rush to a solution (or a list). For the sake of journalism we still name "great" books, but the true list will emerge later, once we have more distance.
Posted by: BookFox | January 15, 2010 at 07:03 PM