The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories

August 1, 2004
"Writers are reaffirming tradition, ignoring it, or subverting it," Marcus notes in the introduction to this wide-ranging collection of stories from contemporary writers. Including writers such as Rick Bass, David Foster Wallace, and A. M. Homes, Marcus has collected quite a diverse group of talented authors. Jhumpa Lahiri's offering, "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dinner," from her acclaimed collection " The Interpreter of Maladies " (1999), is the story of a how a young girl is deeply affected by Mr. Pirzada, a friend of her parents, and his separation from his wife and seven daughters, who are caught in the middle of the Indian-Pakistani conflict. In Lydia Davis' "The Old Dictionary," the narrator realizes she handles a delicate old dictionary more carefully than her own young son. In Stephen Dixon's "Down the Road," a man tries to carry his lover when they both can barely continue their long journey. Different readers will likely prefer some selections to others, but all will have to agree that Marcus has collected a respectable sampling of some of today's finest writers. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)