The Kansas City Star did a year end review of books in yesterday's paper and Dzanc Books, and our imprints Other Voices Books and Black Lawrence Press were well represented.
The method utilized was having ten reviewers tackle one type of book apiece and list their own top ten titles for the year, including selecting a favorite of the ten.
In the short story category, Linda Rodriguez selected the following titles (with her brief descriptions):
"SHORT FICTION | selected by Linda Rodriguez
Holding Pattern, by Jeffery Renard Allen. Magical stories buzz with the dark energies of Chicago street life.
Things That Pass for Love, by Allison Amend. Sharp-edged tales of urban and suburban lovers.
My Daughter’s Eyes, by Annecy Baez. Enticing look at the Dominican immigrant experience through the eyes of a set of linked young female characters.
Unending Rooms, by Daniel Chacón. Down and dirty Chicano stories combine with Borges-like meta-fiction.
Night Train, by Lise Erdrich. This collection is the first by Erdrich, younger sister of novelist Louise Erdrich.
* Based on a True Story, by Hesh Kestin. These three superb novellas by a former foreign correspondent are some of the best short fiction this reviewer has seen in years.
The Theory of Light and Matter, by Andrew Porter. Suburban tales of the role of memory and the struggle for understanding.
Invite, by Glen Pourciau. The author channels some of the quirkiest yet most believable characters of our time.
Legend of a Suicide, by David Vann. Stories set in or near the wilds of Alaska reimagine a father’s suicide in a multitude of ways.
Our Story Begins, by Tobias Wolff. Overview of his life’s work never disappoints with stories that are word-perfect little gems."
Those under the highlight are such due to the fact that they were published by Other Voices Books, Black Lawrence Press and Dzanc Books respectively. That's right, 30% of the best short fiction collections this year were published under the Dzanc Books' banner. And that * before Hesh Kestin's title? That indicates that of all the short fiction collections that Rodriguez read this year, this was her favorite.
And in Editor John Mark Eberhart's column about the Notable Books of the Year, he noted:
"My hat is off to Books of the Year panelist Linda Rodriguez.
She selected Hesh Kestin’s Based on a True Story as her top short-fiction collection of 2008. Linda’s assignment this year was to choose 10 short-story titles, then pick one favorite out of the group. And Based on a True Story is a collection of three novellas.
The novella is an underrepresented form in modern American literature, and that’s a shame. So the fact that Rodriguez found value in Kestin’s book heartened me."
My review of "Unending Rooms" appeared recently in the El Paso Times:
http://www.elpasotimes.com/entertainment/ci_11226797
More evidence that the short story is alive and well.
Posted by: Daniel Olivas | December 23, 2008 at 12:11 AM