A reader doesn't want to love every story in an anthology. A collection of short fiction by various authors should be just that: various. We want all the stories to be admirable, but not necessarily lovable. This is how anthologies do their job, which is to teach us to love new forms of fiction. And this is how Daniel Halpern, editor of The Art of the Story, does his job. Halpern previously brought us the successful and far-reaching collection The Art of the Tale. Now he has taken upon himself the task of creating an international sampling of the contemporary short story. Seventy-eight writers from 35 countries--including Banana Yoshimoto, Junot Díaz, Peter Hoeg, Julian Barnes, T.C. Boyle, Salman Rushdie, Peter Carey, Edwidge Danticat, and Tatyana Tolstaya--demonstrate that the story still brims with unrest and disharmony and, well, variousness. The classical form, the story that implies the world in a truncated scene or two, that implies a life in a single moment, is amply represented in this collection by writers like Ann Beattie ("In Amalfi") and Raymond Carver ("Are These Actual Miles?"). But the new story ranges farther than the personal, making inroads into the parodic, the fantastic, the speculative. As Halpern writes in the preface, "There seems to be a more investigative nature to the fiction of these stories written so close to the end of this century, a tendency, especially among writers from emerging nations, to use the story as a means of orientation, to restate for themselves their position--politically, socially, and artistically--as if for these writers there is radically less separation between reality and the imagination." Certainly this is an apt description of the fiction of Nigeria's Booker Prize winner Ben Okri ("In the Shadow of War") and of American newcomer Nathan Englander, whose "The Twenty-Seventh Man" describes the slaughter of Yiddish writers and contains the unforgettable dictate, "Never outlive your language." --Claire Dederer


From Publishers Weekly
A decade after Halpern's Art of the Tale anthology comes a hefty companion volume, this one collecting 78 international, contemporary authors, those born between 1938 and 1970. The new book elegantly shrugs off the dictates of political and cultural theorists to answer the demands of literary aesthetics. Yet the stories represented here, written by authors from 35 countries, are rife with honest social commentary: Haruki Murakami's suburban fantasy "The Elephant Vanishes" is told by a bourgeois Japanese man living outside Tokyo; the characters in Bobbie Ann Mason's "Wish" are poor tobacco farmers with crocheted pillows, sour stomachs and dirt yards; "Escort" by Abdulrazak Gurnah tells of a Tanzanian who returns briefly from England, where he is a teacher and a scholar of poetry, and becomes unwillingly involved with his taxi driver, a meticulously evil lapsed Muslim named Salim. The philosophy guiding Halpern's choices, as he points out in a refreshingly brief introduction, is that contemporary authors, unlike the early moderns collected in his previous anthology, are essentially reactionary: they respond conservatively, critically and satirically to the effluvia of current popular media. Though claiming to be an international selection, the majority of these stories were written in English, and many are by the usual suspects for such a collection: Lorrie Moore, Joyce Carol Oates, Julian Barnes, Martin Amis, T.C. Boyle, Raymond Carver. The international scene is represented by well-known writers-in-translation like Banana Yoshimoto, Patrick Chamoiseau and Peter Esterhazy, along with some distinguished voices not yet discovered by mainstream American readers. Halpern selected these stories with great intelligence and zero trendiness, and the anthology is a true pleasure at every turn. (Nov.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
This carefully chosen collection features 78 writers from 35 countries, all born between 1938 and 1970. Many of them will be familiar, like Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie, but many will be new to readersAHanif Kureishi, Torgny Lindgren, and Ben Okri, to name a few. Halpern has included short biographical notes on all of the authors following the text. The quality of the stories is consistently high, proving that the short story is very much alive and that it is still a powerful form of writing. Halpern is also the editor of The Art of the Tale and the author of eight poetry collections. This new collection is an ideal purchase for anyone looking for an extraordinary book of short stories that is truly global. An important volume for public and academic libraries.ALisa Rohrbaugh, East Palestine Memorial P.L., OH Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
This fat ``companion volume'' to Halpern's earlier anthology, The Art of the Tale (not reviewed), offers a generous sampling of contemporary short fiction (all 78 contributors were ``born after 1937'')though its perhaps less truly ``international'' than announced (more than 50 of the stories were written in English). Nevertheless, Halpern's range is impressive, extending to such writers of recent emergence as Vikram Chandra, Junot Daz, Nathan Englander, Can Xue, and Banana Yoshimoto. Only a handful of stories are even arguably overfamiliar (Graham Swift's ``Learning to Swim,'' Haruki Murakami's ``The Elephant Vanishes,'' the late Toni Cade Bambara's ``Gorilla, My Love'')and Halpern has unearthed three to four dozen gems, including Kenyan Ngugi wa Thiong'o's moving ``Minutes of Glory,'' Britisher Jim Crace's suggestive allegory ``The Prospect from the Silver Hills,'' Hungarian Pter Esterh zy's amusingly metafictional ``Roberto Narrates,'' and Somalian Neustadt Prizewinner Nuruddin Farah's compact parable of colonialism, ``My Father, the Englishman, and I.'' The only book of its kind well worth its (steep) price, and endlessly browsable. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Following the immense success of The Art of the Tale, Daniel Halpern has assembled the next generation of short-story writers—those born after 1937—to create a companion volume, The Art of the Story. Attesting to the depth, range, and continued popularity of short fiction, this collection includes seventy-eight contributors from thirty-five countries. The Art of the Story combines the best of the established masters as well as the fresh, new voices of writers whose work has seldom been translated into English.

Featured writers include:

* Ama Ata Aidoo
* Julia Alvarez
* Martin Amis
* Margaret Atwood
* Russell Banks
* Julian Barnes
* Ann Beattie
* T. C. Boyle
* Peter Carey
* Angela Carter
* Vikram Chandra
* Edwidge Danticat
* Daniele del Giudice
* Junot D'az
* Nathan Englander
* Peter Esterhazy
* Richard Ford
* Peter Hoeg
* Kazuo Ishiguro
* Bobbie Ann Mason
* Ian McEwan
* Lorrie Moore
* Murathan Mungan
* Joyce Carol Oates
* Ben Okri
* Amos Oz
* Salman Rushdie
* Graham Swift
* Tobias Wolff
* Can Xue

"A grand convocation of writers from across the globe-middle-aged and young, famous and obscure"—Newsday

SYNOPSIS

An incomparably rich and diverse collection that brings together the world's most powerful storytellers

Following the immense success of The Art of the Tale, Daniel Halpern has assembled the next generation of short story writers—those born after 1938—to create a companion volume, The Art of the Story.

Attesting to the depth, range, and continued popularity of short fiction, this collection includes seventy-eight contributors from thirty-five countries. The Art of the Story combines the best of the established masters as well as the fresh, new voices of writers whose work has seldom been translated into English.

Ama Ata Aidoo
Richard Ford
Julia Alvarez
Peter Hoeg
Martin Amis
Kazuo Ishiguro
Margaret Atwood
Bobbie Ann Mason
Russell Banks
Ian McEwan
Julian Barnes
Lorrie Moore
Ann Beattie
Murathan Mungan
T. C. Boyle
Joyce Carol Oates
Peter Carey
Ben Okri
Angela Carter
Amos Oz
Raymond Carver
Salman Rushdie
Vikram Chandra
Graham Swift
Edwidge Danticat
Tatyana Tolstaya
Daniele del Giudice
John Edgar Wideman
Junot D'az
Jeanette Winterson
Nathan Englander
Tobias Wolff
Peter Esterhazy
Can Xue

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

A decade after Halpern's Art of the Tale anthology comes a hefty companion volume, this one collecting 78 international, contemporary authors, those born between 1938 and 1970. The new book elegantly shrugs off the dictates of political and cultural theorists to answer the demands of literary aesthetics. Yet the stories represented here, written by authors from 35 countries, are rife with honest social commentary: Haruki Murakami's suburban fantasy "The Elephant Vanishes" is told by a bourgeois Japanese man living outside Tokyo; the characters in Bobbie Ann Mason's "Wish" are poor tobacco farmers with crocheted pillows, sour stomachs and dirt yards; "Escort" by Abdulrazak Gurnah tells of a Tanzanian who returns briefly from England, where he is a teacher and a scholar of poetry, and becomes unwillingly involved with his taxi driver, a meticulously evil lapsed Muslim named Salim. The philosophy guiding Halpern's choices, as he points out in a refreshingly brief introduction, is that contemporary authors, unlike the early moderns collected in his previous anthology, are essentially reactionary: they respond conservatively, critically and satirically to the effluvia of current popular media. Though claiming to be an international selection, the majority of these stories were written in English, and many are by the usual suspects for such a collection: Lorrie Moore, Joyce Carol Oates, Julian Barnes, Martin Amis, T.C. Boyle, Raymond Carver. The international scene is represented by well-known writers-in-translation like Banana Yoshimoto, Patrick Chamoiseau and Peter Esterhazy, along with some distinguished voices not yet discovered by mainstream American readers. Halpern selected these stories with great intelligence and zero trendiness, and the anthology is a true pleasure at every turn. (Nov.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

This carefully chosen collection features 78 writers from 35 countries, all born between 1938 and 1970. Many of them will be familiar, like Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie, but many will be new to readers--Hanif Kureishi, Torgny Lindgren, and Ben Okri, to name a few. Halpern has included short biographical notes on all of the authors following the text. The quality of the stories is consistently high, proving that the short story is very much alive and that it is still a powerful form of writing. Halpern is also the editor of The Art of the Tale and the author of eight poetry collections. This new collection is an ideal purchase for anyone looking for an extraordinary book of short stories that is truly global. An important volume for public and academic libraries.--Lisa Rohrbaugh, East Palestine Memorial P.L., OH Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Ben Greenman - Time Out New York

It's the holiday season, which means it's time to remember that good things come in small packages. But really good things come in small packages that are then bound together and sold as one large package, like the gargantuan new short-fiction anthology The Art of the Story assembles the best contemporary short stories. And not just American authors—that kind of narrow-mindedness is for sissy anthologies. Flexing its muscles, The Art of the Storyattempts to locate the peak of the genre as it's practiced worldwide, with 78 stories from 35 countries. The result is quite a party, with established masters like Raymond Carver, Lorrie Moore, Ann Beattie, Richard Ford, Margaret Atwood, Tobias Wolff, and T.C. Boyle lined up alongside a new crop of short-fiction sprouts like Victor Pelevin and Banana Yoshimoto.

Kirkus Reviews

This fat "companion volume" to Halpern's earlier anthology, The Art of the Tale (not reviewed), offers a generous sampling of contemporary short fiction (all 78 contributors were "born after 1937")—though it's perhaps less truly "international" than announced (more than 50 of the stories were written in English). Nevertheless, Halpern's range is impressive, extending to such writers of recent emergence as Vikram Chandra, Junot Díaz, Nathan Englander, Can Xue, and Banana Yoshimoto. Only a handful of stories are even arguably overfamiliar (Graham Swift's "Learning to Swim," Haruki Murakami's "The Elephant Vanishes," the late Toni Cade Bambara's "Gorilla, My Love")—and Halpern has unearthed three to four dozen gems, including Kenyan Ngugi wa Thiong'o's moving "Minutes of Glory," Britisher Jim Crace's suggestive allegory "The Prospect from the Silver Hills," Hungarian Péter Esterházy's amusingly metafictional "Roberto Narrates," and Somalian Neustadt Prize￯﾿ﾽwinner Nuruddin Farah's compact parable of colonialism, "My Father, the Englishman, and I." The only book of its kind well worth its (steep) price, and endlessly browsable.

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