The 1999 edition of Best American Short Stories was edited by Amy Tan. At the time it was published, I chose not to buy it because for some reason I've never been interested in anything she's written. Last year I changed my mind and bought it from an online used-book site. I'm glad I did. Judging by the writing style in the introduction, I probably still won't read any Amy Tan, but there were several stories among her selections, the authors of which I will pursue further. Let's move right on to specifics.
1) Sad to say, the first specific is a negative. In Junot Diaz's "The Sun, the Moon, the Stars" the characters are young, perhaps recent high school grads. At one point the narrator is trying to re-light a romance with his girl and says, "A lot of the time she Bartlebys me," (page 17) as in she keeps saying no. Cool line … but for a recent high school student? I remember doses of Melville in college, not high school.
2) A woman, hired to play the piano in a cocktail lounge, starts playing classical music. The "customers seemed to bend under the shower of notes like cows hiding from a thunderstorm." (page 88) Cool analogy, IMHO.
3) A narrator, George, observes a moose which "waggled its unwieldy antlers. The gesture did not appear hostile so much as an attempt on the part of the animal to shake off an oversized party hat that had become attached to its head. Moose shed their antlers after the fall rut, George knew. He wondered if they itched. (page 102) Amused me.
4) A character is described as a "winter-pale girl." (page 276.) Winter-pale. I like that.
5) A story entitled "The Bunchgrass Edge of the World" by Annie Proulx is included in this short story volume. I didn't want to like it because when Brokeback Mountain—which is based on a story she wrote—lost the academy award to Crash, she kept referring to the winner as Trash. Doing so, IMHO, showed a definite lack of class. Then on the opening page of "The Bunchgrass Edge of the World" there's this sentence: "In 1930 he was in New York, shoveling the Waldorf-Astoria off the side of a barge into the Atlantic Ocean." (page 294) Does anyone have any idea what that bunch of words might mean? I sure don't. Ultimately though, I did like the story. Guess it's hard to go wrong with your standard girl-meets-tractor plot.
6) In India a room in a hotel is furnished to "… create a shipboard atmosphere. The first time Bannister sat in this room he felt a slight vertigo, as if the floor had tilted under him. It was not pleasant. Bannister likes things to behave the way they're supposed to. (page 316) Great one-line characterization, IMHO of course.
Since I'm now reading in the "literary" field, I'm noticing even more words that make me go, "Huh?"
1) "metal tiffin box" (page 30) Tiffin: lunch, midday meal, British
2) "the adago of oars" (page 140) Dictionary.com knows not adago. I think it's a musical term. Anyone know for sure?
3) "Louis's anima" (page 174) Surprise! Anima is not animal with a typo. It means soul, life or "the feminine principle, esp. as present in men." (dictionary.com)
4) "seems to take the dacoits in stride. (page 317) Dacoits: "(in India and Burma) a member of a class of criminals who engage in organized robbery and murder." Dictionary.com
5) "… a man in a dhoti leans over." (page 320) An article of clothing? Yep. "a long loincloth worn by many Hindu men in India" dictionary.com
All in all, a pretty good set of stories.
Oh. Based on Julis's comment a few days ago where she said she was saving anthologies for her retirement, I've decided to will her my collection of America's Best Short Stories . It covers a lot of years. Should take her a day or two to read.
