Granta 54: The Best of Young American Novelists

Rating:
Summary: A Fairly Weak Collection
Review: Decent submissions from Tom Drury, Jeffrey Eugenides, Melanie Rae Thon and Jonathan Franzen, but overall the choices don't really smack of greatness. Plus, many of the entries feel too much like bits of novels yanked out of the overall context of the novel itself, so that in a vacuum, they pretty much whither away. There's also some fairly glaring omissions here (no David Foster Wallace or Richard Powers? What planet are these people from???), but I guess beauty's in the eye. Or whatever

Rating:
Summary: How to Meet Twenty Remarkable Authors
Review: I've lost my first copy, because it's been loaned out innumerable times. Finely crafted writing (after all, Tobias Wolff was one of the judges), a broad variety of styles--all surprisingly accessible. My favorites include Tony Earley, Mona Simpson, and Sherman Alexie. This volume has been a great springboard for further browsing adventures in the fiction section.

Rating:
Summary: A complete steal!
Review: Some of the best American writers got a boost here. I found the stories great in and of themselves, but it also led me to try out novels of the best authors. (I've lost my copy--perhaps another reviewer can leave a list?) A rare find, and a real bargain.

Rating:
Summary: A complete steal!
Review: Some of the best American writers got a boost here. I found the stories great in and of themselves, but it also led me to try out novels of the best authors. (I've lost my copy--perhaps another reviewer can leave a list?) A rare find, and a real bargain.