Best American Short Stories (2018) Edited by Roxanne Gay

The Best American Short Stories (2018) came out with guns blazing. Short stories are such a neglected, under-appreciated art form. Every metaphor and line has to mean something to the overall arch of the book. If you have never read a short story this book (or The Best American Short Stories series in its entirety) is the place to begin to open your eyes to this form of writing.

This particular edition is a ticket to all sorts of places that are so well-woven by the authors that it’s impossible not to be transported there too. From a house with a grandparent who has dementia to a subway stoop where an immigrant father laments the different lives he and his American daughter lead, From a Middle School Museum sleepover to tell the tale of two Mexican brothers who wield dark magic, it’s impossible not to relate to these characters on some level and to resist the lull of each of the author’s distinctive and bewitching writing.