This is the start of a new mini-feature at BookSpot Central, the Short Fiction Round Table, where members of the BSC will combine forces and focus on a collection or anthology. The purpose of this feature is to be able to cover more short fiction and this provides an interactive and easy way to get as many people involved as I divvy up one, tow, or three stories to various volunteers who will then review the story here at BookSpot Central.
Our first focus will be on Best American Fantasy 2008 which should be hitting shelves soon via Prime Books and is edited by Jeff and Ann VanderMeer.
Table of Contents
1. “Bufo Rex” by Eric Amundsen (Weird Tales)
2. “The Ruby Incomparable” by Kage Baker (Wizards)
3. “The Last and Only” by Peter S. Beagle (Eclipse 1)
4. “Mario’s Three Lives” by Matt Bell (Barrelhouse)
5. “Interval” by Aimee Bender (Conjunctions)
6. “Minus, His Heart” by Jedediah Berry (Chicago Review)
7. “Abroad” by Judy Budnitz (Tin House)
8. “Chainsaw on Hand” by Deborah Coates (Asimov’s)
9. “The Drowned Life” by Jeffrey Ford (Eclipse 1)
10. “The Naming of the Islands” by David Hollander (McSweeney’s)
11. “Light” by Kelly Link (Tin House)
12. “The Revisionist” by Miranda Mellis (Harper’s)
13. “In the Middle of the Woods” by Christian Moody (Cincinnati Review)
14. “Story with Advice II: Back from the Dead” by Rick Moody (Mississippi Review)
15. “Ave Maria” by Micaela Morissette (Conjunctions)
16. “Logorrhea” by Michele Richmond (Logorrhea)
17. “Memoir of a Deer Woman” by M. Rickert (Fantasy & Science Fiction)
18. “The Seven Deadly Hotels” by Bruce Holland Rogers (shortshortshort.com)
19. “How the World Became Quiet: A Post-Human Creation Myth” by Rachel Swirsky (Electric Velocipede)
So what you will see periodically for the next couple of weeks are reviews of stories from Best American Fantasy 2008 popping up in their own individual posts all, however, leading to the same discussion thread at our forums. You will be able to navigate through all of them via our tags.
To kick it off a bit I asked Matthew Cheney (the series editor) what he thought when he hears the words ‘American Fantasy’.
My first thought on hearing the words “American fantasy” is not a single thought, but many — for instance, I immediately wonder what “American” means and what “fantasy” means and what they are doing together. Whose America? Whose fantasy? With our series, at least, we’ve made these questions central to the project by allowing the guest editors great freedom in defining the terms. The books are each a provisional answer by the guest editors to not only the vexing question of what constitutes “the best”, but also to the question of what “American” and “fantasy” might mean. – Matthew Cheney
So there you go and I hope you enjoy!
