Overall this was a 3-star collection, but the most notable entry by far is a short story called "Where We Must Be" by Laura van den Berg. It's a slightly bizarre take on the tragic love story archetype (there is a Bigfoot impersonator involved) that manages not to fall victim to that brand of forced quirkiness that irks people about Zooey Deschanel. The combination of quiet, unadorned prose and likable characters in situations that are simultaneously foreign and familiar prompted me to re-read it many times over. I honestly couldn't tell you anything about what was in the rest of the book, but that story's worth the price of admission if you buy it used. An extremely mixed bag, front-loaded with perusable trivia that did nothing for me personally, but offering a few treats to the reader willing to stick it out or skip ahead. Garcia's "The White Train" probably remains my favorite, though the Saunders GQ piece on Clinton and Tobin's short "Cake" aren't far behind. Definitely worth browsing, but unless you're a completist I wouldn't necessarily recommend a front-to-back read.
I borrowed this along with several other years' volumes and was greatly disappointed in them all.
—Munich
Started out ok, but I became less interested the farther I got.
—shahyasin
Meh. The most boring collection of the BANR I have read so far.
—KaylaBeirksackWayland
I love this series. This is a particularly good one.
—LeighAnn
i'm such a sucker for the best american series.
—laura
