CONTENTS
Introduction by John Freeman ix
THE LESSON • Toni Cade Bambara, 1972 1
A CONVERSATION WITH MY FATHER • Grace Paley, 1972 10
THE ONES WHO WALK AWAY FROM OMELAS • Ursula K. Le Guin, 1973 17
BICYCLES, MUSCLES, CIGARETTES • Raymond Carver, 1973 25
THE FLOWERS • Alice Walker, 1973 36
GIRL • Jamaica Kincaid, 1978 38
THE RED CONVERTIBLE • Louise Erdrich, 1981 40
THE REENCOUNTER • Isaac Bashevis Singer, 1982 51
TAKING CARE • Joy Williams, 1982 58
STORY • Lydia Davis, 1983 69
CHINA • Charles Johnson, 1984 73
PET MILK • Stuart Dybek, 1984 96
THE WAY WE LIVE NOW • Susan Sontag, 1986 102
SALVADOR LATE OR EARLY • Sandra Cisneros, 1986 123
THE THINGS THEY CARRIED • Tim O’Brien, 1986 125
RIVER OF NAMES • Dorothy Allison, 1988 146
EMERGENCY • Denis Johnson, 1991 157
STICKS • George Saunders, 1994 170
FIESTA, 1980 • Junot Díaz, 1996 172
SILENCE • Lucia Berlin, 1998 188
THE TWENTY- SEVENTH MAN • Nathan Englander, 1998 201
BULLET IN THE BRAIN • Tobias Wolff, 1998 221
THE HERMIT’S STORY • Rick Bass, 1998 227
A TEMPORARY MATTER • Jhumpa Lahiri, 1998 242
THE PENTHOUSE • Andrew Holleran, 1999 262
THE FIX • Percival Everett, 1999 292
WATER CHILD • Edwidge Danticat, 2000 310
THE AMERICAN EMBASSY • Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2003 322
THE CONDUCTOR • Aleksandar Hemon, 2005 334
ST. LUCY’S HOME FOR GIRLS RAISED BY WOLVES • Karen Russell, 2007 354
THE LAST THING WE NEED • Claire Vaye Watkins, 2010 373
THE PAPER MENAGERIE • Ken Liu, 2011 389
THE DUNE • Stephen King, 2011 405
DIEM PERDIDI • Julie Otsuka, 2011 419
THE GREAT SILENCE • Ted Chiang, 2015 432
THE MIDNIGHT ZONE • Lauren Groff, 2016 437
ANYONE CAN DO IT • Manuel Muñoz, 2019 449
About the Contributors 467
Credits 477
