The Best American Short Stories 1976, a volume in The Best American Short Stories series, was edited by Martha Foley.[1] The volume was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.[2]
| Editor | Martha Foley |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | The Best American Short Stories |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| ISBN | 978-0395247709 |
| Preceded by | The Best American Short Stories 1975 |
| Followed by | The Best American Short Stories 1977 |
Background
editThe series is considered one of the "best-known annual anthologies of short fiction"[3] and has anthologized more than 2,000 short stories, including works by some of the most famous writers in contemporary American literature, curated by well-known guest editors since 1915.[4] Specifically, Amy Hempel considered it and the O. Henry Award's prize anthology to compile "the best short fiction published in American and Canadian magazines during the preceding year."[5]
In particular, the Willa Cather Review wrote that The Best American Short Stories series "became a repository of values" for creative writing programs and literary magazines, specifically with considerable "influence" in college libraries, short fiction courses, and fiction workshops.[6]
Short stories included
edit| Author | Story | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Alice Adams | "Roses, Rhododendron" | The New Yorker |
| M. Pabst Battin | "Terminal Procedure" | American Review |
| Mae Seidman Briskin | "The Boy Who Was Astrid's Mother" | Ascent |
| Nancy Chaikin | "Beautiful, Helpless Animals" | The Colorado Quarterly |
| John William Corrington | "The Actes and Monuments" | The Sewanee Review |
| H. E. Francis | "A Chronicle of Love" | Kansas Quarterly |
| John Hagge | "Pontius Pilate" | The Carleton Miscellany |
| Ward Just | "Dietz at War" | Virginia Quarterly Review |
| John McCluskey | "John Henry's Home" | The Iowa Review |
| Stephen Minot | "Grubbing for Roots" | North American Review |
| Kent Nelson | "Looking Into Nothing" | Transatlantic Review |
| Cynthia Ozick | "A Mercenary" | American Review |
| Reynolds Price | "Broad Day" | Shenandoah |
| Michael Rothschild | "Wondermonger" | Antaeus |
| Barry Targan | "Surviving Adverse Seasons" | Salmagundi |
| Peter Taylor | "The Hand of Emmagene" | Shenandoah |
| John Updike | "The Man Who Loved Extinct Mammals" | The New Yorker |
References
edit- ^ Neugeboren, Jay (1979-01-21). "Martha Foley, Discoverer". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-04-08.
- ^ Foley, Martha (1976). The Best American Short Stories 1976. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (published January 1, 1976). ISBN 978-0395247709.
- ^ "Short and Sweet" by Mark Harris, Entertainment Weekly, 11/05/99, issue 511, page 73.
- ^ "The Best American Short Stories of the Century," Publishers Weekly, 3/8/1999, volume 246, issue 10, page 47.
- ^ Hempel, Amy (1986-02-09). "The Best American Short Stories 1985 : edited by Gail Godwin with Shannon Ravenel (Houghton Mifflin; $14.95, hardcover; $8.95, paperback; 300 pp.)". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-04-08.
- ^ "'Long-Cellared Wine': 'Double Birthday,' Edward J. H. O'Brien, and the Best American Short Stories Series" by Timothy W. Bintrim and Scott Riner, Willa Cather Review, spring 2023, volume 64, issue 1, page 18.