I’ve been reading these Pushcart Prize anthologies for 39 years. The early books were smaller and more focused. The last decade or so it seems like editor Bill Henderson has adopted a “kitchen sink” approach. The Pushcart Prize books have grown bloated. There are 65 stories, poems, and essays in this inflated volume. Half of this material could have been cut out. My favorite short story is Russell Banks’ dark “Blue.” I liked the essays “HIPPIES AND BEATS” by Edward Hoagland and “MYSTERIES OF THOREAU, UNSOLVED” by Rebecca Solnit. As usual, I didn’t like any of the poetry. GRADE: B
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE ZEN THING, Emma Duffy–Comparone
WHAT THE BODY KNOWS, Joni Tevis
WHY WE MUST SUPPORT PBS, Bob Hicok
MADAME BOVARY’S GREYHOUND, Karen Russell
PLAYING AT VIOLENCE, Pacifique Irankunda
WINTER ELDERS, Shawn Vestal
A TAB OF IRON ON THE TONGUE, Sandra Lim
IF IT WERE ANYONE ELSE, Lincoln Michel
ANNIE RADCLIFFE, YOU ARE LOVED, Barrett Swanson
CITY HORSE, Henri Cole
THE ICE COMMITTEE , David Means
BREAKING IT, Mary Hood
MONOLOGUE DURING A BLACKOUT, Kara Candito
SAY, Joe Wilkins
CALLING ALL ODDS, D.A. Powell
MY WHITE HOUSE DAYS, Thomas E. Kennedy
GEESE, Ellen Bryant Voigt
THE MOTHER, Latoya Watkins
THE NEWS CYCLE, Daniel Tovrov
APPROACH OF THE HORIZON, Louise Glück
THE FICTION WRITER, Maribeth Fischer
ALBION, Philip Levine
THE PROSPECTS, Michelle Seaton
MY MOTHER TOLD US NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN, Rebecca Gayle Howell
THE TOWER, Frederic Tuten
HOW TO TRIUMPH LIKE A GIRL, Ada Limón
ELEGIES 235, Kathleen Ossip
THE LAST DAYS OF THE BALDOCK, Inara Verzemnieks
YOUR GHOST, Hillary Gravendyk
LA PULCHRA NOTA, Molly McNett
BLUE, Russell Banks
VISIT #1, Afaa Michael Weaver
HIPPIES AND BEATS, Edward Hoagland
PINE, Susan Stewart
ANIMALS, Michael Kardos
ELEGY WITH A CITY IN IT, Reginald Dwayne Betts
THE UNFOLLOWING, Lyn Hejinian
HOW SHE REMEMBERS IT, Rick Bass
“TOO MANY PIGEONS TO COUNT AND ONE DOVE”, Mary Szybist
MYSTERIES OF THOREAU, UNSOLVED, Rebecca Solnit
THE STREETLAMP ABOVE ME DARKENS, Tarfia Faizullah
DAYS OF BEING MILD, Xuan Juliana Wang
LIKE A JET, Sina Queyras
THE DANCE CONTEST, Wells Tower
MINDFUL, Rachel Zucker
UNWILLING, Nance Van Winckel
BOOK OF FORGET, Rebecca Hazelton
THE WEIRDOS, Ottessa Moshfegh
TRIM PALACE, Alexander Maksik
CAPTCHA, Stephanie Strickland
WATCHING A WOMAN ON THEM101 EXPRESS, Kamilah Aisha Moon
BLACK PLANK, Nancy Geyer
BOY. CHILD WITHOUT LEGS. GETTING OFF A CHAIR., Oliver De La Paz
FOR BEDS, Matthew Vollmer
THE HUM OF ZUG ISLAND, Jamaal May
BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS, Yannick Murphy
PIGMEAT, Amaud Jamaul Johnson
JOHN CLARE, Michael Dickman
FABLES, Bennett Sims
MIMESIS, Fady Joudah
WAKING LUNA, Aisha Gawad
RAPE JOKE, Patricia Lockwood
GHAZAL, Marilyn Hacker
UNMOVING LIKE A MIGHT RIVER STILLED, Alan Rossi
SUPERWHITE, Jim White
Henderson’s annual is the eclectic one that has increasingly most resembled the Judith Merril Big Book approach, which I note you’ve been rather unenthusiastic about with the fantastic-fiction annuals as well…did the Gorman/Greenberg cf annual feel too fat as well? Do you like the BEST AMERICAN volumes in their relative brevity these days, if fat by the standards of, say, the Boucher or Wollheim/Carr or Foley annuals, or O. HENRY still. I can still sympathize with your feeling that these become bloated, but the really tight selection of, say, the 1970s Del Rey best-of seemed a bit…blinkered? Have you tried Royle’s BEST BRITISH SHORT STORIES yet?
Todd, I understand the marketing strategy of including many different stories in an anthology to attract a more diverse audience. But I prefer the more focused approach. The early Judith Merrill SF anthologies were great! Later, Merrill included mainstream stories from THE NEW YORKER, etc. that I could have done without. I guess with BEST OF THE YEAR anthologies I’m in the “less is more” camp. I have Royle’s BEST BRITISH SHORT STORIES on my Read Real Soon stack.
I suggest that it’s even more than an attempt to draw more readers in via range of writers, instead to represent the year as fully as possible (as well as to be seen as providing Value for Money…short fiction readers are less likely to need the bug-crushing novels that slow readers often seem to prefer, but I think many are prone to look for a cornucopia). I loved the eclecticism of the Merril later volumes, much as I did the ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS: anthos beforehand…
Among the eclectic anthologies, PUSHCART is almost the only one to include poetry, aside from the few bits in BEST AMERICAN NON-REQUIRED READING…
Todd, I like eclecticism in small doses. But what I really like are quality essays and short stories and poetry. By including a lot of marginal material, anthologies like PUSHCART PRIZE frustrate me. I want better Quality Control.
Meanwhile, some folks are enablers!
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Highly recommend new Pushcart Prize 2016 anthology — treasure trove at 600 large pages! Thank you, Bill Henderson.
Todd, I’ve been reading the PUSHCART PRIZE anthologies since the beginning. The early anthologies are better than the current bloated 600 page doorstops.
Like you, I used to read these years ago but unlike you I no longer do.
Thanks for reading them for the rest of us so we don’t have to!
Jeff, I find less and less to like in these bloated anthologies. I hope things improve next year for the 40th Annual edition.
These have been bloated for years now. George, I didn’t realize you disliked poetry.
Rick, I love Good Poetry. I dislike vacuous, inferior poetry. The PUSHCART PRIZE series collects a lot of poems that are duds.
Ah, I get it now. Sorry for misunderstanding.
Rick, in the 39 years I’ve been reading PUSHCART PRIZE the poetry selections have been weak. The editors pick wonderful essays and short stories, but the poetry selections rarely appeal to me.