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Rating: 
Summary: Great collection of short stories
Review: As usual, "Prize Stories" is full of gems and surprises. The use of a panel of judges helps to ensure variety, unlike other yearly short story anthologies. I found this year's edition disconscerting, however, as three of the stories were anything but short. They were novellas. Not that there is anything wrong with longer works of fiction, but it is a different style of writing and not what I was looking for when I forked over the money for this book. Granted, these three stories are excellent and deserving of notice, but not between the covers of a "short story" anthology.In all fairness, I must admit that in the books introduction, the series editor, Larry Dark, discussess the inclusion of these stories. He claims that he has (I am paraphrasing) grown weary of short stories, having seen so many. My suggestion is that he find something else to do, then. OK. That wasn't nice. Sorry, Mr. Dark. The truth is, ultimately, that he has once again managed to compile a collection of some of the greatest writing printed in North America in the past year. Most noteworthy, I thought, was Alice Munro's "Floating Bridge," which took third place. Ms. Munro was also given a well deserved special citation award for her work over the years. She has been included in "Prize Stories" on several occasions and usually places second or third. Aside from the quality of her work, Ms. Munro caught my attention simply because she is so regular. However, it would take me all day to discuss each story because every story in this anthology is simply fantastic. Deciding which ones were best must have been an extremely frustrating experience. I highly recommend this book if you are a lover of short stories. Because of the length of some of these stories, the number of stories included in this volume has been reduced from 20 to 17. These are 17 of the best examples of short story (and novella) writing I have seen yet. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Pass the Prozac!
Review: If you enjoy reading story after story of desease, death, suicide, mental illness, abduction, murder, rape and torture, this book is for you. It was not for me; roughly half way through, I put it down rather than suffer any further from the depression, anxiety and nightmares these stories were causing. The most egregious example of the prevailing darkness is Joyce Carol Oakes "The Girl with the Blackened Eye," in which a 15 year old girl is abducted, raped, beaten, shocked with electrical cords and has cigarettes put out on her stomach and breasts. Oh yeah, then she gets to watch while the psycho performs the same sick acts upon another woman. Had this not been followed by David Schickler's delightful story (fantasy?) "The Smoker," there may well have been no recovery from the abyss into which I was plunged after the first 144 pages. But alas - the next offering is an amoral tale of 3 girls and 1 guy, of mental illness and suicide. At this point, I stopped reading the stories altogether. I simply resent a book that takes you down, then takes you down even further, then ..... Surely, there are quality writers who pen the occasional "feel good" story and an anthology that doesn't go to such great lengths to make you feel bad.
Rating: 
Summary: engaging read
Review: Since I live in NYC and most of my read time is on the subway, i prefer to read anthologies. This is the first in a long time that i have enjoyed all the stories for various reasons. Especially David Schickler's "the Smoker." (I was so engaged in this story, i ordered his current book). The stories in this book are well written with likeable characters. And there are also some surprises in store.
Rating:
Summary: A Terrific Collection
Review: The seventeen stories in this collection evidence that good writing in North America has not been forgotten. The story that I most enjoyed was David Schickler's enchanting "The Smoker" with its character evolvement and startling twist. The first prize winner, Mary Swan's "The Deep" holds magnificent writing that presents images that will remain with you for days. Stories of humor and fantasy are represented by Pinckney Benedict's "Zog-19: A Scientific Romance" and George Saunders's "Pastoralia". Alice Munro, T.C. Boyle, Joyce Carol Oates, Antonya Nelson, and Ron Carlson maintain their renown with their short fiction in this collection.
Rating:
Summary: A Terrific Collection
Review: The seventeen stories in this collection evidence that good writing in North America has not been forgotten. The story that I most enjoyed was David Schickler's enchanting "The Smoker" with its character evolvement and startling twist. The first prize winner, Mary Swan's "The Deep" holds magnificent writing that presents images that will remain with you for days. Stories of humor and fantasy are represented by Pinckney Benedict's "Zog-19: A Scientific Romance" and George Saunders's "Pastoralia". Alice Munro, T.C. Boyle, Joyce Carol Oates, Antonya Nelson, and Ron Carlson maintain their renown with their short fiction in this collection.
Rating:
Summary: This is what prize winning stories are supposed to be
Review: Unlike many volumes claiming to have the best short stories of the year, this one may actually be able to claim it. Of the 17 stories here, only three weren't very good (unfortunately the first prize my Mary Swan is one of those three). The rest were good, and there were three that stood out as phenomenal: T. Coraghessan Boyle's story of a young couple throwing their child away; Joyce Carol Oates's story of abduction, rape, and abuse; and David Schickler's story "The Smoker" which is so bizarre and so good that I will pick up his first collection of stories, which this one is included in. Most of the stories in this anthology are of a darker nature, but they are also very well written.
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