"Ten months after her mother’s death, the narrator of The Hero of This Book takes a trip to London. The city was a favorite of her mother’s, and as the narrator wanders the streets, she finds herself reflecting on her mother’s life and their relationship. Thoughts of the past meld with questions of the future: Back in New England, the family home is now up for sale, its considerable contents already winnowed. The woman, a writer, recalls all...

"Award-winning author Elizabeth McCracken is an undisputed virtuoso of the short story, and this new collection features her most vibrant and heartrending work to date"--

A collection of stories by Elizabeth McCracken.

Drawn to Vaudeville from a Jewish upbringing in a small town outside Des Moines, Mose Sharp meets Rocky Carter at a comedy club. Missing his usual sideman, Carter enlists Sharp to participate in his routine. On stage, Carter's hilarious emotional exaggeration and absurdity come into their own with Sharp's deadpan delivery -- and just like that, the inseparable duo of Carter and Sharp is born

"'To read their stories felt to me the way I suspect other people feel hearing jazz for the first time,' recalls Curtis Sittenfeld of her initial encounter with the Best American Short Stories series. 'They were windows into emotions I had and hadn't had, into other settings and circumstances and observations and relationships.' Sittenfeld was met by the same feeling selecting the stories for this year's edition. The result is a striking and nuanced...