"If you know exactly what you are going to get from the experience of reading a story, you probably wouldnt go looking for it; you need, in order to be an open reader of fiction, to be willing. To cast a vote for what you love and then wait for the outcome," writes Meg Wolitzer in her introduction. The Best American Short Stories 2017 casts a vote for and celebrates all that is our country. Here youll find a man with a boyfriend and a girlfriend, naval officers trapped on a submarine, a contestant on Americas Funniest Home Videos, and a gay man desperate to be a father-unforgettable characters waiting for an outcome, burning with stories to tell.