This is the time of year when many blogs unveil their “Top 10 Books of the Year.”
This convention strikes me as a bit haphazard. Why only ten? What if there’s an eleventh book that deserves attention? A 13th? On the other hand, what if there are only six that stand out? What if two books deserve a tie for first place? What really separates number two on the list from number three? More importantly, why not more discussion of individual short stories?
So instead, I’m just offering a list of short stories that I enjoyed in 2011 (sans ranking). My criteria for inclusion is simple — I enjoyed them. I felt moved by them. They made me gasp or cry or laugh or they set off fireworks in my brain. Some of these stories are classified as genre fiction, while others are classified as literary fiction. I think the division between the two is growing increasingly hazy (and that that’s a good thing). The main point is: I enjoyed these stories, and I suspect many of the readers of Laughing at the Abyss will enjoy them, too.
Many of the stories I’m going to list here are reprints published in 2010 (or earlier), but only came to my attention this year due to the release of a new “Best Of” anthology or collection (or a new edition of an old anthology or collection). But one of the stories is new, and I’m particularly excited to share that one with you.
New Noteworthy Short Fiction From 2011
- “A Brief Stay in Neligh, Nebraska” by Bonnie Nadzam in The Coffin Factory, Issue One. I should clarify for this blog’s audience: The Coffin Factory isn’t a horror magazine. It’s a new, glossy literary magazine that publishes the likes of Joyce Carol Oates, Milan Kundera, and Roberto Bolano. I don’t think I found a disappointing piece in the entire magazine, but the ending of Nadzam’s story literally took my breath away. You owe it to yourself to check this one out as soon as possible. Simply brilliant.
Noteworthy Short Fiction From “Best Of” Anthologies Published in 2011 (Stories Originally Published Pre-2011)
- “The River Nemunas” by Anthony Doerr and “Frost Mountain Picnic Massacre” by Seth Fried in Pushcart Prize XXXV: Best of the Small Presses. Two dark stories, the first brooding and the second absurd. Both blew me away.
- “The Ugliest Woman in the World” by Olga Tokarczuk in Best European Fiction 2011. Dark meditation on identity, alienation, and the grotesque.
- “In the Spirit of McPhineas Lata” by Lauri Kubuitsile in The Caine Prize for African Writing 2011. A smart, entertaining pseudo-paranormal bedroom farce set in a village in Botswana.
Classics I Only Discovered This Year Due To Being Reprinted In New Collections or Anthologies
- “Cram” by John Shirley in In Extremis: The Most Extreme Short Stories of John Shirley. Originally published in 1997, this is a visceral account of a man who discovers himself only feeling truly alive when he is faced with certain, nightmarish death. I’ve found In Extremis to be uneven, over all, but I think it’s almost worth buying just to get your hands on this story. Highly recommended.
- “The Lottery in Babylon” by Jorge Luis Borges in Kafkaesque: Stories Inspired by Franz Kafka. Brilliant. Jorge, where have you been all my life? Why has it taken so long for me to discover you?
- “The Last Feast of Harlequin” by Thomas Ligotti in Grimscribe: His Lives and Works. A perfect example of how Ligotti builds on Lovecraftian themes, but then transcends them with his own dark vision. The Subterranean Press reprint of Grimscribe was one of my favorite books of the year. Lots of great stories in Grimscribe, but this was probably my favorite.
- “Dancing Men” by Glen Hirshberg in Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror. This is the only short story (novella?) I’ve ever read that made me cry. A mesmerizing tale of the multi-generational impact of trauma. Darkness came out in 2010, but I didn’t discover it until late winter/early spring of this year.
Classics I Only Discovered This Year Due To Stumbling Across Books in Second-Hand Stores
- “A Small, Good Thing” by Raymond Carver in The World of the Short Story: A 20th Century Collection. The most uplifting story about death you’ll ever read
So, for what it’s worth, that’s my take on things. What’s yours? Feel free to use the comments section below to share your own picks for noteworthy short fiction from 2011.
