Brooks, however, errs in a different way by setting up criteria that may have proved too restrictive. In her introduction, she makes clear that for her plot is everything. There’s nothing wrong with the intricately plotted story, but, given her prejudice, the elegantly written vignette, or the artful, maybe cerebral, character study wouldn’t stand a chance of inclusion. Likewise, Brooks dismisses as stale stories about adultery and love stories with bleak endings. If he were still alive, how would Updike ever get a story in Brooks’s “best’’ collection? She also seems to have little use for the “MFAfia,’’ writers who hold graduate degrees in creative writing. - Joseph Peschel

(Read the full review HERE)

I can’t recommend the Best American Short Stories series to people enough, especially other writers.