“In twenty-nine separate but ingenious ways, these stories seek permanent residence within a reader. They strive to become an emotional or intellectual cargo that might accompany us wherever, or however, we go. . . . If we are made by what we read, if language truly builds people into what they are, how they think, the depth with which they feel, then these stories are, to me, premium material for that construction project. You could build a civilization with them.” —Ben Marcus, from the Introduction Award-winning author of Ben Marcus brings us this engaging and comprehensive collection of short stories that explore the stylistic variety of the medium in America today. by George Saunders by Wells Tower by A.M. Homes by Aimee Bender by Anthony Doerr by Lydia Davis by Mary Caponegro by Aleksandar Hemon by Gary Lutz by Kate Braverman by Jhumpa Lahiri by Stephen Dixon by Joanna Scott by Mary Gaitskill by David Foster Wallace by Matthew Derby by Anne Carson by Rick Bass by Padgett Powell