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The Best Short Stories 2025: The O. Henry Prize Winners
The prestigious annual story anthology, featuring prize-winning stories by a diverse and exciting array of writers.
Continuing a century-long tradition of cutting-edge literary excellence, this year's edition contains twenty prizewinning stories chosen from the thousands published in magazines over the previous year. Guest editor Edward P. Jones has brought his own refreshing perspective to the prize, selecting stories by an engaging mix of celebrated names and emerging voices. The winning stories are accompanied by an introduction by Jones, observations from the winning writers on what inspired them, and an extensive resource list of magazines that publish short fiction.
Continuing a century-long tradition of cutting-edge literary excellence, this year's edition contains twenty prizewinning stories chosen from the thousands published in magazines over the previous year. Guest editor Edward P. Jones has brought his own refreshing perspective to the prize, selecting stories by an engaging mix of celebrated names and emerging voices. The winning stories are accompanied by an introduction by Jones, observations from the winning writers on what inspired them, and an extensive resource list of magazines that publish short fiction.
416 pages, Paperback
Published September 9, 2025
297 people are currently reading
3667 people want to read
About the author
Edward P. Jones
26 books743 followersEdward Paul Jones is an American novelist and short story writer. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the International Dublin Literary Award for his 2003 novel The Known World.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
September 29, 2025
sometimes the superbowl is a little boring and that’s true if you care about football or o. henry prizewinning short stories
January 10, 2026
The Stackpole Legend - Wendell Berry 4 / 5
The Arrow - Gina Chung 3 / 5
That Girl - Addie Citchens 3 / 5
The Pleasure of a Working Life - Michael Deagler 5 / 5
Blackbirds - Lindsey Drager 5 / 5
Hearing Aids - Clyde Edgerton 4 / 5
Sanrevelle - Dave Eggers 5 / 5
Stump of the World - Madeline fftch 4 / 5
Shotgun Calypso - Indya Finch 3 / 5
City Girl - Alice Hoffman 4 / 5
Sickled - Jane Kalu 4 / 5
The Spit of Him - Thomas Korsgaard 3 / 5
Winner - Ling Ma 4 / 5
Countdown - Anthony Marra 5 / 5
Just Another Family - Lori Ostlund 2 / 5 more like novella length
Mornings at the Ministry - Ehsaneh Sadr 3 / 5
Rosaura at Dawn - Daniel Saldaña París 5 / 5
Three Niles - Zak Salih 5 / 5
Strange Fruit - Yah Yah Scholdfield 3 / 5
Miracle in Lagos Traffic - Chika Unigwe 3 / 5
Out of those I gave 5 stars to above, by a narrow margin I would say Three Niles would be the best, about a 13 year old boy of Sudanese heritage, now living in the US, on a three day visit to see his grandfather along with his father.
Rosaura at Dawn, or Sanrevelle would be very close second / third places.
If I was to criticise the award winning choices and would be just to ask for more variety; more worldwide and in translation (a frequent criticism of mine when it comes to American anthologies), and from more genres, horror, fantasy, magic realism, noir, which are not represented at all here.
The Arrow - Gina Chung 3 / 5
That Girl - Addie Citchens 3 / 5
The Pleasure of a Working Life - Michael Deagler 5 / 5
Blackbirds - Lindsey Drager 5 / 5
Hearing Aids - Clyde Edgerton 4 / 5
Sanrevelle - Dave Eggers 5 / 5
Stump of the World - Madeline fftch 4 / 5
Shotgun Calypso - Indya Finch 3 / 5
City Girl - Alice Hoffman 4 / 5
Sickled - Jane Kalu 4 / 5
The Spit of Him - Thomas Korsgaard 3 / 5
Winner - Ling Ma 4 / 5
Countdown - Anthony Marra 5 / 5
Just Another Family - Lori Ostlund 2 / 5 more like novella length
Mornings at the Ministry - Ehsaneh Sadr 3 / 5
Rosaura at Dawn - Daniel Saldaña París 5 / 5
Three Niles - Zak Salih 5 / 5
Strange Fruit - Yah Yah Scholdfield 3 / 5
Miracle in Lagos Traffic - Chika Unigwe 3 / 5
Out of those I gave 5 stars to above, by a narrow margin I would say Three Niles would be the best, about a 13 year old boy of Sudanese heritage, now living in the US, on a three day visit to see his grandfather along with his father.
Rosaura at Dawn, or Sanrevelle would be very close second / third places.
If I was to criticise the award winning choices and would be just to ask for more variety; more worldwide and in translation (a frequent criticism of mine when it comes to American anthologies), and from more genres, horror, fantasy, magic realism, noir, which are not represented at all here.
January 21, 2026
A mixed collection; a few pieces so limp that I was puzzled by their inclusion, balanced by a handful of marvelous, memorable stories. More of the in between than anything else. Still, good to see authors from such a wide array of backgrounds, and wonderful to find stories from 3 authors whose novels I've loved. I'll start with those. (These mini reviews are not in any order, and don't include the full collection, as there were stories I simply didn't take notes on. Also - the star system is useless here, with a handful of wonders shining amongst the rest).
Countdown, by Anthony Marra
Ever since reading The Tsar of Love and Techno, Anthony Marra's stunning 2015 debut, I've carried its last pages with me. What an unexpected gift to find that his story Countdown, included here, is a companion piece - though it's also a terrific standalone story. A desperate couple living just outside of Moscow with their 6 year old daughter strive to make it out of the country at the beginning of Russia's attack on the Ukraine. The husband and father has perpetually screwed things up, knows he has to make good here. Time is everything and everywhere in Countdown, possibilities ticking away. I'm not going to say anything more - the piece is very short and a tightrope act - it's online in an old copy of Zoetrope if anyone is unlikely to read this anthology.
That Girl, by Addie Citchens
A life changing friendship between 2 girls, this story jumps off the page, loud and alive. The girls discovering themselves through their growing connection, the day to day life of the neighborhood and one particular house, all vividly portrayed. There's quietly delivered and rare insight into the lives of gay teens in the deep South, also one of the themes of Addie Citchens' masterful novel, Dominion. This story made me ache. I'd love to read an expanded version of That Girl as a novel.
Stump of the World, by Madeleine Ffitch
A single mother coping with a delinquent young son. He's angry, smart, at war with his family and the world. As difficult as he may be, his mama can barely hold herself back from shouting out in his defense, she sees what he sees all too clearly. I was increasingly pulled in by the unusual take on parenting this story offers, and moved by the combination of harsh realism and beautiful writing.
Strange Fruit, by Yah Yah Schofield
This story shook me from start to harrowing finish. I'm new to this author, and was struck by her poetry, how in just a few sentences she was able to summon a very specific family in a jarring, dreamscape-to-nightmare setting. The sun rises. An entire neighborhood leaves their homes and sets off to the fruit fields, machetes gleaming. I was so anxious so fast.
There's always crying on the Harvest Days.
This is an incredible, searing piece of writing from a fiction genre rarely found in the annual Best Stories anthologies. Strange Fruit is terrifying and heartbreaking. It made me wish Billie Holiday could read it, and Abel Meeropol, the poet who first wrote the words of the song, decrying the terrible sorrows visited upon on Black Americans.
The Arrow, by Gina Chung
An unexpected pregnancy, and its effect on a long strained relationship between a woman and her difficult, judgmental mother. There are some fine moments - If you had known that all it would take was getting pregnant for your mother to love you, you would have done it ages ago, and I was rooting for our loved-too-little protagonist, but ultimately I was left numb. I found the ending unlikely and bordering on trite, but this could well simply be me: this story has been mentioned as a favourite in many reviews, both here and by literary critics.
The Pleasure of a Working Life, by Michael Beagler
About a postal worker in his 30s who accepts an offer to switch from delivering the mail to running a small post office situated in a mall, surprising even himself.
At the United States Postal Service, there were outdoor people and indoor people, and it was rare for an outdoor person to be invited inside.
But inside he goes, first to be met with disappointing boredom, then with unexpected, possibly criminal activity. After an initially interesting premise, the disparate parts here never come together. More than anything else, there's a lack of textured personality to the main character - we never truly get to know him.
Just Another Family, by Lori Ostlund
Shards of glass in the raw meat.
Not the only part of this story that made me cringe, told by a woman and her lesbian partner returning to the narrator's childhood home upon the death of her father, but the sad memories of her undemonstrative, sometimes criminally cruel Minnesota family leave a mark. A worthwhile, if sometimes painful read.
City Girl, Alice Hoffman
When I realized this was a story set in the Manhattan of the 1980s, I was ready to go, following a young dancer who was hitting clubs I knew well back then - the Limelight,
The Roxy and Tramps. Like so many others (cough) this girl makes a series of poor choices, takes wrong paths glittering all too brightly in those times, leading her to blindly hook up with a crack addict. She's one of the lucky ones, has a stepfather who's ready to step in. The tone is strangely golden lit for a story set in the grit of the NYC scene of that era, though ultimately this is more about the relationship of a teenager and her stepfather than it is about the world of pre-internet, drug fueled city nightlife. It's a sweet story but ultimately shows us nothing new.
The Stackpole Legend, by Wendell Berry
I am mystified as to how this (literally) flatulent nonsense was awarded a spot here, even if it is Wendell Berry. Pointless.
Blackbird, by Lindsay Draper
Asthmatic 8 year old girl at school has forgotten her inhaler. Repetitive and in need of an edit, this often read like a story from a college writing class.
Countdown, by Anthony Marra
Ever since reading The Tsar of Love and Techno, Anthony Marra's stunning 2015 debut, I've carried its last pages with me. What an unexpected gift to find that his story Countdown, included here, is a companion piece - though it's also a terrific standalone story. A desperate couple living just outside of Moscow with their 6 year old daughter strive to make it out of the country at the beginning of Russia's attack on the Ukraine. The husband and father has perpetually screwed things up, knows he has to make good here. Time is everything and everywhere in Countdown, possibilities ticking away. I'm not going to say anything more - the piece is very short and a tightrope act - it's online in an old copy of Zoetrope if anyone is unlikely to read this anthology.
That Girl, by Addie Citchens
A life changing friendship between 2 girls, this story jumps off the page, loud and alive. The girls discovering themselves through their growing connection, the day to day life of the neighborhood and one particular house, all vividly portrayed. There's quietly delivered and rare insight into the lives of gay teens in the deep South, also one of the themes of Addie Citchens' masterful novel, Dominion. This story made me ache. I'd love to read an expanded version of That Girl as a novel.
Stump of the World, by Madeleine Ffitch
A single mother coping with a delinquent young son. He's angry, smart, at war with his family and the world. As difficult as he may be, his mama can barely hold herself back from shouting out in his defense, she sees what he sees all too clearly. I was increasingly pulled in by the unusual take on parenting this story offers, and moved by the combination of harsh realism and beautiful writing.
Strange Fruit, by Yah Yah Schofield
This story shook me from start to harrowing finish. I'm new to this author, and was struck by her poetry, how in just a few sentences she was able to summon a very specific family in a jarring, dreamscape-to-nightmare setting. The sun rises. An entire neighborhood leaves their homes and sets off to the fruit fields, machetes gleaming. I was so anxious so fast.
There's always crying on the Harvest Days.
This is an incredible, searing piece of writing from a fiction genre rarely found in the annual Best Stories anthologies. Strange Fruit is terrifying and heartbreaking. It made me wish Billie Holiday could read it, and Abel Meeropol, the poet who first wrote the words of the song, decrying the terrible sorrows visited upon on Black Americans.
The Arrow, by Gina Chung
An unexpected pregnancy, and its effect on a long strained relationship between a woman and her difficult, judgmental mother. There are some fine moments - If you had known that all it would take was getting pregnant for your mother to love you, you would have done it ages ago, and I was rooting for our loved-too-little protagonist, but ultimately I was left numb. I found the ending unlikely and bordering on trite, but this could well simply be me: this story has been mentioned as a favourite in many reviews, both here and by literary critics.
The Pleasure of a Working Life, by Michael Beagler
About a postal worker in his 30s who accepts an offer to switch from delivering the mail to running a small post office situated in a mall, surprising even himself.
At the United States Postal Service, there were outdoor people and indoor people, and it was rare for an outdoor person to be invited inside.
But inside he goes, first to be met with disappointing boredom, then with unexpected, possibly criminal activity. After an initially interesting premise, the disparate parts here never come together. More than anything else, there's a lack of textured personality to the main character - we never truly get to know him.
Just Another Family, by Lori Ostlund
Shards of glass in the raw meat.
Not the only part of this story that made me cringe, told by a woman and her lesbian partner returning to the narrator's childhood home upon the death of her father, but the sad memories of her undemonstrative, sometimes criminally cruel Minnesota family leave a mark. A worthwhile, if sometimes painful read.
City Girl, Alice Hoffman
When I realized this was a story set in the Manhattan of the 1980s, I was ready to go, following a young dancer who was hitting clubs I knew well back then - the Limelight,
The Roxy and Tramps. Like so many others (cough) this girl makes a series of poor choices, takes wrong paths glittering all too brightly in those times, leading her to blindly hook up with a crack addict. She's one of the lucky ones, has a stepfather who's ready to step in. The tone is strangely golden lit for a story set in the grit of the NYC scene of that era, though ultimately this is more about the relationship of a teenager and her stepfather than it is about the world of pre-internet, drug fueled city nightlife. It's a sweet story but ultimately shows us nothing new.
The Stackpole Legend, by Wendell Berry
I am mystified as to how this (literally) flatulent nonsense was awarded a spot here, even if it is Wendell Berry. Pointless.
Blackbird, by Lindsay Draper
Asthmatic 8 year old girl at school has forgotten her inhaler. Repetitive and in need of an edit, this often read like a story from a college writing class.
April 10, 2026
The best of the 10 or so similar prize anthologies I have read thus far, with more than half the stories being standouts - so, 4 stars? 4.5? I was surprised by how much I vibed with Edward P. Jones’s taste, which in retrospect maybe I shouldn’t have been when he’s also the first guest editor to whom I’ve given 5 stars for their own book. (Given how often great authors publicly endorse random crap I have learned to give no weight to any author’s praise of another, but then that’s marketing and may have nothing to do with their real taste.)
At any rate, I’m finding that on average I appreciate the stories chosen for the O. Henry anthologies better than Best American, so series editor Jenny Minton Quigley deserves a shoutout as well. They are perhaps less complex and intellectual, but have stronger storytelling and emotional effectiveness, while still being solid literary work.
Comments on the individual stories:
“The Stackpole Legend” by Wendell Berry: Maybe not the best start (O. Henry is not usually alphabetical). A historical story of rural America that centers on a fart joke, and it is funny and well-written, but it’s hard for me to get behind this author’s endless romanticization of “the good old days.”
“The Arrow” by Gina Chung: A great story about the fraught relationship between a mother and daughter, when the daughter unexpectedly becomes pregnant. I felt like I read a novel about these characters, in a good way, and it ends strong.
“That Girl” by Addie Citchens: A fabulous queer coming-of-age story about two teenage girls growing up in difficult circumstances. Strong use of vernacular makes it feel very authentic and it is easy to feel for the girls. I read it twice and would seek out more from this author.
“The Pleasure of a Working Life” by Michael Deagler: Another great story, this one about the everyday of an undistinguished postal worker. From the title I thought it would be sentimental but it’s not—Deagler brilliant captures the ordinary working world, the simultaneous importance and pointlessness of its daily absurdities.
“Blackbirds” by Lindsey Drager: An asthmatic young girl tries to hold her family together in the face of her mother’s depression. This one was a little annoying to read due to its repetition, but has stuck with me. The author does a strong job of making her child protagonist feel individual rather than generic.
“Hearing Aids” by Clyde Edgerton: Of all the stories in this anthology, this short snippet of a guy hardly on death’s door pondering various options for the bequest of his hearing aids is the one that most confused me as to why anyone would think it was special.
“Sanrevelle” by Dave Eggers: A strong, atmospheric quest story set in real-life yet surreal locations in San Francisco. A great vibe that has stuck with me.
“Stump of the World” by Madeline ffitch: A confusing, surreal story of a mom coddling her disenchanted teenage son in what might be a dystopian future, or maybe just a bad-luck town. Interesting and complex, but I don’t quite vibe with this author.
“Shotgun Calypso” by Indya Finch: Another strong coming-of-age under difficult circumstances, this one featuring two sisters from a poor community whose mom seems to be a professional mistress. They’re caught between childhood and adulthood and uncomfortable in both.
“City Girl” by Alice Hoffman: A well-written and emotionally effective tale of a privileged but troubled New York teenager, and her relationship with her stepfather.
“Sickled” by Jane Kalu: Another great one, about a Nigerian family as seen through the eyes of a teenage girl whose sister has sickle cell anemia. So much here about how people make their lives in and around chronic illness. But the ending makes this the mother’s story in a way, so I wanted more about her—her decision is hard to accept.
“The Spit of Him” by Thomas Korsgaard (translator: Martin Aitken): A dialogue-heavy story of a boy who learns more about his family than he bargained for. The prose seems a bit clunky at times but the dialogue shines, bringing the characters to life and implying far more than is spelled out. It’s stuck with me better than I expected.
“Winner” by Ling Ma: Not a winner. Ling Ma is usually great but this story of a lottery winner is kind of lousy. She says in the notes she doesn’t think it’s finished and I agree.
“Countdown” by Anthony Marra: The most commercial, least literary story in the anthology by my lights. It’s about a family trying to flee Russia to escape conscription into Putin’s war, and did I cry at the end, yes, but did I think the story earned it, no. Cheap tricks rather than true depth, and the characters don’t feel quite authentic. As far as I can tell, this author has made his name writing about Russia but never actually lived there.
“Just Another Family” by Lori Ostlund: I’d already read this near novella-length story in BASS 2024 but I read it again here because it’s really good. A woman returns to the rural Midwest after her father’s death, and must deal with her family’s dysfunctional past and awkward relationship with her female partner. Highly specific in many ways but universal in others, like all the best fiction.
“Mornings at the Ministry” by Ehsaneh Sadr: Interesting story of an ordinary Iranian man, clueless about the catch-22 faced by a professional woman in his country, and endlessly self-justifying. I was rooting for her, but the story is perhaps a bit too simple.
“Rosaura at Dawn” by Daniel Saldaña París (translator: Christina MacSweeney): A highly symbolic story about a woman who’s running from her life finding refuge in a sanctuary for birds. It reminded me of “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss” which is much more memorable for me than this one, though without the immigration commentary.
“Three Niles” by Zak Salih: A fantastic story of a boy with mixed heritage visiting his father’s family in Sudan for the first time. I empathized so hard with the boy’s feelings (especially after misreading the opening to expect a very different direction) that the giant “oof” at the end really hit home—fully understandable yet unforgiveable.
“Strange Fruit” by Yah Yah Scholfield: One of those brief, high-concept literary dystopian stories, which don’t tend to do a whole lot for me, and this was no exception. A sort of companion piece to the Abel Meeropol poem and Billie Holiday song of the same name.
“Miracle in Lagos Traffic” by Chika Unigwe: This story sets up a great moral dilemma—and takes its time getting there, as realization slowly dawns—but I thought it would have been better expanded and featuring several points-of-view, including the daughter, the boy, and his father.
At any rate, I’m finding that on average I appreciate the stories chosen for the O. Henry anthologies better than Best American, so series editor Jenny Minton Quigley deserves a shoutout as well. They are perhaps less complex and intellectual, but have stronger storytelling and emotional effectiveness, while still being solid literary work.
Comments on the individual stories:
“The Stackpole Legend” by Wendell Berry: Maybe not the best start (O. Henry is not usually alphabetical). A historical story of rural America that centers on a fart joke, and it is funny and well-written, but it’s hard for me to get behind this author’s endless romanticization of “the good old days.”
“The Arrow” by Gina Chung: A great story about the fraught relationship between a mother and daughter, when the daughter unexpectedly becomes pregnant. I felt like I read a novel about these characters, in a good way, and it ends strong.
“That Girl” by Addie Citchens: A fabulous queer coming-of-age story about two teenage girls growing up in difficult circumstances. Strong use of vernacular makes it feel very authentic and it is easy to feel for the girls. I read it twice and would seek out more from this author.
“The Pleasure of a Working Life” by Michael Deagler: Another great story, this one about the everyday of an undistinguished postal worker. From the title I thought it would be sentimental but it’s not—Deagler brilliant captures the ordinary working world, the simultaneous importance and pointlessness of its daily absurdities.
“Blackbirds” by Lindsey Drager: An asthmatic young girl tries to hold her family together in the face of her mother’s depression. This one was a little annoying to read due to its repetition, but has stuck with me. The author does a strong job of making her child protagonist feel individual rather than generic.
“Hearing Aids” by Clyde Edgerton: Of all the stories in this anthology, this short snippet of a guy hardly on death’s door pondering various options for the bequest of his hearing aids is the one that most confused me as to why anyone would think it was special.
“Sanrevelle” by Dave Eggers: A strong, atmospheric quest story set in real-life yet surreal locations in San Francisco. A great vibe that has stuck with me.
“Stump of the World” by Madeline ffitch: A confusing, surreal story of a mom coddling her disenchanted teenage son in what might be a dystopian future, or maybe just a bad-luck town. Interesting and complex, but I don’t quite vibe with this author.
“Shotgun Calypso” by Indya Finch: Another strong coming-of-age under difficult circumstances, this one featuring two sisters from a poor community whose mom seems to be a professional mistress. They’re caught between childhood and adulthood and uncomfortable in both.
“City Girl” by Alice Hoffman: A well-written and emotionally effective tale of a privileged but troubled New York teenager, and her relationship with her stepfather.
“Sickled” by Jane Kalu: Another great one, about a Nigerian family as seen through the eyes of a teenage girl whose sister has sickle cell anemia. So much here about how people make their lives in and around chronic illness. But the ending makes this the mother’s story in a way, so I wanted more about her—her decision is hard to accept.
“The Spit of Him” by Thomas Korsgaard (translator: Martin Aitken): A dialogue-heavy story of a boy who learns more about his family than he bargained for. The prose seems a bit clunky at times but the dialogue shines, bringing the characters to life and implying far more than is spelled out. It’s stuck with me better than I expected.
“Winner” by Ling Ma: Not a winner. Ling Ma is usually great but this story of a lottery winner is kind of lousy. She says in the notes she doesn’t think it’s finished and I agree.
“Countdown” by Anthony Marra: The most commercial, least literary story in the anthology by my lights. It’s about a family trying to flee Russia to escape conscription into Putin’s war, and did I cry at the end, yes, but did I think the story earned it, no. Cheap tricks rather than true depth, and the characters don’t feel quite authentic. As far as I can tell, this author has made his name writing about Russia but never actually lived there.
“Just Another Family” by Lori Ostlund: I’d already read this near novella-length story in BASS 2024 but I read it again here because it’s really good. A woman returns to the rural Midwest after her father’s death, and must deal with her family’s dysfunctional past and awkward relationship with her female partner. Highly specific in many ways but universal in others, like all the best fiction.
“Mornings at the Ministry” by Ehsaneh Sadr: Interesting story of an ordinary Iranian man, clueless about the catch-22 faced by a professional woman in his country, and endlessly self-justifying. I was rooting for her, but the story is perhaps a bit too simple.
“Rosaura at Dawn” by Daniel Saldaña París (translator: Christina MacSweeney): A highly symbolic story about a woman who’s running from her life finding refuge in a sanctuary for birds. It reminded me of “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss” which is much more memorable for me than this one, though without the immigration commentary.
“Three Niles” by Zak Salih: A fantastic story of a boy with mixed heritage visiting his father’s family in Sudan for the first time. I empathized so hard with the boy’s feelings (especially after misreading the opening to expect a very different direction) that the giant “oof” at the end really hit home—fully understandable yet unforgiveable.
“Strange Fruit” by Yah Yah Scholfield: One of those brief, high-concept literary dystopian stories, which don’t tend to do a whole lot for me, and this was no exception. A sort of companion piece to the Abel Meeropol poem and Billie Holiday song of the same name.
“Miracle in Lagos Traffic” by Chika Unigwe: This story sets up a great moral dilemma—and takes its time getting there, as realization slowly dawns—but I thought it would have been better expanded and featuring several points-of-view, including the daughter, the boy, and his father.
March 29, 2026
4.5 stars
There are some masterpieces in here. With only a couple of exceptions, I could understand why each of these stories made the “best of 2025” cut.
“Three Niles” by Zak Salih and “Just Another Family” by Lori Ostlund absolutely blew me away. These stories will stay with me for a while.
A must-read if you like literary short stories.
October 8, 2025
There are 20 short stories in this book: some resonated with me, others did not. My rating is for the several stories I loved oh so much!
My favorites include: That Girl (Addie Citchens), The Arrow (Gina Chung), The Pleasure of a Working Life (Michael Deagler), City Girl (Alice Hoffman), Sickled (Jane Kalu), Winner (Ling Ma), Countdown (Anthony Marra), Just Another Family (Lori Ostlund), Mornings at the Ministry (Ehsaneh Sadr).
My favorites include: That Girl (Addie Citchens), The Arrow (Gina Chung), The Pleasure of a Working Life (Michael Deagler), City Girl (Alice Hoffman), Sickled (Jane Kalu), Winner (Ling Ma), Countdown (Anthony Marra), Just Another Family (Lori Ostlund), Mornings at the Ministry (Ehsaneh Sadr).
October 6, 2025
apologies to every coffee shop I cried in while reading this and especially to that one girl who gave me her dirty napkin to dry my tears, you a real one fr
December 4, 2025
Review for Audiofile Magazine 🎧
Edward P. Jones is tired of reading stories where nothing happens. His selections, read by a full cast, emphasize the sole responsibility of the fiction writer—to make stuff up. Rather than feeling mundane, these stories reignite what is quotidian with a sense of wonder—a chorus of small things. A postal worker; a set of hearing aids; an inked arrow; first kisses. Short stories already must do so much in so little time, these impeccable vocal partnerings propel you one step further into their world. There are few mismatches in this collection, but standout pairings include Kaleo Griffith’s perfect rendering of Wendell Berry’s heartrending “The Stackpole Legend,” Angel Pean’s sly, silky young lovers in Addie Citchens’s “That Girl” and Ari Fliakos’s dilapidated 30-something in Dave Eggers’s “Sanravelle.”
Edward P. Jones is tired of reading stories where nothing happens. His selections, read by a full cast, emphasize the sole responsibility of the fiction writer—to make stuff up. Rather than feeling mundane, these stories reignite what is quotidian with a sense of wonder—a chorus of small things. A postal worker; a set of hearing aids; an inked arrow; first kisses. Short stories already must do so much in so little time, these impeccable vocal partnerings propel you one step further into their world. There are few mismatches in this collection, but standout pairings include Kaleo Griffith’s perfect rendering of Wendell Berry’s heartrending “The Stackpole Legend,” Angel Pean’s sly, silky young lovers in Addie Citchens’s “That Girl” and Ari Fliakos’s dilapidated 30-something in Dave Eggers’s “Sanravelle.”
January 3, 2026
Every time I give short stories another try, I end up — again — remembering that this just is not my favorite kind of writing. These are the best of the best, supposedly, but I can barely remember a one of them after reading them. Also, every one of them reads as having been workshopped to death. In the author section at the end of the book, many authors said their stories took YEARS to revise. Really?? Years for something I’ve forgotten two minutes after reading it? That’s just depressing. Even though I still talk about an MFA, the truth is that 90% or more of what MFA authors produce is just too precious for me.
February 16, 2026
Pretty damn good.
October 15, 2025
Excellent! I devoured this and love the short story format and how different each one was.
Read
April 26, 2026Very solid! Favorites were Anthony Marra's (naturally- his was the name I was most excited to see), "Blackbird", "Winner", "Strange Fruit", "Just Another Family", "Miracle in Lagos Traffic". Some of the stories felt bizarrely uninteresting to me but I'm still learning the form.
December 28, 2025
dark at times
October 24, 2025
I've already complained about the un-Americanization of American literary prizes in my review of The Best Short Stories of 2024, so I won't bang the subject's drum too much here. I have no issues with the inclusion of translated works (as in the aforementioned collection, one of the best pieces here is one), but nor do I see harm in a country celebrating its own authors, be they native born or immigrants. Indeed doing so would allow each anthology to stand as a reflection of the country as it was in that year (albeit a very small and highly contoured one, the general leanings of authors being as they are) as opposed to a transnational (here I refrain from using the term "globalist" as I consider myself to be one in most non-literary contexts) collection of... good stories from 2024 (yeah the naming convention of the anthology is weird and is used to sell more copies) with few themes to bond them together. Ah well.
Won't break out the individual stories because the above paragraph is already so pretentiously long (and really, simply pretentious); I will instead limit myself to the 4 and 5 star stories, considering all others to be between 2 and 3.5.
5 Stars
There are no 5 star stories here.
4 Stars
"The Stackpole Legend" A whole throwback of a story. O Henry himself would be proud.
"The Arrow" There are a handful of stories about Asian American life in this anthology and the others I've read of late, but this one stands head and shoulders above the rest, thanks, in part, to it's reflections on modern motherhood.
"The Spit of Him" Not a fan of the ending but the dialogue is fantastic.
Won't break out the individual stories because the above paragraph is already so pretentiously long (and really, simply pretentious); I will instead limit myself to the 4 and 5 star stories, considering all others to be between 2 and 3.5.
5 Stars
There are no 5 star stories here.
4 Stars
"The Stackpole Legend" A whole throwback of a story. O Henry himself would be proud.
"The Arrow" There are a handful of stories about Asian American life in this anthology and the others I've read of late, but this one stands head and shoulders above the rest, thanks, in part, to it's reflections on modern motherhood.
"The Spit of Him" Not a fan of the ending but the dialogue is fantastic.
January 13, 2026
“Hearing Aids” - Clyde Edgerton
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September 15, 2025Last week the O. Henry Prize Winners was published in the United States and I have had a chance to read a few of the stories. I would like to focus on one story I enjoyed: Gina Chung’s “The Arrow”.
Here is the basic idea of the story:
“Here are some more facts: you are pregnant, and you do not know exactly who the father is because, in the span of one bad week, you slept with your ex, a chef whose late hours you still haven’t unlearned; your married coworker who says he and his wife are experimenting with ethical non-monogamy; and a tattoo artist you met in a cheesy bar in Williamsburg. This all took place in the days after you called home for the first time in a year to wish your mother a happy birthday and she hung up on you” (pgs 14-15).
So, just on the second page of the story you learn that the narrator is pregnant, that the father might be any of four different people she had sex with — none of which she seems to actually love — and that she has a less than great relationship with her mother. At this point, I would not want to be this person, but Chung has definitely captured my attention and I am emotionally invested in this woman.
I also appreciated this description of the pregnancy test kit:
“… you, staring at the stick balanced precariously on the edge of your bathroom sink and praying, Please, God, I’ll do anything, but you can’t think of what to say after that, what to offer that might be a fair trade for not being pregnant. When the pink cross appears, it feels like a confirmation of what you’ve known all along—that God, if he exists, does not give a shit” (p. 13).
I also enjoyed the end of the story:
”She does not tell you that she loves you, nor does she tell you that everything is going to be okay, because both of you are past believing things like that. And as the sun climbs over the lip of the sky, and the two of you watch its ascent, gold filling the corners of your apartment, you begin to understand that there is only this moment, and then the next, and then the next, and that the only thing to do in the meantime is to keep on living” (p. 29).
Have you read any good stories recently?
Here is the basic idea of the story:
“Here are some more facts: you are pregnant, and you do not know exactly who the father is because, in the span of one bad week, you slept with your ex, a chef whose late hours you still haven’t unlearned; your married coworker who says he and his wife are experimenting with ethical non-monogamy; and a tattoo artist you met in a cheesy bar in Williamsburg. This all took place in the days after you called home for the first time in a year to wish your mother a happy birthday and she hung up on you” (pgs 14-15).
So, just on the second page of the story you learn that the narrator is pregnant, that the father might be any of four different people she had sex with — none of which she seems to actually love — and that she has a less than great relationship with her mother. At this point, I would not want to be this person, but Chung has definitely captured my attention and I am emotionally invested in this woman.
I also appreciated this description of the pregnancy test kit:
“… you, staring at the stick balanced precariously on the edge of your bathroom sink and praying, Please, God, I’ll do anything, but you can’t think of what to say after that, what to offer that might be a fair trade for not being pregnant. When the pink cross appears, it feels like a confirmation of what you’ve known all along—that God, if he exists, does not give a shit” (p. 13).
I also enjoyed the end of the story:
”She does not tell you that she loves you, nor does she tell you that everything is going to be okay, because both of you are past believing things like that. And as the sun climbs over the lip of the sky, and the two of you watch its ascent, gold filling the corners of your apartment, you begin to understand that there is only this moment, and then the next, and then the next, and that the only thing to do in the meantime is to keep on living” (p. 29).
Have you read any good stories recently?
February 19, 2026
really liked just another family especially!
October 11, 2025
There is not a bad story in this entire collection.
November 9, 2025
I would include my favorite stories here but they were all so good I might as well just recite the table of contents
February 26, 2026
The stackpole legend 3/10 fart story (yes, really)
The arrow 7/10 made me tear up. Pretty writing. TW Miscarriage.
That girl 7/10 sad, good characters, kinda hard to follow at times but very immersive, gay.
The pleasure of a working life 1/10 booooo this one sucks, boring as fuck. Reeks of old white man who thinks he’s writing moby dick.
Blackbirds 10/10 oh wow. The last line was phenomenal. Somehow achingly sad and also hopeful. TW child neglect.
Hearing aids 4/10 short and sad; meeting the reaper.
Sanrevelle 6/10 pretty sweet but also kinda boring. Experimental but not enough to make it more interesting than it was.
Stump of the world 4/10 points for creativity but not sure i #get it
Shotgun calypso 4/10 umm kinda sad mostly nothing. TW alluded child SA.
City girl 0/10 oh my god. Fucking AWFUL. Seemingly written by a sheltered sixteen year old who has based her worldview off of the worst season of euphoria. Makes me want to bump every other story up a star just for the sheer quality of not being this.
Sickled 8.5/10 immersive, believable, a tragic depiction of how chronic illness harms more than just the sufferer
The spit of him 9/10 wow. I can’t quite put to words why, but I really enjoyed this. It was very subtle but very moving.
Winner 6/10 hm. Didnt really #get this one. Probably too subtle for my blunt american brain.
Countdown 7.5/10 ow made me cry at the end. Russia/Ukraine war from the perspective of one family
Just another family 7/10 very long for a short story, but kept the pace nicely. Pretty unsettling. Nice writing.
Mornings at the ministry 10/10 VERY good. Shows the insidiousness and sometimes un-intentionality of sexism, and how sexist behaviors can take root under the best intentions to devastating impact.
Rosaura at dawn 5/10 felt like it ended right when it should have began
Three niles 7/10 upsetting good portrayal of something hard to portray—a child’s exasperation—even fear—of the unfamiliar culture they were born to
Strange fruit 10/10 why was this not the opener or closer of this book. Gutting. Surreal. Terrible. Only five pages—go look it up.
A miracle in Lagos 7.5/10 very unsettling tale of wealth disparity.
The arrow 7/10 made me tear up. Pretty writing. TW Miscarriage.
That girl 7/10 sad, good characters, kinda hard to follow at times but very immersive, gay.
The pleasure of a working life 1/10 booooo this one sucks, boring as fuck. Reeks of old white man who thinks he’s writing moby dick.
Blackbirds 10/10 oh wow. The last line was phenomenal. Somehow achingly sad and also hopeful. TW child neglect.
Hearing aids 4/10 short and sad; meeting the reaper.
Sanrevelle 6/10 pretty sweet but also kinda boring. Experimental but not enough to make it more interesting than it was.
Stump of the world 4/10 points for creativity but not sure i #get it
Shotgun calypso 4/10 umm kinda sad mostly nothing. TW alluded child SA.
City girl 0/10 oh my god. Fucking AWFUL. Seemingly written by a sheltered sixteen year old who has based her worldview off of the worst season of euphoria. Makes me want to bump every other story up a star just for the sheer quality of not being this.
Sickled 8.5/10 immersive, believable, a tragic depiction of how chronic illness harms more than just the sufferer
The spit of him 9/10 wow. I can’t quite put to words why, but I really enjoyed this. It was very subtle but very moving.
Winner 6/10 hm. Didnt really #get this one. Probably too subtle for my blunt american brain.
Countdown 7.5/10 ow made me cry at the end. Russia/Ukraine war from the perspective of one family
Just another family 7/10 very long for a short story, but kept the pace nicely. Pretty unsettling. Nice writing.
Mornings at the ministry 10/10 VERY good. Shows the insidiousness and sometimes un-intentionality of sexism, and how sexist behaviors can take root under the best intentions to devastating impact.
Rosaura at dawn 5/10 felt like it ended right when it should have began
Three niles 7/10 upsetting good portrayal of something hard to portray—a child’s exasperation—even fear—of the unfamiliar culture they were born to
Strange fruit 10/10 why was this not the opener or closer of this book. Gutting. Surreal. Terrible. Only five pages—go look it up.
A miracle in Lagos 7.5/10 very unsettling tale of wealth disparity.
April 5, 2026
was nice to see two stories i really liked from the new yorker last year (that girl and the spit of him) featured here and to reread them. ofc love to see a ling ma drop as well… otherwise i enjoyed blackbirds, three niles, and miracle in lagos traffic
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January 18, 2026Favs:
Stump of the World by Madeline ffitch
Just Another Family by Lori Ostlund
Sanrevelle by Dave Eggers
That Girl by Addie Citchens
Stump of the World by Madeline ffitch
Just Another Family by Lori Ostlund
Sanrevelle by Dave Eggers
That Girl by Addie Citchens
January 18, 2026
I loved this—a good way to start off the year. Wide range in backgrounds/length but I found almost all 20 of the stories really compelling
December 3, 2025
Hard to review the collection when it is such a mixed bag. Do I think that these are the best? Probably not.
It starts on not a great foot, in my opinion, but gets stronger as it goes. Specifically I found The Pleasure of a Working Life and Hearing Aids to be my favorites.
It starts on not a great foot, in my opinion, but gets stronger as it goes. Specifically I found The Pleasure of a Working Life and Hearing Aids to be my favorites.
January 27, 2026
Favorites: the arrow, the pleasures of a working life, blackbirds, three niles, strange fruit
Did Not Finish
March 24, 2026The first short story is probably the worst short story I ever read. The second was a beautiful piece about an unexpected miscarriage. Did not feel compelled to read any further
February 4, 2026
some hits, some misses (as with all short story collections). Ling Ma is amazing, as always
November 20, 2025
So many lovely and varied stories.
November 16, 2025
Very focus on america's minorites and personal dramas.
In a way I felt it was nearly a political book.
The selection of shorts was undoubtedly heavily influenced by a left wing political bias.
If you are not american (I am not), you will lack context and miss the message of some shorts.
A couple were very good and funny, though.
In a way I felt it was nearly a political book.
The selection of shorts was undoubtedly heavily influenced by a left wing political bias.
If you are not american (I am not), you will lack context and miss the message of some shorts.
A couple were very good and funny, though.
October 18, 2025
Collection of twenty short stories. Doesn't rise to the level of last year's group, but there were a handful that stood out to me. Those five were:
- The Stackpole Legend by Wendell Berry - enjoyable story to begin the collection. A young farmer named Stump Stackpole attempts to court a neighboring woman. Berry's writing is refreshing and lived in.
- The Arrow by Gina Chung - a young Korean-American woman living in New York learns that she is pregnant and is unsure who the father is. Her mother, who she has a fraught relationship with, travels from California to be there for her. Well observed story about the complexities of a mother daughter relationship.
- The Pleasure of a Working Life by Michael Deagler - Pennsylvania area postel worker Gary Minihan reflects on his life and career as he enters the later stages of his working life. The author was inspired to write this by his father and grandfather's, two longtime postal employees. Introspective and highly relatable. My favorite in the collection.
- Countdown by Anthony Marra - Alexei, the younger brother of Kolya, from "The Tsar of Love and Techno" attempts to flee Russia with his wife and young daughter at the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Marra is a talented writer, and the fatalistic humor of this story is memorable. Powerfully rendered ending to this short story.
- Just Another Family by Lori Ostlund - After the death of her father, a woman and her wife return to her childhood home in rural Minnesota. While planning the deceased's services, the woman recalls past moments from her childhood, many of them distressing and bleak. This book was suffused with fatalistic humor. I found it compelling. The longest in the collection at just under fifty pages.
- The Stackpole Legend by Wendell Berry - enjoyable story to begin the collection. A young farmer named Stump Stackpole attempts to court a neighboring woman. Berry's writing is refreshing and lived in.
- The Arrow by Gina Chung - a young Korean-American woman living in New York learns that she is pregnant and is unsure who the father is. Her mother, who she has a fraught relationship with, travels from California to be there for her. Well observed story about the complexities of a mother daughter relationship.
- The Pleasure of a Working Life by Michael Deagler - Pennsylvania area postel worker Gary Minihan reflects on his life and career as he enters the later stages of his working life. The author was inspired to write this by his father and grandfather's, two longtime postal employees. Introspective and highly relatable. My favorite in the collection.
- Countdown by Anthony Marra - Alexei, the younger brother of Kolya, from "The Tsar of Love and Techno" attempts to flee Russia with his wife and young daughter at the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Marra is a talented writer, and the fatalistic humor of this story is memorable. Powerfully rendered ending to this short story.
- Just Another Family by Lori Ostlund - After the death of her father, a woman and her wife return to her childhood home in rural Minnesota. While planning the deceased's services, the woman recalls past moments from her childhood, many of them distressing and bleak. This book was suffused with fatalistic humor. I found it compelling. The longest in the collection at just under fifty pages.
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