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THE GRANTA BOOK OF THE AMERICAN

Edited by

Granta Books London CONTENTS

Introduction vii

A Day in the Open Jane Bowles 1

A Distant Episode Paul Bowles 11

Blackberry Winter 23

O City of Broken Dreams 44

The Lottery Shirley Jackson 62

77K View from the Balcony 71

No Place For You, My Love 91

The State of Grace Harold Brodkey 109

The Magic Barrel 119

Good Country People Flannery O'Connor 135

In Time Which Made a Monkey of Us All Grace Paley 154

Sonny's Blues James Baldwin 170

Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time 200

Welcome to the Monkey House Kurt Vonnegut, Jr 227

In the Zoo 244

A Poetics for Bullies Stanley Elkin 264

Upon the Sweeping Flood Joyce Carol Oates 281

The Indian Uprising Donald Barthelme 297

In the Heart of the Heart of the Country William Gass 303

A Solo Song: For Doc James Alan McPherson 328

The Babysitter Robert Coover 350 City Boy Leonard Michaels

White Rat Gayl Jones

Are These Actual Miles?

Train Joy Williams

Fugue in A Minor William Kotzwinkle

Here Come the Maples

Pretty Ice Mary Robison

Testimony of Pilot

Greenwich Time

Lechery Jayne Anne Phillips

Liars in Love

The Circling Hand Jamaica Kincaid

Territory David Leavitt

Bridging Max Apple

Greasy Lake T. Coraghessan Boyle

The Rich Brother

American Express

The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan

77K Fireman's Wife Richard Bausch

Hot Ice Stuart Dybek

You're Ugly, Too Lorrie Moore

The Things They Carried Tim O'Brien

Acknowledgments