Rafieienglishclinic.com Rafieienglishclinic.com Rafieienglishclinic.com Contents Title Page Contents Copyright Introduction 1915–1920 EDNA FERBER, The Gay Old Dog 1920–1930 SHERWOOD ANDERSON, Brothers ERNEST HEMINGWAY, My Old Man RING LARDNER, Haircut 1930–1940 F. SCOTT FITZGERALD, Babylon Revisited KATHERINE ANNE PORTER, The Cracked Looking-Glass WILLIAM FAULKNER, That Will Be Fine 1940–1950 NANCY HALE, Those Are as Brothers EUDORA WELTY, The Whole World Knows JOHN CHEEVER, The Enormous Radio 1950–1960 TILLIE OLSEN, I Stand Here Ironing JAMES BALDWIN, Sonny’s Blues PHILIP ROTH, The Conversion of the Jews 1960–1970 FLANNERYRafieienglishclinic.com O’CONNOR, Everything That Rises Must Converge JOHN UPDIKE, Pigeon Feathers RAYMOND CARVER, Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? JOYCE CAROL OATES, By the River 1970–1980 DONALD BARTHELME, The School STANLEY ELKIN, The Conventional Wisdom 1980–1990 GRACE PALEY, Friends CHARLES BAXTER, Harmony of the World MONA SIMPSON, Lawns RICHARD FORD, Communist ROBERT STONE, Helping DAVID WONG LOUIE, Displacement 1990–2000 ALICE MUNRO, Friend of My Youth MARY GAITSKILL, The Girl on the Plane JAMAICA KINCAID, Xuela AKHIL SHARMA, If You Sing Like That for Me JUNOT DÍAZ, Fiesta, 1980 2000–2010 JHUMPA LAHIRI, The Third and Final Continent ZZ PACKER, Brownies SHERMAN ALEXIE, What You Pawn I Will Redeem EDWARD P. JONES, Old Boys, Old Girls BENJAMIN PERCY, Refresh, Refresh TOBIAS WOLFF, Awaiting Orders 2010–2015 NATHAN ENGLANDER, What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank JULIE OTSUKA, Diem Perdidi GEORGE SAUNDERS, The Semplica-Girl Diaries LAUREN GROFF, At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners ReadRafieienglishclinic.com More from The Best American Series® About the Editors Copyright © 2015 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company Introduction copyright © 2015 by Lorrie Moore Historical introductions copyright © 2015 by Heidi Pitlor ALL RIGHTS RESERVED The Best American Series® and The Best American Short Stories® are registered trademarks of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 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Address requests for permission to make copies of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt material to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003. www.hmhco.com ISSN 0067-6233 ISBN 978-0-547-48585-0 Cover design by Christopher Moisan eISBN 978-0-544-05606-0 v1.1015 “WhatRafieienglishclinic.com You Pawn I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie (2004). First published in The New Yorker. From Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie. Copyright © 2003 by Sherman Alexie. Used by permission of Grove/Atlantic, Inc. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. “Brothers” by Sherwood Anderson (1921). First published in The Bookman. “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin (1958). First published in Partisan Review. Collected in Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin, Vintage Books. Copyright © 1957 by James Baldwin. Copyright renewed. Used by arrangement with the James Baldwin Estate. “The School” by Donald Barthelme (1975). First published in The New Yorker. Copyright © 1974 by Donald Barthelme. Reprinted by permission of The Wylie Agency, LLC. “Harmony of the World” by Charles Baxter (1982). First published in Michigan Quarterly Review. From Harmony of the World: Stories by Charles Baxter. Copyright © 1984 by Charles Baxter. Used by permission of Vintage Books, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Penguin Random House LLC for permission. “Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?” by Raymond Carver (1967). First published in December. From Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? by Raymond Carver. Copyright © 1966 by Raymond Carver. Copyright © 1989 by Tess Gallagher. Reprinted by permission of The Wylie Agency, LLC. “The Enormous Radio” by John Cheever (1948). First published in The New Yorker. From The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever. Copyright © 1978 by John Cheever. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Any third party use of this material, outside of publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Penguin Random House LLC for permission. “Fiesta, 1980” by Junot Díaz (1997). First published in Story. From Drown by Junot Díaz. Copyright © 1996 by Junot Díaz. Used by permission of Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) LLC. “TheRafieienglishclinic.com Conventional Wisdom” by Stanley Elkin (1978). First published in American Review. From The Living End by Stanley Elkin. Copyright © 1980 by Stanley Elkin. Reprinted by permission of Georges Borchardt, Inc., on behalf of the Estate of Stanley Elkin. “What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank” by Nathan Englander (2012). First published in The New Yorker. From What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank: Stories by Nathan Englander. Copyright © 2012 by Nathan Englander. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Penguin Random House LLC for permission. “That Will Be Fine” by William Faulkner (1936). First published in the American Mercury. Copyright © 1935 by Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright renewed © 1963 by Penguin Random House LLC. From Collected Stories of William Faulkner by William Faulkner. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Penguin Random House LLC for permission. “The Gay Old Dog” by Edna Ferber (1917). First published in Metropolitan Magazine. “Babylon Revisited” by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1931). First published in The Saturday Evening Post. Reprinted with the permission of Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. From Babylon Revisited and Other Stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Copyright © 1960 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. Copyright 1920, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1931, 1932, 1937 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. Copyright renewed © 1948, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1965 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. All rights reserved. “Communist” by Richard Ford (1986). First published in Antaeus. From Rock Springs by Richard Ford. Copyright © 1987 by Richard Ford. Used by permission of Grove/Atlantic, Inc. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. “The Girl on the Plane” by Mary Gaitskill (1993). First published in Mirabella. Reprinted with the permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc. From BecauseRafieienglishclinic.com They Wanted To by Mary Gaitskill. Copyright © 1997 by Mary Gaitskill. All rights reserved. “At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners” by Lauren Groff (2014). First published in Five Points. Copyright © 2013 by Lauren Groff. Reprinted by permission of The Clegg Agency, Inc. “Those Are as Brothers” by Nancy Hale (1942). First published in Mademoiselle. Copyright © 1941 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates Incorporated, as agent for the McDowell Colony, Inc. “My Old Man” by Ernest Hemingway (1923). Reprinted with the permission of Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. From The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway by Ernest Hemingway. Copyright © 1925 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. Copyright renewed © 1953 by Ernest Hemingway. All rights reserved. “Old Boys, Old Girls” by Edward P. Jones (2005). First published in The New Yorker. From All Aunt Hagar’s Children by Edward P. Jones. Copyright © 2006 by Edward P. Jones. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. “Xuela” by Jamaica Kincaid (1995). First published in The New Yorker. From The Autobiography of My Mother by Jamaica Kincaid. Copyright © 1996 by Jamaica Kincaid. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC. “The Third and Final Continent” by Jhumpa Lahiri (2000). First published in The New Yorker. From Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. Copyright © 1999 by Jhumpa Lahiri. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. “Haircut” by Ring Lardner (1925). First published in Liberty magazine. Reprinted with the permission of Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. From The Best Short Stories of Ring Lardner by Ring Lardner. Copyright © 1926 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. Copyright renewed © 1954 by Ellis A. Lardner. All rights reserved. “Displacement” by David Wong Louie (1989). First published in Ploughshares. Copyright © 1989 by David Wong Louie. Reprinted by permission of David Wong Louie. “Friend