The GWW Fiction Gallery: Exceptional Short Stories Selected by New York's Acclaimed Creative Writing School

I thought this collection was well assembled, a nice representation. Found many stories and authors I hadn't seen before, despite being a short story fan.

I was never really a fan of short stories. I like novels that suck in the reader, making them say “Just one more chapter.” I never gave short stories more than a mere glance.......until now. The stories that have been selected for this book, are very articulate and yet differ in many ways. There are an eclectic group of characters inside this book and I enjoyed meeting every one of them. This is a must read.

The collection was a marvel of short stories of literary gems. I love it ;)

Lots of different writers here, from old classics like Hawthorne and Checkov, to modern classics like Cheever, Frank O'Connor and Carver, to new guys I never heard of til this book. It's probably tilted somewhat to the newer writers but that was fine with me. Some of the stand-outs imho, in no particular order:Brownies - ZZ PackerFirst Confession - Frank O'ConnorOrientation - Daniel OrozcoThe Next Building I Plan to Bomb - Charles Baxter.There were many other worthies but those stood out and the authors were new to me.Overall I would say they were going for readable, interesting stories by a wide range of authors. The book breaks the stories out into life phases - Starting Out, Longings, Those We Know, The Job, Sunset, and at the end it has some interviews with a couple of the authors.Here's hoping they come out with another collection.

Collection of short stories by the New York writing school’s most cherished darlings. Problem is most of these are boooooooring, and some are downright depressing. No wonder people don’t read short stories anymore—they’re just not very interesting. There are a few standouts, “Brownies” by ZZ Packer, “Orientation” by Daniel Orozco, “Going For the Orange Julius” by Myla Goldberg, “The Swimmer” by John Cheever, and “The Third and Final Continent” by Jhumpa Lahiri. The rest are quite forgettable and some just plain irritating to read. But the biggest problem I have with this collection is that in nearly every story the writers tell rather than show—the cardinal sin of writing according to Gotham Writers’ Workshop. Why would you have your students study stories that completely contradict one of your main tenets about writing? Were these stories submitted to a Gotham Writers' Workshop class, most of them would be torn apart by the teachers and students during booth submission critiques.

I am only halfway through reading it and only because I committed to read no more than one story per day so that I can appreciate and digest the great writing on each one of the stories. It has a great selection of writers, most of them American; from reading this book I learned that the modern short story is another American invention. But you can also find Chekhov and Borges among other non-American writers. This is a great selection of short stories for any reader but especially for those who want to learn about the techniques involved in crafting a great short story.

I meant to buy the other book they made about how to write fiction, but I messed up and bought this one. I enjoyed all the short stories I've read in it so far though, which is why I decided to keep the book.

This book was required for a short story writing class I took at a community college. I was hoping I would recognize some of the authors names but unfortunately most of the stories seem pretty obscure (to me anyway). The stories were personally not for me but it was nice to have one book with all of the required reading for the course.

Short story lovers and writers, here's a collection for you! This book is used in the excellent writing classes from Gotham, and it is a good overview of the short story history and variability. Master writers like Chekhov, Parker, and Carver feature here as well as some newer writers like Boyle, Lahiri, and Tinti (who are also interviewed at the end of the book). Stories cover topics like"Starting Out", "Longings", "Those we know", "The job", "Strangeness", and "Sunset". While some of the stories didn't sit well with me, all are excellently written, and pull you in as a reader immediately. It's a hard collection to put down, and it's one I'll return to again and again for inspiration. Well worth the cost, and well worth keeping on your writing desk.

I bought this because of my creative writing course and it was on my tutors list. A brilliant collection of stories, themed into separate chapters; it really works. There are real gems here and well worth a look for pleasure or for study.