Books by William Abrahams

For the past three decades, William Abrahams has  selected the O. Henry Award winners. Building on  a tradition that spans over three quarters of a  century, The O. Henry Awards has been "widely  regarded as the nation''s most prestigious awards  for short fiction" (The Atlantic  Monthly). Every year, Abrahams has chosen a  diverse group of stories and writers to creat a  collection that includes perennial favorites as well  as an increasing number of lesser known writers,  many of whom have gone on to become seminal voices  in current American fiction. Prize  Stories 1996 is both William Abrahams''s  thirtieth anniversary as Editor of this landmark  collection and his last, which gives this collection a  special resonance. The twenty or more stories  selected for this honor each yhear are culled from a  broad range of American magazines both large and  small, offering the reader the full sweep and variety  of today''s fiction. As in previous years,  Prize Stories 1996 concludes with a  contributors'' notes section including comments by the  writers on the inspirations behind their stories,  providing readers with a unique entrÚe into the  writers'' creative processes. Representing the  excellence of contemporary fiction writing, these stories  demonstrate the continuing strenghth and vitality  of the American short story.

So many great novels in the Western canon began as mere magazine stories. In this amazing collection, editor William Abrahams brings the best literature that periodicals had to give during 1995. These prize winning stories will not only entertain but give a glimpse into the mindset of the mid-nineties.

“Widely regarded as the nation’s most prestigious awards for short fiction.”—The Atlantic Monthly   The O. Henry Prize Stories 1994 gathers 21 of the best short stories of the year, selected from thousands published in literary magazines.   Stories include:Alison Baker “Better Be Ready ‘Bout Half Past Eight” (first prize) John Rolfe Gardiner “The Voyage Out” (second prize) Lorrie Moore “Terrific Mother” (third prize) Stuart Dybek “We Didn’t” Marlin Barton “Jeremiah’s Road” Kelly Cherry “Not the Phil Donahue Show” Elizabeth Cox “The Third of July” Terry Bain “Games” Amy Bloom “Semper Fidelis” Michael Fox “Rise and Shine” David McLean “Marine Corps Issue” Elizabeth Graver “The Boy Who Fell Forty Feet” Susan Starr Richards “The Hanging in the Foaling Barn” Janice Eidus “Pandora’s Box” Judith Ortiz Cofer “Nada” Mary Tannen “Elaine’s House” Dennis Trudell “Gook” Helen Fremont “Where She Was” Elizabeth Oness “The Oracle” Katherine L. Hester “Labor” Thomas E. Kennedy “Landing Zone X-Ray”  

“Widely regarded as the nation’s most prestigious award for short fiction.”—The Atlantic Monthly Established in 1918 as a memorial to the master of the short story genre, O. Henry, Prize Stories has long been recognized as the premier forum for the contemporary story. The volume for 1993 carries forth the time-honored literary tradition in 23 selections as original and varied as the current trends in short fiction. The top prize for 1993 is awarded to Thom Jones’s “The Pugilist at Rest,” which explores the interior depths of depression through the eyes of Vietnam vet and former Marine boxing champion. Other stories in this collection include: Andrea Lee “Winter Barley” William F. Van Wert “Shaking” Joyce Carol Oates “Goose-Girl” Charles Eastman “Yellow Flags” Cornelia Nixon “Risk” Rilla Askew “The Killing Blanket” Antonya Nelson “Dirty Words” John H. Richardson “The Pink House” Diane Levenberg “A Modern Love Story” John Van Kirk “Newark Job” Alice Adams “The Islands” Stephen Dixon “The Rare Muscovite” Lorrie Moore “Charades” Kate Wheeler “Improving My Average” Peter Weltner “The Greek Head” C. E. Poverman “The Man Who Died” Jennifer Egan “Puerto Vallarta” Charles Johnson “Kwoon” Linda Svendsen “The Edger Man” Daniel Stern “The Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka: A Story” Josephine Jacobsen “The Pier-Glass” Steven Schwarz “Madagascar”

“Widely regarded as the nation’s most prestigious awards for short fiction”—The Atlantic Monthly   The O. Henry Prize Stories 1992 gathers 20 of the best short stories of the year, selected from thousands published in literary magazines. Stories include: Cynthia Ozick “Puttermesser Paired” (first prize) Lucy Honig “English as a Second Language” Tom McNeal “What Happened to Tully” Amy Herrick “Pinocchio’s Nose” Murray Pomerance “Decor” Joyce Carol Oates “Why Don’t You Come Live With Me It’s Time” Mary Michael Wagner “Acts of Kindness” Yolanda Barnes “Red Lipstick” David Long “Blue Spruce” Harriett Doerr “Way Stations” Perri Klass “Dedication” Daniel Meltzer “People” Ken Chowder “With Seth in Tana Toraja” Alice Adams “The Last Lovely City” Frances Sherwood “Demiurges” Antonya Nelson “The Control Group” Millicent Dillon “Lost in L.A.” Kent Nelson “The Mine from Nicaragua” Ann Packer “Babies” Kate Braverman “Tall Tales from the Mekong Delta”   “What readers can put their trust in is the ability of William Abrahams . . . to amass a selection of the finest short stories published in America.”—New York Times Book Review

The O. Henry Prize Stories 1991 collects 20 of the best short stories of the year, selected from thousands published in literary magazines. “The Sandstone Farmhouse” by John Updike, which tells of a difficult relationship of a son and his mother over 50 years, takes the coveted top prize. The other stories in this collection are: Joyce Carol Oates “The Swimmers” Sharon Sheehe Stark “Overland” Martha Lacy Hall “The Apple-Green Triumph” Wayne Johnson “Hippies, Indians, Buffalo” Perri Klass “For Women Everywhere” Helen Norris “Raisin Faces” Patricia Lear “Powwow” Charles Baxter “Saul and Patsy Are Pregnant” Sylvia A. Watanabe “Talking to the Dead” T. Alan Broughton “Ashes” Diane Levenberg “The Ilui” Ursula K. Le Guin “Hand, Cup, Shell” Alice Adams “Earthquake Damage” Charlotte Zoë Walker “The Very Pineapple” Ronald Sukenick “Ecco” Dennis McFarland “Nothing to Ask For” Millicent Dillon “Oil and Water” Marly Swick “Moscow Nights” Thomas Fox Averill “During the Twelfth Summer of Elmer D. Peterson” “This collection is both meritorious and diverse. The work ranges from plainly written stories brimming with resonant significance to full-blown extravaganzas. . . . Recommended.”—Library Journal

“Widely regarded as the nation’s most prestigious awards for short fiction”—The Atlantic Monthly   The O. Henry Prize Stories 1990 gathers 20 of the best short stories of the year, selected from thousands published in literary magazines. Stories include: Leo E. Litwak “The Eleventh Edition” (first prize) Peter Matthiessen “Lumumba Lives” (second prize) Lore Segal “The Reverse Bug” (third prize) Joyce Carol Oates “Heat” Carolyn Osborn “The Grands” James P. Blaylock “Unidentified Objects” Jane Brown Gillette “Sins Against Animals” Julie Schumacher “The Private Life of Robert Schumann” Joanne Greenberg “Elizabeth Baird” Alice Adams “1940: Fall” T. Coraghessan Boyle “The Ape Lady in Retirement” Marilyn Sides “The Island of the Mapmaker’s Wife” David Michael Kaplan “Stand” Meredith Steinbach “In Recent History” Claudia Smith Brinson “Einstein’s Daughter” Felicia  Ackerman “The Forecasting Game” Reginald McKnight “The Kind of Light That Shines on Texas” Bruce Fleming “The Autobiography of Gertrude Stein” Devon Jersild “In Which John Imagines His Mind as a Pond” Janice Eidus “Vito Loves Geraldine”   “One of the most welcome signs of the literary spring is the appearance of the annual O. Henry Awards collection.”—Los Angeles Times

“Widely regarded as the nation’s most prestigious awards for short fiction”—The Atlantic Monthly   The O. Henry Prize Stories 1989 gathers 20 of the best short stories of the year, selected from thousands published in literary magazines. Stories include:Ernest J. Finney “Peacocks” (first prize) Joyce Carol Oates “House Hunting” (second prize) Harriet Doerr “Edie: A Life” (third prize) Jean Ross “The Sky Fading Upward to Yellow: A Footnote to Literary History” Starkey Flythe, Jr. “CV10” Alice Adams “After You’ve Gone” Frances Sherwood “History” Banning K. Lary “Death of a Duke” T. Coraghessan Doyle “Sinking House” Catherine Petroski “The Hit” James Salter “American Express” David Foster Wallace “Here and There” Susan Minot “Ile Sèche” Millicent Dillon “Wrong Stories” Charles Simmons “Clandestine Acts” John Casey “Avid” Barbara Grizzuti Harrison “To Be” Rick Bass “The Watch” Ellen Herman “Unstable Ground” Charles Dickinson “Child in the Leaves”

Established in 1918 as a memorial to the master of the short story genre, O. Henry, Prize Stories has long been recognized as the premier forum for the contemporary story. The 1987 volume carries forth the time-honored literary tradition in 20 selections as original and varied as the current trends in short fiction. The top prize for 1987 is jointly awarded to Louise Erdrich for “Fleur” and Joyce Johnson for “The Children’s Wing.” Other stories include: Robert Boswell “The Darkness of Love” Alice Adams “Tide Pools” Stuart Dybek “Blight” James Lott “The Janeites” Donald Barthelme “Basil from Her Garden” Gina Berriault “The Island of Ven” Jim Pitzen “The Village” Richard Bausch “What Feels Like the World” Millicient Dillon “Monitor” Norman Lavers “Big Dog” Robert Taylor, Jr. “Lady of Spain” Helen Norris “The Singing Well” Grace Paley “Midrash on Happiness” Lewis Horne “Taking Care” Warren Wallace “Up Home” Joyce Carol Oates “Ancient Airs, Voices” Daniel Stern “The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud: A Story” Mary Robison “I Get By”

“Widely regarded as the nation’s most prestigious awards for short fiction.”—The Atlantic Monthly   The O. Henry Prize Stories 1985 gathers 21 of the best short stories of the year, selected from thousands published in literary magazines. Stories include: Jane Smiley “Lily” (first prize, jointly awarded) Stuart Dybek “Hot Ice” (first prize, jointly awarded) Ann Beattie “In the White Night” Helen Norris “The Quarry” Susan Minot “Lust” Claude Koch “Bread and Butter Questions” Wright Morris “Glimpse into Another Country” Louise Erdrich “Saint Marie” R. C. Hamilton “Da Vinci Is Dead” Joseph McElroy “Daughter of the Revolution” Steve Heller “The Crow Woman” Ward Just “About Boston” Tobias Wolff “Sister” Gloria Norris “Holding On” Peter Cameron “Homework” Ilene Raymond “Taking a Chance on Jack” Eric Wilson “The Axe, the Axe, the Axe” Joyce Carol Oates “The Seasons” Rolaine Hochstein “She Should Have Died Hereafter” Josephine Jacobsen “The Mango Community” John Updike “The Other”