The stories are arranged chronologically in the life of a mother. That is to say the first speaks only of a woman assuming her pregnancy, and the last describes the relationship between an 81 year-old mother and her 60 year-old daughter. Subsequent to each selection, the authors have added short explanations about how the story came to be or what has come of it since first being published. While many stories celebrate motherhood, some stories, such as Pagan Night by Kate Braverman, are disturbing and shock the reader into new insights concerning the harsh realities some mothers are forced to face.

At the end, without realizing it, the reader has aquired a necklace, having placed each gem, new and different and beautiful in its own right on a chain to be carried away close to her heart.

I discovered this book in the library by chance. I was trying to hustle my screaming, writhing 1 year-old into the youth department when this title jumped out at me from the shelves of the new adult arrivals. As a stay-at-home Mom for 3 years now, my feelings for my children have run the gamut from head-over-heels "new baby bliss" to the frighteningly real urge to run away from my toddler without looking back. Until I read this collection of short stories by female authors (some famous, others first time writers,) I had never come across any serious literature pertaining to motherhood that depicted it as anything other than a "joy" or a "miracle". This book showed me that I was not alone in my struggle to be a good Mom.

The stories in this book explore a whole range of emotion and unite women the world over. What mother can't relate to battling with a reluctant toddler at bath time? A headstrong teenager determined to go her own way? Or even an adult child dying of AIDS? The stories about childbirth amazed me with their similarities to my own experiences even though I may have very little in common with the characters themselves. Stories of mothers struggling with their children and fantasizing of harming them or abandoning them disturbed me and enlightened me at the same time because not until this book did I really believe that I was not the only mother in the world who sometimes hated and resented her children. Stories of mothers worrying about their adolescent and adult children gave me courage to face the future but have forced me to re-evaluate my assumptions about my own mother and the process of aging.

The reading of each story felt a lot like sitting down to share a cup of coffee with that story's main character. A real give and take started to evolve as I realized that I could always relate to the character's situation either as a mother or as a daughter. It is impossible to read one of these stories without seeing a little of yourself in it.

Hirsch and Kenison have put together a truly wonderful and liberating book. Any mother who has tucked a child into bed at night and wondered where she will find the strength to face the next morning will greatly benefit from reading this collection of stories.

I have read other books that celebrate living in the moment, and I thought I was doing more of it. But Kenison's practical suggestions, woven with her raw awareness for the simple goodness availabe to us in our lives, have finally brought me to the place, where for the first time in my life, I am making conscious decisions about raising my family and nurturing myself that are allowing me to BE rather than DO.

She has helped me to resist the flow of popular culture, and listen the the voice of the mother and person I know I have always wanted to be.

Like a millenium version of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's "Gift from the Sea", Mitten Strings for God is prayer for mothers to find and live more moments of pure joy and inner fulfillment. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Thank you, Katrina Kenison, for this important book that will become as legendary to mothers as "Gift from the Sea".

If you practice yoga, you will appreciate this book. If you like thought-provoking quotes, you'll find them here. If you're on a path toward spiritual and emotional well being, this book is for you.

Grasping Patanjali's 8-limb path is a daunting task. Gates, along with gifted writer/editor Katrina Kenison, simplifies these lessons by presenting them through examples of his own life experiences and discoveries.

What I like best about this book is that it's simple and it's Real. Anybody can relate to these stories of suffering, joy, tragedy, and love, regardless of whether they practice yoga. So with each daily reading, we begin to realize that yoga is not some esoteric, mountain-top guru thing, but a means of meeting ourselves and learning our truth -- simply by showing up on our mats and in our lives.

Gates doesn't claim to have answers. He gives us what he has to give: the lessons he has learned through the erratic, grace-filled ride he's had so far. As the essays gradually build on one another, we begin to understand that amid our suffering, fear, and doubt, we can "experience a visceral sense of belonging in a universe held together by love."

If you take in one of these essays each day, you will nourish your soul. No doubt about it. I'm only on Day 31 and I feel the difference already!

However, as a tribute to the author and the sensation she sparked with the original book, it succeeds magnificently. Instead of learning what happens next to Will Tweedy, we learn about the author. It is amazing to me that the author wrote the original text while fighting cancer. I can barely manage to write a quick email when I just have a small cold!

If you are really expecting a sequel to "Leaving Cold Sassy", you will be well-served to pass up this book. If, however, you are interested in the author behind the book, you will find a reasonably satisfying answer to that question.

What really touched me was the writing of Ms. Kenison on Olive Ann Burns. Ms. Kenison presents the story of a truly amazing woman. Mrs. Burns was an incredibly strong woman, who seemed to remain positive and happy despite the trials and tribulations of her life. I enjoyed learning about the woman behind "Cold Sassy Tree", and how she came to develop the story of Will Tweedy.

The novel itself stops at the point where the author's life ended. At that point, though, the reader is given her notes which reveal how the book would have ended. If you can imagine having to leave a party early or move away from friends, having to rely on someone close to the action for a true account, this is the feel of the novel.

The wonderful surprise, however, surfaces in the last of the book, where her editor (agent? I don't have the copy nearby) tells Olive Ann Burns' story. And what an inspiration it is to read about this woman who kept working because her readers really wanted to know what happened to the characters she had created. My initial reaction upon completing the book was a thank you for the integrity with which the book was handled.

I've been collecting the Best American Short Stories series for quite a few years now and they've never disappointed me. The special standouts in the 1998 series include Lorrie Moore's humorous and frightening account of a mother's ordeal with her toddler's life-threatening illness, as well as John Updike's wonderful short story on his tribute to his father. When you need quick brain nourishment, pick up this book and read some great writing from some of today's best authors.

The audiotape is also fantastic with many of the stories being read by Garrison Keillor.

A bonus in the authors' notes appendix lets the authors comment on their stories or writing in general.

Just as I used to do with "Story," I try with these "Best of" compilations to ration the stories out, one per day, to make them last. A sure sign that the collection is truly wonderful is that I fail at this rationing, and devour it in much larger chunks. Perhaps the only reason I never finish them in a single day is that the really fine stories will make me think, or feel, so deeply that I cannot bear to continue immediately.

This collection, the 1997 edition, is one of those; perhaps the 1994 was better, and I'm already enjoying the 1998 thoroughly. But every fan of the modern American short story should have a copy of the 1997.

i won't continue to dredge up the jacksons and salingers that aren't present. look below for many comprehensive lists of exactly what aren't here. to be fair to prospective buyers, this selection would be better called, "american short fiction of the 20th century: a decade by decade look at some noteworthy pieces."

when the editor even goes so far as to express the fact that he preferred to avoid the hackneyed stories, you should know you're not going to be getting what the title promises. sadly, unless you pick it up in a bookstore, you can't see that caveat till after it arrives in your mailbox.

ah, well. a lesson learned. never again shall i purchase an updike-edited anthology.

The stories collected in this Best American Short Stories of the Century are taken from the the annual volumes. There are stories representing each decade from the teens to the 90s. There are classics, and there are surprises. My favorite is Ann Beattie's "Janus." It is subtle and masterfully written.

I've owned this book for two years, and I read it from time-to-time. Some stories I've read four or five times. Some I haven't read at all. And it's a book that it's okay to do that with, I think. The Fitzgerald story "Crazy Sunday" was something of a nice surprise, and indeed, that kind of surprise seems at the heart of what Updike and Kenison were aiming to realize. How to make a Best of the 20th Century anotholgy exciting, you know? Considering they could only take stories from the annual Best of American Short Story anothologies, they did that well, I think. Martha Gellhorn's "Miami--New York" was insightful. The John Cheever, Raymond Carver, and Joyce Carol Oates stories are great classics. I enjoyed Donald Barthelme's "A City of Churches" and Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" -- stories ranging from the humorous, to the heartrending.

If I could make one suggestion regarding Best American Short Stories, it would be this: I think it would be interesting if every few years they allowed a so-called popular writer to read as guest editor. These stories end up representing a kind of intellectual clique. And it would be interesting to see what a guest editor like John Grisham or Stephen King would add to the mix of our nation's collective stories.