'A lively collection full ot its editor's good taste... 44 vibrant, shocking, fresh and classic stories... thrilling' Independant

In 1992 Richard Ford edited and introduced the first Granta Book of the American Short Story. It became the definitive anthology of American short fiction written in the last half of the twentieth century. In the fifteen years since, Ford has been reading new stories and re-reading old ones. The result is this completely new collection of stories that he regretted overlooking the first time around as well as many by a new generation of writers, among them Sherman Alexie, Juno Diaz, Deborah Eisenberg, Nell Freudenberger, Matthew Klam, Jhumpa Lahiri and ZZ Packer.

'Here are riches gathered. This is a magnificent volume, admittedly making it very difficult for any other book to stand equal.' Eileen Battersby, Irish Times

'The definitive anthology' Prospect

'If you pick up a single volume of the year's fiction, make it this one' Financial Times

'You'd be hard pressed to find anything less than magical among these 40-plus tales' Daily Mail