The Best American Short Stories 1982
The Best American Short Stories 1982, a volume in The Best American Short Stories series, was edited by Shannon Ravenel and by guest editor John Gardner. The volume was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Background
The series is considered one of the "best-known annual anthologies of short fiction" and has anthologized more than 2,000 short stories, including works by some of the most famous writers in contemporary American literature, curated by well-known guest editors since 1915. Specifically, Amy Hempel considered it and the O. Henry Award's prize anthology to compile "the best short fiction published in American and Canadian magazines during the preceding year."In particular, the Willa Cather Review wrote that The Best American Short Stories series "became a repository of values" for creative writing programs and literary magazines, specifically with considerable "influence" in college libraries, short fiction courses, and fiction workshops.
Critical reception
Kirkus Reviews called John Gardner's curation a death blow to the "Foley legacy" that had previously marked the anthology series. The reviewer concluded that "As a sampling of what moral-crusader Gardner likes in short-story fiction, then, this is certainly informative. But it's hardly a fair reflection of the year's best—and perhaps this series should take on a new title if such unbalanced collections are to be expected in the future."Le Anne Schreiber, writing in The New York Times, lauded Gardner for "a collection that demonstrates the variety and vigor of American short-story writing far better than any comparable collection in recent years."