Best of? The mainstream becoming stagnant

 kw: book reviews, story reviews, fiction, anthologies, short stories

After reading most of The Best American Short Stories 2025, edited by Celest Ng, I'm wondering whether to skip partaking of the series for at least a few years. In the past, I could count on at least a handful of stories that would make me say, "I'm glad I read that." This time, only one story came close to that level. This image hints at part of the theme of "Till it and Keep it" by Carrie R. Moore.

That particular story is set in a post-apocalyptic near-dystopia, of two young women escaping northward toward Maine, somewhere in middle America, perhaps Tennessee. The climate is hotter, multiple virus pandemics are rampant, society has broken down. They stumble on a peach orchard cared for by the people of a small village, but you can bet the scene is not as idyllic as this image. Yet it is a turning point for them both, and for a few others. Only this story rated a "++" designation from me.

Of the twenty stories in the volume I awarded six others a single "+" because at least someone made a little progress or learned something; I skipped one after the first couple of sentences; I read about half of two others; the rest got either a "~" for "so-so" or a "–" for "a little sorry I wasted time reading it".

I have to say it: In one story (I won't name it) "I" was the only singular pronoun, and all other individuals were denoted "they" or "them". This misuse of the language is deplorable. I have no friends who cannot tell the difference between a man and a woman, or a boy and a girl (or they just won't admit it). And I take steps to keep that statement truthful.

Nothing else about the volume is worth saying.