Description

**A collection of the year’s best short stories, selected by National Book Award finalist Min Jin Lee and series editor Heidi Pitlor.** “Without stories, we cannot live well,” shares guest editor Min Jin Lee, describing how storytelling affects and nurtures readers. *The Best American Short Stories 2023* features twenty pieces of short fiction that reflect a world full of fractured relationships, but also wondrous hope. A lifelong friendship may become a casualty of the Russia-Ukraine war. Rejected by his lover, a man seeks to reconcile with his family. Twitter users miraculously muster enough empathy to help a lost cat find a forever home. Enlightening, poignant, and undeniably human, the stories in this anthology bravely confront societal darkness and offer, in Lee’s words, “our emotional truths, restoring our sanity and providing comfort for the days ahead.” The Best American Short Stories 2023 includes [Cherline Bazile](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Cherline%20Bazile “Cherline Bazile”) • [Maya Binyam](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Maya%20Binyam “Maya Binyam”) • [Tom Bissell](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Tom%20Bissell “Tom Bissell”) • [Taryn Bowe](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Taryn%20Bowe “Taryn Bowe”) • [Da-Lin](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Da-Lin “Da-Lin”) • [Benjamin Ehrlich](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Benjamin%20Ehrlich “Benjamin Ehrlich”)• [Sara Freeman](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Sara%20Freeman “Sara Freeman”) • [Lauren Groff](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Lauren%20Groff “Lauren Groff”) • [Nathan Harris](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Nathan%20Harris “Nathan Harris”) • [Jared Jackson](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Jared%20Jackson “Jared Jackson”) • [Sana Krasikov](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Sana%20Krasikov “Sana Krasikov”) • [Danica Li](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Danica%20Li “Danica Li”) • [Ling Ma](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Ling%20Ma “Ling Ma”) • [Manuel Muñoz](https://www.goodreads.com:443/search/search?q=Manuel Muñoz “Manuel Muñoz”) • [Joanna Pearson](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Joanna%20Pearson “Joanna Pearson”) • [Souvankham Thammavongsa](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Souvankham%20Thammavongsa “Souvankham Thammavongsa”) • [Kosiso Ugwueze](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Kosiso%20Ugwueze “Kosiso Ugwueze”) • [Corinna Vallianatos](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Corinna%20Vallianatos “Corinna Vallianatos”) • [Azareen Van Der Vliet Oloomi](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Azareen%20Van%20Der%20Vliet%20Oloomi “Azareen Van Der Vliet Oloomi”) • [Esther Yi](https://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=Esther%20Yi “Esther Yi”)