The Best American Short Stories 2026

by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Love and longing in a new short-story collection

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Love and longing in a new short-story collection

Love takes varied forms across this anthology: a teenager’s attraction is shaped by an expected departure, a grandmother and granddaughter connect across generations, and a young lesbian’s attempt to explore her sexuality leads to comic complications. Together, the stories center desire, tenderness, and the ways past experience can shape present relationships. The volume is guest edited by Viet Thanh Nguyen and includes work by Aimee Bender, Nathan Englander, Louise Erdrich, Sigrid Nunez, George Saunders, and others.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

Readers interested in short fiction about love, desire, and relationships.
Readers seeking an anthology featuring a range of contemporary authors.
Readers interested in stories about intergenerational connection and sexuality.

Themes

Love and desireLonging and separationIntergenerational connectionSexualityThe influence of the past

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Book overview

Desire. Longing. Tenderness. Passion. In this year's volume, love lies at the heart of the stories that guest editor Viet Thanh Nguyen calls "so good that they may be bad for you" a sixteen-year-old moves into town and effortlessly falls in love with a classmate who he knows he must abandon; a grandmother stitches together the hurts of her past when she connects with her granddaughter in the present; a young lesbian attempts to launch her sexuality with comically mixed results. In these stories and many more in this year's volume, it's easy to get lost in the yearning of characters who feel so heartbreakingly true and whose lives resonate with the weight of inevitability.

THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 2026 INCLUDES: AIMEE BENDER - NATHAN ENGLANDER - LOUISE ERDRICH - CALVIN GIMPELEVICH - SIGRID NUNEZ - GEORGE SAUNDERS - AKHIL SHARMA - VU TRAN - PAUL YOON - AND OTHERS

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