The Best American Short Stories 2026

by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Love and longing across a year of short fiction

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~~$39.84 USD~~ $23.90 USD

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Love and longing across a year of short fiction

Guest edited by Viet Thanh Nguyen, this installment of The Best American Short Stories gathers fiction connected by love in its varied forms: desire, family ties, attraction, and the work of living with the past. The situations range from a teenager’s attachment to a classmate he expects to leave, to a grandmother reconnecting with her granddaughter, and a young lesbian navigating an awkward sexual debut. Together, these glimpses suggest an anthology interested in how intimacy shapes choices and relationships. The volume includes work by Aimee Bender, Nathan Englander, Louise Erdrich, George Saunders, and others.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

Readers who enjoy short-fiction anthologies with contributions from multiple authors.
Readers interested in stories about love, desire, family relationships, and sexuality.

Themes

Love and desireFamily connectionSexualityMemory and the past

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

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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