This book contains brief essays by 48 leading American fiction writers, each of whom was asked to select a short story by an American writer and tell why they liked it. Because there is no duplication of authors or stories, 48 different American short stories were selected. The essays are non-scholarly and often very personal. Among the contributors are Julia Alvarez, Ann Beattie, Nicholas Delbanco, Andre Dubus, George Garrett, William H. Gass, Julia Glass, Jane Hamilton, Beverly Lowry, Jill McCorkle, Alice McDermott, Clarence Major, Howard Norman, Annie Proulx, Joan Silber, Elizabeth Spencer, and Mako Yoshikawa.