Elizabeth Strout - The Best American Short Stories 2013

Copyright © 2013 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Introduction copyright © 2013 by Elizabeth Strout

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is available.

ISSN 0067-6233

ISBN 978-0-547-55482-2

ISBN 978-0-547-55483-9 (pbk.)

eISBN 978-0-547-89836-0

v1.1013

“The Provincials” by Daniel Alarcón. First published in Granta , Winter 2012 (No. 118). Copyright © 2012 by Daniel Alarcón. From the forthcoming The King Is Always Above the People: Stories by Daniel Alarcón. Used by permission of Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

“Bravery” by Charles Baxter. First published in Tin House , Spring 2012 (Vol. 14, No. 1). Copyright © 2012 by Charles Baxter. Reprinted by permission of Darhansoff & Verrill literary agents.

“Malaria” by Michael Byers. First published in Bellevue Literary Review , Fall 2012 (Vol. 12, No. 2). Copyright © 2012 by Michael Byers. Reprinted by permission of the author.

“Miss Lora” from This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz, copyright © 2012 by Junot Díaz. Used by permission of Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. First published in The New Yorker , April 23, 2012.

“Horned Men” by Karl Taro Greenfeld. First published in ZYZZYVA , Fall 2012 (No. 95). Copyright © 2012 by Karl Taro Greenfeld. Reprinted by permission of ZYZZYVA .

“The Third Dumpster” by Gish Jen. First published in Granta , Summer 2012 (No. 120). Copyright © 2012 by Gish Jen. Reprinted by permission of Melanie Jackson Agency, LLC.

“Encounters with Unexpected Animals” by Bret Anthony Johnston. First published in Esquire , March 2012. Copyright © 2012 by Bret Anthony Johnston. Reprinted by permission of Bret Anthony Johnston.

“Magic Man” by Sheila Kohler. First published in the Yale Review , Spring 2012 (Vol. 100, No. 2). Copyright © 2012 by Sheila Kohler. Reprinted by permission of the author and her literary agent, Robin Straus Agency, Inc.

“The Chair” by David Means. First published in the Paris Review , Spring 2012 (No. 200). Copyright © 2012 by David Means. Reprinted by permission of the Wylie Agency, LLC.

“A Voice in the Night” by Steven Millhauser. First published in The New Yorker , December 10, 2012. Copyright © 2012 by Steven Millhauser. Reprinted by permission of the author.

“Referential” by Lorrie Moore. First published in The New Yorker , May 28, 2012. Copyright © 2012 by Lorrie Moore. Reprinted by permission of Melanie Jackson Agency, LLC.

“Train” from Dear Life by Alice Munro, copyright © 2013 by Alice Munro. Used by permission of Random House, Inc. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Random House, Inc., for permission. First published in Harper’s Magazine , April 2012.

“Chapter Two” by Antonya Nelson. First published in The New Yorker , March 26, 2012. Copyright © 2012 by Antonya Nelson. Reprinted by permission of the author.

“Nemecia” by Kirstin Valdez Quade. First published in Narrative Magazine , Fall 2012. Copyright © 2012 by Kirstin Valdez Quade. Reprinted by permission of Denise Shannon Literary Agency, Inc.

“Philanthropy” by Suzanne Rivecca. First published in Granta , Summer 2012 (No. 120). Copyright © 2012 by Suzanne Rivecca. Reprinted by permission of Suzanne Rivecca.

“The Semplica-Girl Diaries” from Tenth of December: Stories by George Saunders, copyright © 2013 by George Saunders. Used by permission of Random House, Inc. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Random House, Inc., for permission. First published in The New Yorker , October 15, 2012.

“The World to Come” by Jim Shepard. First published in One Story , March 2012. Copyright © 2012 by Jim Shepard. Reprinted by permission of Jim Shepard.

“The Wilderness” by Elizabeth Tallent. First published in Threepenny Review , Spring 2012. Copyright © 2012 by Elizabeth Tallent. Reprinted by permission of the Joy Harris Literary Agency, Inc.

“The Tunnel, or The News from Spain” from The News from Spain by Joan Wickersham, copyright © 2012 by Joan Wickersham. Used by permission of Random House, Inc. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Random House, Inc., for permission. First published in Glimmer Train , Issue 82, Spring 2012.

“Breatharians” by Callan Wink. First published in The New Yorker , October 22, 2012. Copyright © 2012 by Callan Wink. Reprinted by permission of The New Yorker .