The Best American Short Stories 1977, a volume in The Best American Short Stories series, was edited by Martha Foley. The volume was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Background The series is considered one of the "best-known annual anthologies of short fiction""Short and Sweet" by Mark Harris, Entertainment Weekly, 11/05/99, issue 511, page 73. and has anthologized more than 2,000 short stories, including works by some of the most famous writers in contemporary American literature, curated by well-known guest editors since 1915."The Best American Short Stories of the Century," Publishers Weekly, 3/8/1999, volume 246, issue 10, page 47. Specifically, Amy Hempel considered it and the O. Henry Award's prize anthology to compile "the best short fiction published in American and Canadian magazines during the preceding year."
In particular, the Willa Cather Review wrote that The Best American Short Stories series "became a repository of values" for creative writing programs and literary magazines, specifically with considerable "influence" in college libraries, short fiction courses, and fiction workshops."'Long-Cellared Wine': 'Double Birthday,' Edward J. H. O'Brien, and the Best American Short Stories Series" by Timothy W. Bintrim and Scott Riner, Willa Cather Review, spring 2023, volume 64, issue 1, page 18.
Critical reception Kirkus Reviews observed the humorous tilt of Martha Foley's curation: "A lively array, less grimly introspective than usual."
Short stories included Author Story SourceFrederick Busch"The Trouble With Being Food"EsquirePrice Caldwell"Tarzan Meets the Department Head"The Carleton MiscellanyJohn Cheever"Falconer"PlayboyAnn Copeland"At Peace"The Canadian Fiction MagazineJohn William Corrington"Pleadings"The Southern ReviewPhilip Damon"Growing Up In No Time"Hawaii ReviewLeslie Epstein"The Steinway Quintet"AntaeusEugene K. Garber"The Lover"ShenandoahPatricia Hampl"Look at a Teacup"The New YorkerBaine Kerr"Rider"Denver QuarterlyJack Matthews"A Questionnaire for Rudolph Gordon"The Malahat ReviewStephen Minot"A Passion For History"The Sewanee ReviewCharles Newman"The Woman Who Thought Like a Man"Partisan ReviewJoyce Carol Oates"Gay"PlayboyTim O'Brien"Going After Cacciatio"PloughsharesTom Robbins"The Chink and the Clock People"American ReviewWilliam Saroyan"A Fresno Fable"The New YorkerJohn Sayles"Breed"The AtlanticAnne Tyler"Your Place is Empty"The New YorkerWilliam S. Wilson"Anthropology: What is Lost in Rotation"Antaeus
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