Tom Perrotta explains in his introduction that all of [these stories] took me somewhere I didn t expect to go, and jolted me into that state of heightened awareness and emotional receptivity that s one of the great rewards of reading good fiction. The characters in these stories seek to discover something lacking in their life. Their stories take sharp and surprising turns and often reach dazzling conclusions. In Nathan Englander s What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, a playful discussion between two married couples veers into darker territory, exposing a secret that might have been better left unspoken. Taiye Selasi writes a portrait of a motherless girl on the cusp of pubescence in Africa where womanhood may not be something to be celebrated. What s Important Is Feeling by Adam Wilson gives us a window onto a movie set where the narrator aches for something cinematic to happen in his life. Roxane Gay s North Country introduces us to an unlikely couple who circle each other in a wary dance of approach and avoidance. An unexpected visitor with a brown glass bottle kicks off a wonderfully strange fable about how we look at ourselves in Steven Millhauser s Miracle Polish. Full of clear, idiosyncratic voices and intriguing points of view, this multifaceted collection will reward readers. And, as Perrotta unapologetically states, By any standard, this year s batch of stories is pretty damn good. "