SOURCE: Dickstein, Morris. “The Voices of America.” Times Literary Supplement, no. 4643 (27 March 1992): 21.

In the following review of The Granta Book of the American Short Story, Dickstein praises Ford's introduction to the volume and his story selections, which show “a high standard of literary judgment” and include “many superb pieces of writing.”

In the United States it is rare for writers to undertake anthologies of their near-contemporaries. Few are ready to do the work of reading their rivals, let alone risk offending everyone by their choices and exclusions. Since publishers have all but given up on the common reader, most American anthologies fall into the hands of academics with eyes on the course-adoption market.

Born in 1944, Richard Ford, the author of four novels and a powerful volume of stories, Rock Springs (1987), is one of the most impressive writers of his generation. The Granta Book of the American Short Story...