The Imaginary West, the Real West, the New West, and the Old West converge in this celebration of that fascinating landscape. Selected from over 100 periodicals, 16 contemporary stories by both established writers and relative newcomers tell of the contradictions of a landscape where cowboys may wear tennis shoes and limos park near pickups, but it's still a long way between towns.

Responding to America's love affair with the short-short, editors Shapard and Thomas consulted nearly two-hundred magazines and chose the sixty stories, written in English or translated, that they considered best. Ranging across countries and cultures, the selection includes a number of new stories from the Pacific Rim Well-known writers--William Maxwell, Margaret Atwood, Don DeLillo, Mark Richard--join lesser-known writers--Molly Giles, Andrew Lam, Judy Troy--who will be (or should be) better known. Each story revels in its own element of surprise; each, whether traditional or experimental,...