In his introduction to this one hundredth volume of the belovedBest American Short Stories, guest editor T. C. Boyle writes, The Model T gave way to the Model A and to the Ferrari and the Prius . . . modernism to postmodernism and post-postmodernism. We advance. We progress. We move on. But we are part of a tradition.

Boyle s choices of stories reflect a vibrant range of characters, from a numb wife who feels alive only in the presence of violence to a new widower coming to terms with his suddenfreedom, from a missing child to a champion speedboat racer. These stories will...