A Century of Fiction in The New Yorker

1925-2025

By: New Yorker Magazine Inc, Deborah Treisman - editor

Narrated by: Deborah Treisman, Full Cast

Edited by The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman, a celebratory selection from one hundred years of short stories in the magazine which has been the most influential and important showcase for the form and has launched dozens of stellar careers in fiction

There is simply no A–Z like the alphabet of fiction writers who have appeared in the pages of The New Yorker in the last hundred years. The book boasts inarguable classics like Salinger’s “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” Annie Proulx’s “Brokeback Mountain,” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” alongside stunners to be rediscovered. Some stories defined a moment or a now-lost world (Isaac Bashevis Singer’s “The Cafeteria”); others showed us a whole new way fiction could sound and feel (“The Red Girl,” by Jamaica Kincaid).

With this vivid selection, Treisman showcases how our fiction has changed over time, and reminds us that past literary fashions continue to ripple outward in the fiction we love today. What does a Donald Barthelme mean to the craft of short fiction now? What will a Yiyun Li mean to the next generation of readers and writers? This exquisite tour of the form as practiced at its highest level will leap directly into the hearts of readers of all ages, all stripes, and is a beautiful tribute to the magazine's influence on our literary culture over the last century.

Critic reviews

"This collection sublimely distills the New Yorker experience: profound pleasure in first-rate execution. . . . Ms. Treisman has done a wonderful job, finding a satisfying mix of greatest hits, outstanding B-sides from well-known authors and high-quality surprises." —Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal

Let’s just close our eyes and pick one at random

I’m not sure it would have been possible to choose a less interesting compendium of stories from the New Yorker. I suspect someone is laughing after gaslighting us all.

100 years of stories.

A good collection of about 100 stories from over the last 100 years. (Some better than others.)

A thoroughly satisfying anthology of short stories to savor

An excellent collection of mostly engaging and memorable stories. There are 78 stories in this collection. Some are quite long, novellas really; others are brief but powerful. 25 of these stories I rated exceptional: 5 out of 5 stars; 17 others I rated, excellent 4 out of 5 stars; 15 I rated 3 out of 5 stars...good; and most all of the rest were average or above average. There are only a few stories I question whether their inclusion had more to do with the author's fame versus the story on its own.