Best American Short Stories 2025

<p>Short stories can act like little tuning forks helping us to clarify our own values writes guest editor Celeste Ng. In a time when our values are being tested daily it's hard to think of anything more important. <em>The Best American Short Stories 2025</em> resonates precisely at this pitch: twenty pieces that upend expectations and test the foundation of our beliefs. From a bereaved medical actress obsessed with a student in her rotation to a mysterious sickness that ignites a lethal running mania in its victims and from the grounds of a wild animal estate to a celebrity look-alike mother-for-hire these stories transport readers to the impossible edges of our world and vivify characters who reflect the spectrum of human experience. </p><p><strong><em>THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 2025</em> INCLUDES: LAUREN ACAMPORA - SARAH BRAUNSTEIN - BRET ANTHONY JOHNSTON - ELIZABETH McCRACKEN - CARRIE R. MOORE - ANDREW PORTER - WILLIAM PEI SHIH - JUSTIN TAYLOR - JESSICA TREADWAY - AND OTHERS</strong></p>