Short, sharp stories from the US.

A finger on the pulse of young American writing, this anthology of 19 short stories comes with an introduction by Zadie Smith, the yardstick by which all young novelists are now measured (yawn). But contained within are scribes with plaudits of their very own – Jonathan Safran Foer, David Foster Wallace and Jeffrey Eugenides for starters.

There’s no set theme, though Smith locates an underlying sadness in these slices of American life. Myla Goldberg uses a comprehension test format to dissect a racially motivated murder, while Amanda Davis’ schoolgirl tries to escape her fat girl image, now that she’s improved herself with weight loss. George Saunders imagines a world where parents put talking masks onto their babies for amusement in a sinister yet hilarious corporate letter to a dissatisfied customer.

As a sampler of literary talent from across the pond, this is an excellent springboard into doorstops like Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest or Eugenides’ Middlesex, as well as a superb storytelling-form in its own right. Tenacious, emotional, compelling and often pretentious, they flick a finger to the elusive Great American Novel and concentrate on the here and now, but using less pages. Laura Bushell 30 May 03

The Burned Children Of America is out now, published by Hamish Hamilton.

useful link: penguin: the burned children of america