Down East Books
Hardcover
Pages: 295
Size: 6” x 9”
Published: January 2005
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Winner of the Best Anthology from the 2006 Independent Publisher Book Awards

Fourteen short stories that showcase the quality and diversity of fiction writing in Maine by authors that range from long-term residents such as Carolyn Chute and Stephen King to more recent arrivals like Pulitzer Prize winners Richard Ford and Richard Russo.

Universal in their appeal, the volume’s stories are rooted in region, featuring people and places in the state that has drawn such a remarkable group of writers to its borders.

*The paperback edition was re-titled: Today’s Best Maine Fiction.

Critical Praise

"Those of us fortunate enough to call Maine home may have sensed, in recent years, that a great deal of first-rate fiction was being written within our borders. Just how good, though, has been made abundantly clear by Wes McNair in his new collection . . . As well as a sense of place, exhibit a sense of universality . . . Whether these writers are dealing with death, with change, with loneliness, with friends and enemies and lovers, their characters’ common humanity transcends their geographical location. Maine’s borders, which at times may seem perfectly distinct and clearly drawn, can also be seen—as witnessed by this new collection—to encompass the earth."
—Bangor Daily News 

"McNair has collected fourteen short stories that not only spotlight some of our best writers – from Pulitzer Prize-winners to lesser known but no less talented authors—but they do an excellent job of revealing the widely varied experiences of those who call Maine home . . . If you keep a summer reading list, place this book at the top."
—Wolf Moon Press Journal: A Maine Magazine of Art and Opinion

"Stories as diverse as the people and places of this great big Pine State."
—York County Coast Star

"Maine has always had a quiet but substantial literary life . . . Nationally recognized literary stars have representative works included. But you may find the works of writers less well known outside of the region to be just as compelling."
—Poughkeepsie Journal

Advance Praise

"Here’s evidence for the argument that the nexus of contemporary short story writing has shifted from South to North: diverse, sometimes provocative, informative stories by some of our best writers, who live in Maine but are writing about life on Planet Earth." —Ann Beattie