The Best and the Briefest (on The O. Henry Prize Stories 2007: The Best Stories of the Year, edited by Laura Furman; New Stories from the South: 2006—The Year’s Best, edited by Allan Gurganus; Best New American Voices 2007: Fresh Fiction from the Top Writing Programs, edited by Sue Miller; Flash Fiction Forward: 80 Very Short Stories, edited by James Thomas and Robert Shapard; and New Sudden Fiction: Short-Short Stories from America and Beyond, edited by Robert Shapard and James Thomas)

Greg Johnson, whose reviews have appeared regularly in our pages across many years, has published two novels, five collections of short stories, and several volumes of nonfiction. He lives in Atlanta and teaches in the graduate writing program at Kennesaw State University.