The best American short stories 2000

Foreword

Introduction / E.L. Doctorow

Black Elvis / Geoffrey Becker

The story / Amy Bloom

The beautiful days / Michael Byers

The ordinary son / Ron Carlson

Call if you need me / Raymond Carver

Bones of the inner ear / Kiana Davenport

Nilda / Junot Díaz

The gilgul of Park Avenue / Nathan Englander

The fix / Percival Everett

Good for the soul / Tim Gautreaux

He's at the office / Allan Gurganus

Blind Jozef Pronek / Aleksandar Hemon

The anointed / Kathleen Hill

The bridegroom / Ha Jin

The thing around them / Marilyn Krysl

The third and final continent / Jhumpa Lahiri

Pet fly / Walter Mosley

Brownies / ZZ Packer

Allog / Edith Pearlman

People in hell just want a drink of water / Annie Proulx

Basil the dog / Frances Sherwood

Contributors' notes

100 other distinguished stories of 1999

Editorial addresses of American and Canadian magazines publishing short stories.