The They’re at It Again: Stories From Twenty Years Of Open City

This anthology features the best stories from the first twenty years of Open City magazine, including works by an array of debut and established writers. Featured pieces are: "Uncertain Times," the beginning of an unfinished work by Richard Yates, a fictional account of his time as a speech writer for Robert Kennedy; "The Egg Man" by Scott Smith (author of A Simple Plan); "High Wire" by Robert Stone"; "Eurotrash" by Irvine Welsh, which was his debut publication in the US and has since not appeared in any other publication; "17 Quai Voltaire," an essay by Paul Bowles that has also not appeared elsewhere. Other featured writers whose stories marked their debut publications are: Sam Lipsyte, Vestal McIntyre, Lara Vapnyar, and Martha McPhee. Other highlights: stories by Mary Gaitskill, A. M. Homes, Bruce Jay Friedman, Jonathan Ames, and Christopher Sorrentino.

Editors:

Thomas Beller is the author of the story collection Seduction Theory and the novel The Sleep-Over Artist, and the editor of 5 anthologies: Personals, Before & After: Stories from New York, With Love and Squalor, and Lost and Found. He is a founding editor of the web site Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood and Open City Magazine & Books.

Joanna Yas has been the co-editor of Open City since 1999. She was previously an editor at Zoetrope: All-Story.

Key contributors:

Richard Yates is the author of several novels, including Easter Parade and Revolutionary Road.

Scott Smith is the author of the novel A Simple Plan, as well as the Academy Award-winning screenplay adaptation. He is also the author of the bestselling novel, The Ruins.

Mary Gaitskill is the author of several story collections, including Bad Behavior and Don’t Cry, as well as the novel Veronica.