Foreword -- Introduction / Jane Smiley -- Orientation / Daniel Orozco -- Way down deep in the jungle / Thom Jones -- The stucco house / Ellen Gilchrist -- A night's work / Jaimy Gordon -- Pity / Avner Mandelman -- Leg / Steven Polansky -- The ugliest house in the world / Peter Ho Davies -- Birthmates / Gish Jen -- The drowning / Edward J. Delaney -- Honored guest / Joy Williams -- The behavior of the hawkweeds / Andrea Barrett -- Hand jive / Andrew Cozine -- So I guess you know what I told him / Stephen Dobyns -- Undertow / Jennifer C. Cornell -- Pagan night / Kate Braverman -- First, body / Melaine Rae Thon -- The Angel Esmeralda / Don DeLillo -- The artist / Edward Falco -- Chiromancy / Max Garland -- Xuela / Jamaica Kincaid -- Contributors' notes -- 100 other distinguished stories of 1994 -- Editorial addresses of American and Canadian magazines publishing short stories.

The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. Each volume's series editor selects notable works from hundreds of periodicals. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected, and most popular, of its kind.