Penzler Pick, January 2000: I love short stories, and having read scores of anthologies over the years I rejoice when someone comes up with an especially nifty theme for one. Lawrence Block has managed to do something really cool. He asked some of today's top mystery writers to pick their favorite of their own stories as well as the story they most admire or that most influenced them. Stephen King selected his "The Wedding Gig" and Joyce Carol Oates's "Murder-Two"; Peter Lovesey picked his "The Crime of Miss Oyster Brown" and Donald E. Westlake's hilarious "Too Many Crooks"; Harlan Ellison's choices were his "Tired Old Man" and Jacques Futrelle's classic "The Problem of Cell 13"; and Tony Hillerman, best known for his novels, named his "First Lead Gasser" and Joe Gores's Edgar-winning "Goodbye, Pops." There is a wide range in this handsome volume, with authors selecting work from the world of pulp fiction (Benjamin Appel), literary fiction (John O'Hara and Stephen Crane), and horror fiction (W.F. Harvey), as well as the more traditional mystery fiction. It's not too soon to look forward to the next volume in what we hope will become a long-running series. --Otto Penzler