God Bless America could almost be read as thirteen irreverent prayers: Dear [Whomever]: save us from our smallness. But no prayer will make you laugh the way Steve Almond does with his newest collection of stories, one of which was included in America’s Best, another in the Pushcart Prize Anthology. In Almond’s America, parents and children, TSA agents and smart-mouthed kids, horny Jews and voyeuristic mothers do embody American tics and isms—racism and escapism to name just a couple—but they’re at their most tragic when they orbit around each other, failing to connect. Time and again, as Almond’s characters almost touch (sometimes physically, sometimes emotionally), there’s a nearly visceral hesitation: will they or won’t they do it?
