For the 2000 edition, The Pushcart Prize series presents one of the largest volumes in its history -- over sixty short stories, poems, and essays selected from hundreds of small presses and literary journals with the help of over 200 distinguished contributing editors. In the best Pushcart tradition, this fascinating edition combines the work of today's luminaries with a host of new talents, creating a wholly original amalgam of diverse voices. The most honored literary series in America, The Pushcart Prize has been chosen for many Book-of-the-Month Club and Quality Paperback Book Club selections, named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times, and hailed with Pushcart Press by Publishers Weekly as among the most influential in the development of the American book business over the past 125 years.