The Fall 1998 fiction issue of Ploughshares, guest-edited by Lorrie Moore. Ploughshares, a journal of new writing, is guest-edited serially by prominent writers who explore different and personal visions, aesthetics, and literary circles.

Award-winning author Lorrie Moore (Birds of America, Self Help) compiles this all-fiction issue of Ploughshares. In her introduction, Moore addresses the worst criticism an author can receive--"I could have written this." While exploring the root of why this statement wounds so deeply, Moore goes on to say that she could never have written the pieces in this issue of Ploughshares. She says in her introduction, "Some instinctive or mysterious aesthetic takes over--one juxtaposes color, mood, size, as in flower arranging; one lumps, then separates, then steps back and squints." Featuring work from Alice Adams, Charles Baxter, Robert Boswell, Gish Jen, Howard Norman, Mona Simpson, Debra Spark, and Meg Wolitzer.