Short Story Anthology, ed. Joyce Carol Oates

I just bought a new short story anthology, Contemporary American Short Fiction, ed. Joyce Carol Oates, and I'd appreciate any suggestions on which authors or stories I should read first--it's a very fat book. Palahniuk's "Escort" wowed me in the store--in spite of some liberties with syntax and grammar that struck me as unnecessary. D. Eisenberg's story, "The Girl Who Left Her Sock on the Floor," intrigues me, but I haven't yet put all the pieces together.

FYI, a few of the other authors I know and expect to love again are: Bass, Baxter, Bender, Dybek, Ford, Hempel, Jones (Edward P.), Lahiri, and Wolff (T.).

I also got Best American Essays 2008, and would appreciate the same kind of info on it if you happen to know its contents or authors.

All for now.