Wastelands

Edited by John Joseph Adams

A large collection, though reading it as an ebook means one has no real sense of size, of post apocalyptic science fiction stories.
Some very good stuff in here, though there's some pretty forgettable trash as well. Octavian Butler's "Speech Sounds," set in a world where a neurological disease has robbed people of language, stands out. A well deserved Hugo winner.
There's a splendidly bleak story about a travelling freak show in a world over-run by unstable mutations, where the audiences no longer want to see the latest freak of nature, but yearn for sight of animals that look like they did when they were young. Or children that look like normal children. I shall have to check who wrote that one and look for his other books.
The story about astronauts returning to Earth after the Rapture, unsure as to whether they could or should alert God to the fact that He didn't gather everyone is well written, but misses something.
There are a couple of tedious stories about men (generally men anyhow) travelling through deserts with battered cars and an arsenal, but they are the exception not the rule.
Overall a good set of stories. For the most part tales of quiet desperation, but not enough to make you slash your wrists. Well selected and nicely introduced.