Art of the Short Story : 52 Great Authors, Their Best Short Fiction, and Their Insights on Writing

by Gioa, Dana

• ISBN13: 9780321337221
• ISBN10: 0321337220
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-03-10
• Publisher: Longman Pub Group

Summary

From Chinua Achebe and Sherwood Anderson to Edith Wharton and Virginia Woolf, The Art of the Short Story presents masterpieces of short fiction from 52 classic, contemporary and new voices. No other collection of short stories encompasses such a vast and enriching global and historical mix.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
About the Authors	xiii
Part I Introduction	1	(6)
THE ART OF THE SHORT STORY	3	(4)
Part II Stories	7	(840)
CHINUA ACHEBE, Nigerian	9	(5)
Dead Men's Path	10	(2)
Author's Perspective
Achebe: Modern Africa as the Crossroads of Culture	12	(2)
SHERWOOD ANDERSON, American	14	(7)
Hands	15	(4)
Author's Perspective
Anderson: Words Not Plot Give Form to a Short Story	19	(2)
MARGARET ATWOOD, Canadian	21	(5)
Happy Endings	22	(2)
Author's Perspective
Atwood: On the Canadian Identity	24	(2)
JAMES BALDWIN, American	26	(27)
Sonny's Blues	27	(22)
Author's Perspective
Baldwin: Race and the African-American Writer	49	(4)
JORGE LUIS BORGES, Argentine	53	(11)
The Garden of Forking Paths	55	(7)
Author's Perspective
Borges: Literature as Experience	62	(2)
ALBERT CAMUS, French, born in Algeria	64	(12)
The Guest	65	(9)
Author's Perspective
Camus: Revolution and Repression in Algeria	74	(2)
RAYMOND CARVER, American	76	(30)
Cathedral	77	(11)
A Small, Good Thing	88	(16)
Author's Perspective
Carver: Commonplace but Precise Language	104	(2)
WILLA CATHER, American	106	(16)
Paul's Case	107	(14)
Author's Perspective
Lather: Art as the Process of Simplification	121	(1)
JOHN CHEEVER, American	122	(11)
The Swimmer	123	(8)
Author's Perspective
Cheever: Why I Write Short Stories	131	(2)
ANTON CHEKHOV, Russian	133	(19)
The Lady with the Pet Dog	135	(12)
Misery	147	(4)
Author's Perspective
Chekhov: Natural Description and "The Center of Gravity"	151	(1)
KATE CHOPIN, American	152	(8)
The Storm	153	(4)
The Story of an Hour	157	(2)
Author's Perspective
Chopin: My Writing Method	159	(1)
SANDRA CISNEROS, American	160	(4)
Barbie-Q	160	(2)
Author's Perspective
Cisneros: Bilingual Style	162	(2)
JOSEPH CONRAD, Polish, Naturalized British	164	(31)
The Secret Sharer	165	(28)
Author's Perspective
Conrad: The Condition of Art	193	(2)
STEPHEN CRANE, American	195	(22)
The Open Boat	196	(17)
Author's Perspective
Crane: The Sinking of the Commodore	213	(4)
RALPH ELLISON, American	217	(7)
A Party Down at the Square	218	(4)
Author's Perspective
Ellison: Race and Fiction	222	(2)
WILLIAM FAULKNER, American	224	(22)
Barn Burning	225	(13)
A Rose for Emily	238	(7)
Author's Perspective
Faulkner: The Human Heart in Conflict with Itself	245	(1)
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD, American	246	(18)
Babylon Revisited	247	(15)
Author's Perspective
Fitzgerald: On His Own Literary Aims	262	(2)
GUSTAVE FLAUBERT, French	264	(23)
A Simple Heart	265	(21)
Author's Perspective
Flaubert: The Labor of Style	286	(1)
GABRIEL GARCIA MÁRQUEZ, Colombian	287	(9)
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings	289	(4)
Author's Perspective
Garcia Márquez: My Beginnings as a Writer	293	(3)
CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN, American	296	(14)
The Yellow Wallpaper	297	(12)
Author's Perspective
Gilman: Why I Wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper"	309	(1)
NIKOLAI GOGOL, Russian	310	(23)
The Overcoat	311	(20)
Author's Perspective
Gogol: On Realism	331	(2)
NADINE GORDIMER, South African	333	(14)
A Company of Laughing Faces	334	(11)
Author's Perspective
Gordimer: How the Short Story Differs from the Novel	345	(2)
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE, American	347	(23)
Young Goodman Brown	348	(9)
The Birthmark	357	(12)
Author's Perspective
Hawthorne: On the Public Failure of His Early Stories	369	(1)
ERNEST HEMINGWAY, American	370	(7)
A Clean Well-Lighted Place	372	(3)
Author's Perspective
Hemingway: One True Sentence	375	(2)
ZORA NEALE HURSTON, American	377	(12)
Sweat	378	(9)
Author's Perspective
Hurston: Eatonville When You Look at It	387	(2)
SHIRLEY JACKSON, American	389	(10)
The Lottery	390	(6)
Author's Perspective
Jackson: The Public Reception of "The Lottery"	396	(3)
HENRY JAMES, American, Naturalized British	399	(20)
The Real Thing	400	(18)
Author's Perspective
James: The Mirror of a Consciousness	418	(1)
HA JIN, born in China, Resident American	419	(10)
Saboteur	420	(7)
Author's Perspective
Jin: Deciding to Write in English	427	(2)
JAMES JOYCE, Irish	429	(36)
Araby	430	(4)
The Dead	434	(30)
Author's Perspective
Joyce: Epiphanies	464	(1)
FRANZ KAFKA, Austro-Hungarian	465	(37)
Before the Law	466	(1)
The Metamorphosis	467	(33)
Author's Perspective
Kafka: Discussing The Metamorphosis	500	(2)
D.H. LAWRENCE, English	502	(28)
Odour of Chrysanthemums	503	(14)
The Rocking-Horse Winner	517	(11)
Author's Perspective
Lawrence: The Novel Is the Bright Book of Life	528	(2)
URSULA K. LE GUIN, American	530	(7)
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas	531	(4)
Author's Perspective
Le Guin: On "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas"	535	(2)
DORIS LESSING, Rhodesian, Naturalized British	537	(10)
A Woman on a Roof	538	(7)
Author's Perspective
Lessing: My Beginnings as a Writer	545	(2)
JACK LONDON, American	547	(14)
To Build a Fire	548	(11)
Author's Perspective
London: Defending the Factuality of "To Build a Fire"	559	(2)
KATHERINE MANSFIELD, New Zealander	561	(16)
Miss Brill	562	(3)
The Garden-Party	565	(10)
Author's Perspective
Mansfield: On "The Garden-Party"	575	(2)
BOBBIE ANN MASON, American	577	(13)
Shiloh	578	(10)
Author's Perspective
Mason: Minimalist Fiction	588	(2)
GUY DE MAUPASSANT, French	590	(9)
The Necklace	591	(6)
Author's Perspective
Maupassant: The Realist Method	597	(2)
HERMAN MELVILLE, American	599	(29)
Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street	600	(26)
Author's Perspective
Melville: American Literature	626	(2)
YUKIO MISHIMA, Japanese	628	(20)
Patriotism	629	(17)
Author's Perspective
Mishima: Physical Courage and Death	646	(2)
ALICE MUNRO, Canadian	648	(15)
How I Met My Husband	649	(12)
Author's Perspective
Munro: How I Write Short Stories	661	(2)
JOYCE CAROL OATES, American	663	(14)
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?	664	(12)
Author's Perspective
Oates: Productivity and the Critics	676	(1)
FLANNERY O'CONNOR, American	677	(30)
A Good Man Is Hard to Find	678	(11)
Revelation	689	(15)
Author's Perspective
O'Connor: The Element of Suspense in 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find"	704	(3)
EDGAR ALLAN POE, American	707	(19)
The Fall of the House of Usher	708	(13)
The Tell-Tale Heart	721	(4)
Author's Perspective
Poe: The Tale and Its Effect	725	(1)
KATHERINE ANNE PORTER, American	726	(12)
Flowering Judas	727	(9)
Author's Perspective
Porter: Writing "Flowering Judas"	736	(2)
LESLIE MARMON SILKO, American	738	(6)
The Man to Send Rain Clouds	739	(3)
Author's Perspective
Silko: The Basis of "The Man to Send Rain Clouds"	742	(2)
ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER, Yiddish (born in Poland), Naturalized American	744	(13)
Gimpel the Fool	745	(10)
Author's Perspective
Singer: The Character of Gimpel	755	(2)
LEO TOLSTOY, Russian	757	(42)
The Death of Ivan Ilych	758	(39)
Author's Perspective
Tolstoy: The Moral Responsibilities of Art	797	(2)
JOHN UPDIKE, American	799	(10)
Separating	800	(8)
Author's Perspective
Updike: Why Write?	808	(1)
ALICE WALKER, American	809	(10)
Everyday Use	810	(6)
Author's Perspective
Walker: The Black Woman Writer in America	816	(3)
EUDORA WELTY, American	819	(12)
Why I Live at the P.O.	820	(9)
Author's Perspective
Welty: The Plot of the Short Story	829	(2)
EDITH WHARTON, American	831	(12)
Roman Fever	832	(9)
Author's Perspective
Wharton: The Subject of Short Stories	841	(2)
VIRGINIA WOOLF, English	843	(4)
A Haunted House	844	(1)
Author's Perspective
Woolf: Women and Fiction	845	(2)
Part III Writing	847	(58)
THE ELEMENTS OF SHORT FICTION	849	(14)
PLOT	849	(5)
CHARACTERIZATION	854	(3)
POINT OF VIEW	857	(2)
SETTING	859	(1)
THEME	860	(1)
STYLE	861	(2)
WRITING ABOUT FICTION	863	(15)
CRITICAL APPROACHES TO LITERATURE	878	(27)
FORMALIST CRITICISM	879	(2)
Michael Clark, Light and Darkness in "Sonny's Blues"	880	(1)
BIOGRAPHICAL CRITICISM	881	(3)
Virginia Llewellyn Smith, Chekhov's Attitude to Romantic Love	882	(2)
HISTORICAL CRITICISM	884	(3)
John King, The Argentine Context of Borges's Fantastic Fiction	885	(2)
PSYCHOLOGICAL CRITICISM	887	(3)
Daniel Hoffman, The Father-Figure in "The Tell-Tale Heart"	888	(2)
MYTHOLOGICAL CRITICISM	890	(2)
Edmond Volpe, Myth in Faulkner's "Barn Burning"	891	(1)
SOCIOLOGICAL CRITICISM	892	(3)
Daniel P. Watkins, Money and Labor in "The Rocking-Horse Winner"	893	(2)
GENDER CRITICISM	895	(2)
Juliann Fleenor, Gender and Pathology in "The Yellow Wallpaper"	896	(1)
READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM	897	(2)
Stanley Fish, An Eskimo "A Rose for Emily"	898	(1)
DECONSTRUCTIONIST CRITICISM	899	(2)
Roland Barthes, The Death of the Author	900	(1)
CULTURAL STUDIES	901	(4)
Mark Bauerlein, What Is Cultural Studies?	902	(3)
Part IV Glossary of Literary Terms	905	(16)
Acknowledgments	921