American Short Stories

Description

• Organized Chronologically. The eighth edition is divided into five historical periods: 1820-1890; 1890-1920; 1920-1940; 1940-1980; 1980-present.
• The stories cover a wide range of themes and techniques, forms and types, motifs, tones, and issues. 
• The anthology, representing some of the American short story’s major achievements, offers a concise and compelling textual history of the American short story. 
• Historical introductions, author head notes, and questions for discussion and writing offer context and teaching assistance.
• Enriched Selection of Stories and Authors. Representing a wide range of forms, themes, and genres, the stories range from journey stories to encounters with mysterious strangers, the coming-of-age tale, ghost stories, race against time stories, studies in the grotesque, stories in the detective genre, the absurd, Old Southwestern humor, social satire, the familiar, the exotic…it’s all here.
• The contemporary section of the anthology has the largest selection, four more stories than in the previous edition.
• The stories included in the eighth edition reflect a rich array of writers and themes in terms of gender, ethnical, regional, and racial diversity.
• The introductions of the five time periods clarify the two-hundred year history of the American short story, its developing forms, and enduring themes. Head notes introduce each writer. New author quotes, commentary, and biographical information help students place the authors in relation to his/her time period, in relation to other writers, and to American literature in general.
• Improved Suggestions for Discussion and Writing Questions. While retaining its useful but non-intrusive apparatus, the questions in this new edition stimulate fruitful class discussion and writing exercises.

American Short Stories offers a discriminating collection of both canonical and recent stories in a brief anthology made all the more flexible by its streamlined apparatus. American short stories capture America’s past and present in a unique way.  Now students have an opportunity to immerse themselves in the more than two hundred year history of the American short story by reading the new eighth edition of American Short Stories. 

While retaining its historical thrust, chronological organization, and attention to “classic” works, the new eighth edition of American Short Stories features more contemporary stories, a greater representation of writers from diverse ethnic backgrounds, and more contextual information.

American Short Stories, 8/e is a streamlined anthology that includes “classic” works and contemporary stories that are organized chronologically.  Of the sixty selected stories making up this anthology, sixteen are new to the eighth edition and nine of the authors are new.  Increased attention is given to the social and cultural contexts in which the short fiction of the United States unfolded.  The stories represent a wide range of themes and techniques, forms and types, motifs, tones, and issues.     

CONTENTS

Preface vii

Section One

The First Century, 1820—1910 1

Washington Irving

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 25

Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Birth-mark 46

Edgar Allan Poe

The Black Cat 59

Thomas Bangs Thorpe

A Piano in “Arkansaw” 67

Herman Melville

Bartleby, the Scrivener 73

Bret Harte

Tennessee’s Partner 100

Ambrose Bierce

The Coup de Grâce 108

Henry James

The Real Thing 114

Sarah Orne Jewett

A White Heron 133

Kate Chopin

The Storm 142

Mary E.Wilkins Freeman

The Revolt of “Mother” 148

CharlesW. Chesnutt

The Passing of Grandison 161

Hamlin Garland

Under the Lion’s Paw 174

iii

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iv CONTENTS

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The Yellow Wall-Paper 186

William Sydney Porter (O. Henry)

The Ransom of Red Chief 200

Stephen Crane

The Blue Hotel 209

Suggestions for Discussion and Writing 230

Section Two

The Earlier Twentieth Century, 1910—1950 233

Edith Wharton

The Other Two 249

Willa Cather

Paul’s Case 265

Sherwood Anderson

The Egg 280

William Carlos Williams

The Use of Force 289

Katherine Anne Porter

The Grave 294

Zora Neale Hurston

The Gilded Six-Bits 300

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Babylon Revisited 310

William Faulkner

Barn Burning 327

Ernest Hemingway

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place 342

Langston Hughes

Thank You, Ma’m 347

John Steinbeck

The Chrysanthemums 351

RichardWright

Big Boy Leaves Home 361

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EudoraWelty

Petrified Man 394

John Cheever

The Swimmer 406

Barnard Malamud

The Magic Barrel 415

Suggestions for Discussion and Writing 428

Section Three

The Later Twentieth Century, 1950—1990 431

Grace Paley

Samuel 445

James Baldwin

Sonny’s Blues 448

Flannery O’Connor

Revelation 472

Ursula K. LeGuin

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas 489

Donald Barthelme

The School 495

John Updike

A & P 499

Raymond Carver

Boxes505

Joyce Carol Oates

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? 516

Toni Cade Bambara

A Girl’s Story 530

Bobbie Ann Mason

Shiloh539

AliceWalker

Nineteen Fifty-five 551

TobiasWolff

Hunters in the Snow 564

CONTENTS v

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vi CONTENTS

Tim O’Brien

The Things They Carried 578

Charles Baxter

Gryphon 592

Ann Beattie

Janus 605

Jayne Anne Phillips

Cheers 611

Suggestions for Discussion and Writing 612

Section Four

Into a New Millennium, 1990— 615

Deborah Eisenberg

Twilight of the Superheroes 626

William Gibson

The Gernsback Continuum 650

Ralph Lombreglia

Inn Essence 659

Walter Mosley

Pet Fly 677

Louise Erdrich

Fleur 689

Helena María Viramontes

The Cariboo Cafe 700

Gish Jen

Birthmates 711

Michael Parker

Hidden Meanings 724

Sherman Alexie

This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona 731

Jhumpa Lahiri

This Blessed House 742

Suggestions for Discussion and Writing 755

Credits 657

Index 659

 

American short stories capture America’s past and present in a unique way.  Now you have an opportunity to immerse yourself in the more than two hundred year history of the American short story by taking this course and reading the new eighth edition of American Short Stories.  While retaining its historical thrust and chronological organization, the new eighth edition features more contemporary stories and gives increased attention to the social and cultural contexts in which the short fiction of the United States has unfolded.    

 

 

WHAT YOU’LL FIND IN THIS EDITION

• An enriched, powerful selection of stories from classic and contemporary authors.  Of the sixty selected stories making up this anthology, sixteen are new to the eighth edition and nine are new authors.
• A new selection of contemporary stories is given an historical section of their own.
• New and improved Suggestions for Discussion and Writing features encourage meaningful class discussion and stimulate writing.
• Increased representation of cultural diversity with attention to race, ethnicity, gender, region, and individual social and cultural concerns.
• Enhanced Introductions and Headnotes make use of an author’s own words to place the author in relation to his or her time, to other writers, and to American literary history. 

 

• An enriched, powerful selection of stories from classic and contemporary authors.  Of the sixty selected stories making up this anthology, sixteen are new to the eighth edition along with nine new authors.
• New and improved Suggestions for Discussion and Writing features encourage meaningful class discussion and stimulate writing.
• Increased representation of cultural diversity with attention to race, ethnicity, gender, region, and individual social and cultural concerns.
• Enhanced Introductions and Headnotes make use of an author’s own words to place the author in relation to his or her time, to other writers, and to American literary history. 

Additional information

Dimensions	1.70 × 5.90 × 8.90 in
Imprint	Pearson
Format	gen
ISBN-13	09780321484895
ISBN-10	0321484894
Author	Bert Hitchcock, Virginia M. Kouidis
Subjects	Literature, english, american literature, higher education, Language Arts / Literacy