Since the series' inception in 1915, the annual volumes of The Best American Short Stories have launched literary careers, showcased the most compelling stories of each year, and confirmed for all time the significance of the short story in our national literature. Now THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES OF THE CENTURY brings together the best of the best - fifty-five extraordinary stories that represent a century's worth of unsurpassed accomplishments in this quintessentially American literary genre. Here are the stories that have endured the test of time: masterworks by such writers as Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Willa Cather, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Saroyan, Flannery O'Connor, John Cheever, Eudora Welty, Philip Roth, Joyce Carol Oates, Raymond Carver, Cynthia Ozick, and scores of others. These are the writers who have shaped and defined the landscape of the American short story, who have unflinchingly explored all aspects of the human condition, and whose works will continue to speak to us as we enter the next century. Their artistry is represented splendidly in these pages. THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES series has also always been known for making literary discoveries, and discovery proved to be an essential part of selecting the stories for this volume too. Collections from years past yielded a rich harvest of surprises, stories that may have been forgotten but still retain their relevance and luster. The result is a volume that not only gathers some of the most significant stories of our century between two covers but resurrects a handful of lost literary gems as well. Of all the great writers whose work has appeared in the series, only John Updike's contributions have spanned five consecutive decades, from his first appearance, in 1959, to his most recent, in 1998. Updike worked with coeditor Katrina Kenison to choose stories from each decade that meet his own high standards of literary quality.
But the “ open form ” resulting from what Robert M. Adams calls an “ unresolved tension ” between Cervantes's pair " 3 may have provided a suggestive design along with adapted details . Twain himself , we know , greatly approved the ...
Here are more than 1,800 quotations, organized from A-to-Z, from America's consummate author--Mark Twain.
His research into modern religious faith and forms of spirituality is from a psychological and empirical perspective rather than intuitive or spiritual . The other primary male character in the novel is Plucky Purcell , who represents ...
for Palmer , she learns from his sadistic " lessons in manliness " ( II , 143 ) to harden her will and suppress the feminine longing for protection . The narrative moves quickly to Susan's success in overcoming her exploiter .
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Edward Hudlin maintains that the book follows very closely the structure of the heroic myth as outlined by Joseph Campbell ... Carol Pearson and Katherine Pope look at Dorothy's adventures from a mythological and feminist perspective.19 ...
The Cambridge Companion to Mark Twain . Cambridge : Cambridge UP , 1995 . Rose , Margaret . Parody : Ancient , Modern , and Post - Modern . Literature , Culture , Theory . Cambridge : Cambridge UP , 1993 . Rowe , John Carlos .
Chronicles the life and career of American author Herman Melville, uncovering autobiographical elements in his diverse works, discussing the historical and cultural implications of his writing, and assessing his accomplishments as a writer.
At whatever level of consciousness , this was Hurston's method of getting a predominantly white society to try on a different and African American subjectivity , one that appeals to the deepest of mythic archetypes .
KAREN TEI YAMASHITA (1951- ) 1 Robin E. Field ♢ BIOGRAPHY Karen Tei Yamashita, a third-generation Japanese American, ... nation and culture; and in an essay in her recent collection Circle K Cycles, she instead claims the term nikkei, ...