ReviewsA treasure - a one-volume literary history of this country's immeasurable pains and near-infinite hopes., Finding wonderful stories that you don't already know is one of this collection's great pleasures... , "Finding wonderful stories that you don't already know is one of this collection's great pleasures... " The New York Times "...a thrillingly energized argument for the enduring vitality of big ideas in small packages." Entertainment Weekly, "A treasure - a one-volume literary history of this country's immeasurable pains and near-infinite hopes." Boston Globe "Finding wonderful stories that you don't already know is one of this collection's great pleasures... " The New York Times "The short story - not to mention America and the twentieth century - at its best." The Wall Street Journal "...a thrillingly energized argument for the enduring vitality of big ideas in small packages." Entertainment Weekly, Smart writing, a mastery of the time period and impeccable research is what we've come to expect from Elizabeth Chadwick and she certainly brought it with For the King's Favor .
Dewey Edition21
Table Of ContentForeword Introduction By John Updike Zelig By Benjamin Rosenblatt Little Selves By Mary Lerner A Jury of Her Peers By Susan Glaspell The Other Woman By Sherwood Anderson The Golden Honeymoon By Ring Lardner Blood-Burning Moon By Jean Toomer The Killers By Ernest Hemingway Double Birthday By Willa Cather Wild Plums By Grace Stone Coates Theft By Katherine Anne Porter That Evening Sun Go Down By William Faulkner Here We Are By Dorothy Parker Crazy Sunday By F. Scott Fitzgerald My Dead Brother Comes to America By Alexander Godin Resurrection of a Life By William Saroyan Christmas Gift By Robert Penn Warren Bright and Morning Star By Richard Wright The Hitch-Hikers By Eudora Welty The Peach Stone By Paul Horgan "That in Aleppo Once ..." By Vladimir Nabokov The Interior Castle By Jean Stafford Miami - New York By Martha Gellhorn The Second Tree from the Corner By E. B. White The Farmer's Children By Elizabeth Bishop Death of a Favorite By J. F. Powers The Resemblance Between a Violin Case and a Coffin By Tennessee Williams The Country Husband By John Cheever Greenleaf By Flannery O'Connor The Ledge By Lawrence Sargent Hall Defender of the Faith By Philip Roth Criers and Kibitzers, Kibitzers and Criers By Stanley Elkin The German Refugee By Bernard Malamud Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? By Joyce Carol Oates The Rotifer By Mary Ladd Gavell Gold Coast By James Alan McPherson The Key By Isaac Bashevis Singer A City of Churches By Donald Barthelme How to Win By Rosellen Brown Roses, Rhododendron By Alice Adams Verona: A Young Woman Speaks By Harold Brodkey A Silver Dish By Saul Bellow Gesturing By John Updike The Shawl By Cynthia Ozick Where I'm Calling From By Raymond Carver Janus By Ann Beattie The Way We Live Now By Susan Sontag The Things They Carried By Tim O'Brien Meneseteung By Alice Munro You're Ugly, Too By Lorrie Moore I Want to Live! By Thom Jones In the Gloaming By Alice Elliott Dark Proper Library By Carolyn Ferrell Birthmates By Gish Jen Soon By Pam Durban The Half-Skinned Steer By Annie Proulx Biographical Notes
SynopsisSince 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. Updike worked with coeditor Katrina Kenison to choose stories from each decade that meet his own high standards of literary quality., 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.