The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction To Short Fiction: Compact Fifth Edition

by Charters

Ann Charters has an acute sense of which stories work most effectively in the classroom and knows that writers, not editors, have the most interesting and useful things to say about the making and the meaning of fiction. For those who want a smaller, less expensive anthology, the compact edition of The Story and Its Writer is the most comprehensive, diverse -- the best-selling -- introduction to fiction available, notable for its student appeal as well as its quality and range. To complement the stories, Charters includes her lasting an array of the writers' own commentaries on the craft and traditions of fiction. For in-depth, illustrated studies of particular writers, her Casebooks provide unparalleled opportunities for discussion and writing.

Genres: Short Stories, Reference, Nonfiction, Anthologies, Textbooks

Paperback

Published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Michael Mayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Charters when I started reading up on Kerouac and his crew; it didn't dawn on me until later that she had also edited my undergraduate short story writing textbook. I ended up dropping the course but kept the book. This is one of the best anthologies out there with hardly a stinker in the bunch (over 1000 pages of stories). Some of my favorite authors and their best short stories are here: Raymond Carter, Angela Carter, Joyce Carol Oates, Flannery O'Connor with commentary both by these authors and on these authors. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "Where are you going, where have you been?" manage to creep me out every time I read them.

[Mark]

Still the very best text book I ever had in college, and the only one I kept. Edited by Kerouac's friend/biographer!

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the best compilations of short stories available . . . an excellent read and resource.

[Marisa]

there are a lot of stories here. i like henry james' description of his process for turning a real-life story into an idea, and then into a short story.