The Short Story: 30 Masterpieces

by Beverly Lawn (Editor), Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe

Beverly Lawn has complied a wonderful set of short stories. This anthology will delight readers with its range of stories from Bradbury to Kafka. This collection is part of the highly successful Bedford/St. Martin's portable series of anthologies and guides, which continue to offer a balanced mix of classic and contemporary short fiction for a low price.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

454 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1992

Reviews

[Trina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like to dip into this book every now and then at random to pick a short story to read. Not sure all of them deserve the label "masterpieces". Some feel dated like 'Young Goodman Brown' (1835), which even Hawthorne repeatedly decided not to include in his early collections of stories. Why? Maybe because it deals with too many big themes in a small space. I personally don't think it lends itself well to a short story tho' Melville found it powerfully disturbing...so what do I know? Some of the 30 stories collected in this book do hold up well over time like Chekov's 'The Lady with the Dog' (1899), for instance. I never tire of re-reading it, and always find something to admire in his technique as he dissects his characters with surgical precision. It provides a marvelous slice of life in turn-of-the-century Russia. Without trying to shove any moralizing down the reader's throat, I might add. The collection provides an ample range of fiction up to contemporary writers such as Joyce Carol Oates (a better short-story writer than novelist perhaps). Not all of the selections necessarily best represent the authors, though. Is James Joyce's 'Araby' really that masterful? Does 'The Pupil' really do Henry James justice? So to me the word "masterpiece" is a little misleading in the title of this handy short-story collection.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent selection...somewhat dated (not surprising, though - the anthology is over 20 years old). The lack of introductory info and critical responses is both frustrating and liberating...nice to read free of others' opinions, but the insight and feedback are missed... Overall, an accessible, if sometime bland, mix of (mostly) familiar and interesting pieces. Not a bad way to knock out #30ShortStories30Days

[Kristi]

What a wonderful wake-up call from my "chronological snobbery," as c.s. lewis put it nicely.

[jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of short stories.

[Denise DeRocher · Rating 4 out of 5]

An outstanding collection of different types of short stories.