Great American Short Stories

by Editors of the Reader's Digest

A selection of great American short stories from some of the greatest writers.

Winter dreams / F. Scott Fitzgerald --
What stumped the bluejays / Mark Twain --
To build a fire / Jack London --
A jury of her peers / Susan Glaspell --
The storm / Jesse Stuart --
The pioneer hep-cat / John O'Hara --
The furnished room / O. Henry --
I can't breathe / Ring Lardner --
The short happy life of Francis Macomber / Ernest Hemingway --
A New England Nun / Mary E. Wilkins --
The Chrysanthemum / John Steinbeck --
The tell-tale heart / Edgar Allan Poe --
The man who saw the flood / Richard Wright --
Barn burning / William Faulkner --
The yellow wall paper / Charlotte Perkins Gilman --
Hook / Walter Van Tilburg Clark --
The key / Eudora Welty --
The shore line at sunset / Ray Bradbury --
The idyl of Miss Sarah Brown / Damon Runyon --
Coroner's inquest / Marc Connelly --
Roman fever / Edith Wharton --
The outcasts of poker flat / Bret Harte --
The last gas station / Shirley Ann Grau --
The fifty-first dragon / Heywood Broun --
Sir Edmund Orme / Henry Jame --
The daemon lover / Shirley Jackson --
The blue hotel / Stephen Crane --
You'll never know, dear, how much i love you / John Updike --
The beauty / Pearl S. Buck --
The devil and Daniel Webster / Stephen Vincent Benet --
Winter night / Kay Boyle --
Bartleby the scrivener / Herman Melville --
Christmas is a sad season for the poor / John Cheever --
The boarded window / Ambrose Bierce --
Jug of silver / Truman Capote --
Night club / Katharine Brush --
The lost Phoebe / Theodore Dreiser --
The most dangerous game / Richard Connell --
The magic barrel / Bernard Malamud --
If Grant had been drinking at Appomattox / James Thurber --
The legend of Sleepy Hollow / Washington Irving --
The music of Erich Zann / H.P. Lovecraft --
Enoch and the gorilla / Flannery O'Connor --
The untold lie / Sherwood Anderson --
Horse thief / Erskine Caldwell --
The haunted boy / Carson McCullers --
The valiant woman / J.F. Powers --
The minister's wife / Nathaniel Hawthorne --
The rockpile / James Baldwin --
The enchanted bluff / Willa Cather --
O how she laughed / Conrad Aiken.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

640 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[John Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

At 604 pages, this tomb of short stores took me two and a half weeks to read! Six hundred and four pages, 51 unique and entertaining short stories by the likes of Willa Cather, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tennessee Williams, O. Henry, John Steinbeck, Carson McCullers, John Updike, Flannery O’Conner, Henry James, Bret Harte, Ray Bradbury, Damon Runyon, Truman Capote and Washington Irving. Fifty-one Great American Short Stories gathered collectively in 1977 by editors of Reader’s Digest. In my snobbishness, I would normally not endeavor to read a collection by Reader’s Digest, critical of their library of “chopped up” condensed versions of revered classic literature. You do have to give them credit, however, for “getting people reading” during their heyday. My grandmother was a subscriber and I did dare to read a few RD condensed stories when I would visit her.

Many of these stories were written in the late 1800s and early 1900s, reflecting on the hardships of the times, as the country was growing, moving from the hard-scrabble of a farming nation to the Industrial Age. Farming families were large as a necessity to survival. Neighbors were few and far between. Hand-me-downs were common, a new dress or a pair of jeans uncommon and an elation for celebration. These times were illuminated by stories such as “The Rockpile” by James Baldwin and “The Enchanted Bluff” by Willa Cather, a sad reminisce of lost youth, lost friends and lost dreams.

Ernest Hemingway’s “The Short Happy Life of Francis McCumber” was an exciting African hunting safari adventure and an intriguing study of fear. I did not anticipate or expect that ending. Edgar Allen Poe,too, explored the nature of man’s fears in his “The Tell-tale Heart.”

Faulkner, “Burning Barn,” was difficult to read, but this wasn’t the first time I’ve found him so; he is not one of my favored writers. On the other hand, on page 363 is a 15 page story by Pearl S. Buck, “The Beauty,” an exquisitely well-crafted and a joy to read. Conversely, Richard Wright’s short story, “The Man Who Saw the Flood,” was as well-written, but gritty and painful. You sympathized with the poor and destitute family caught in a Louisiana fold. This story , and Wright’s bio, encouraged me to consider others of his writings, especially his acclaimed “Native Son,” a re-read for me from the days of high school English.

The book did include Biographical Notes in the back, a brief paragraph about each author, their family and ancestry, as well as their education and writing successes (or failures), and their most notable works. I found it fodder for pursuit of other books to research and read.

All said, this is a marvelous collection by some of the greatest writers of all time. I must chant, “Bravo, Reader’s Digest.” BTW, I found another RD collection, “The Great Short Stories of the World,” another tomb of 799 pages. I think I’ll wait awhile to start this book!

[Linda DiMeo Lowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published in 1977, this collection features all the famous American authors before 1977. I've read almost all of them before but enjoyed reading them a second time (sometimes third or fourth time). A great short story is always worth another read.

[Valleri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked most of the short stories found in this volume. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell were my favorites. There were a few I could live without but overall, it was a wonderful collection.

[Sharol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun to read. Very interesting and full of imagination. I had strange dreams after reading these short stories. :)

[Judith Engels · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of lesser-known short stories from some of the greatest writers.