The Story and Its Writer 6e Compact and 250 Poems: An Introduction to Short Fiction

by Ann Charters, Jack Ridl, Peter Schakel

The Story and Its Writer 8th (eighth) edition Text Only. Textbook.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, School, Anthologies, Academic, Literature, Writing

Paperback

Published December 5, 2002

Reviews

[Lenora Good · Rating 5 out of 5]

At almost 1800 pages, this is not a book to read in bed, unless you are a weightlifter as well as a reader, and have exceptionally strong wrists. The pages are thin, but it still weighs a ton! And that's exactly what it is—a ton of good reading.

Part One of the book is a collection of short stories arranged alphabetically by author. I started them all and finished most of them. It is a great collection of stories by authors as varied as Salman Rushdie, Flannery O'Connor, and Leslie Marmon Silko. Part Two is a collection of commentaries by and or about the authors. I did not read all of them, but since it is my book, I shall probably go back to them in the future.

This book is, I am sure, a textbook used in various colleges, and perhaps even high schools. Don't let that be off-putting. It is a marvelous collection, and if you aren't sure if you like an author, it's a good way to find out. Some authors I like better than others. We're all like that.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finishing this 1600-page book has been quite an accomplishment for me. Worthy of a small happy dance. I started reading the first story at the beginning of the year, and I thought I would be able to read all 113 stories in six months. I miscalculated by a few months, but I am glad I did get through the entire collection, skipping only a few stories.

This textbook is intended for English majors and future writers, not for casual readers. I bought it at a library book sale because I like short stories. I also like that the second part of the book contains a collection of essays written by the authors whose short stories are contained in the first section. (A true bonus, in my perspective. I would have loved a text book like this.) Note to the English majors, the appendices include a history of short stories and a guide to writing about short stories.

The stories are organized alphabetically by author's last name, starting with Chinua Achebe and ending with Richard Wright. I give the editor Ann Charters five stars for providing a varied compilation of works from different time periods that represent a variety of nationalities, cultures, and perspectives. "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe, and "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad are probably standards in many textbooks. Kudos to Ann for including Chinua Achebe's critical analysis "An Image of Africa: Conrad's Heart of Darkness," which handled the racist content in Conrad's story.

Although I wasn't a fan of every story, I appreciated the effort to gather these stories all in one place. The stories that I still think about include:

Alice Adams' "The Oasis" - impressive story by an author who was new to me

Woody Allen's "The Kugelmass Episode" - the main character is transported into the book Madame Bovary and has an affair Emma Bovary; it was funnier than I expected

John Barth's "Lost in the Funhouse" - haunting

D. H. Lawrence's "The Rocking Horse Winner" - creepy, disturbing

Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" - very disturbing; the foreshadowing is there, but I was still surprised at the ending

Fay Weldon's "Weekend" - captured a mother's daily internal struggle perfectly

Tobias Wolff "Hunter's in the snow" - a surprise at every turn

I recommend this book to English majors and short story superfans.

[Jessica Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to purchase this for my first college English class and really loved the variety of stories and authors. The class I used this text for was a huge factor in why I chose to major in English. It's a great book to have on your shelf. I find myself turning back to it all the time to reread some of my favorite stories and to get acquainted with the style of authors I'm curious about of stories that are referenced in academic articles. It's a great way for someone who is just starting out on their literary journey and are not sure what they enjoy reading to get a taste of different styles in much smaller doses.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the text for my English Literature class at BYU. Financial circumstances caused me to sell it and regret it for years. I found a different edition that is missing a few of the stories I loved, like The Catbird Seat and The Things They Carried, but it has The Yellow Wallpaper, Young Goodman Brown,and A Good Man Is Hard To Find. This is a great collection of short stories and commentary on those stories.

[Toshio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been using the newest edition of this for a class I'm TA'ing. It's one of the most comprehensive collections I've seen and the essays and criticism in the back are engaging and illuminating. But boy, it's heavy. The best thing was it was free! Too bad I spilled tamagoyaki on it...

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a good chunk of this for my English class this semester. It is full of short stories and commentaries on them. I enjoyed reading some of them, some of them were fine, and I really didn't like some of them. About par for a textbook, I guess.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took a short story class and even though the class wasn't amazing I really enjoy this book. I haven't read all the stories of course but I discovered a lot of great authors and have found a lot of good books threw this book

[Peggy]

So far, my favorites are Woody Allen's "Kugelmass Episode," Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," and Lorrie Moore's "How to Become a Writer." Allen and Moore's pieces are hilarious, and Marquez's is as brilliant as his novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude."

[Nina]

text for my short story writing class... it's a really good anthology, includes old guys like hemingway and faulkner and awesome female writers like margaret atwood and jhumpa lahiri, so far my new fav writer is sherwood anderson

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have used this book, in its many editions, in my Art of the Short Story class. I love the selection, although she still hasn't chosen just the right David Foster Wallace Story ("Forever Overhead" would be my choice) and must include "Here We Aren't, So Quickly" in the next iteration.

[Laurin Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many captivating short stories of all kinds in this anthology.
Dear everybody, please just buy me anthologies of short stories for every holiday. Okay thanks, bye.

[Jillybean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading for my Perspectives in Literature class . . . some really strong and symbolic stories by many authors that were unknown to me . . .

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent text on beginning fiction writing.

[Daniel Carbone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best collection of short stories you will ever read, and there is a ton of variety for all tastes. It also includes commentary on select stories if you are interested in criticism.

[Katie Marquette]

I read quite a few stories in here for a creative writing class, but nowhere near all of them. I hope to read them all someday and put this on the 'read' shelf... A very well organized anthology.

[Lote Š. · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent choice of short stories. Loved the class and love the book.

[Aubrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to read bits and pieces of this book for my college English class. It contained some very good short stories. Others, were not as good.

[Candy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Required textbook for a course