75 Short Masterpieces

by Roger B. Goodman (Editor)

Seventy-five short masterpieces of fiction.

A wedding without musicians / Sholem Aleichem --
He swung and he missed / Nelson Algren --
Senor Payroll / William E. Barrett --
Houseparty / Walter Bernstein --
How light belief bringeth damage / Bidpai --
A psychological shipwreck / Ambrose Bierce --
The father / Bjornstjerne Bjornson --
Neifile's story / Boccaccio --
I see you never / Ray Bradbury --
The lottery ticket / Ventura Garcia Calderon --
Daughter / Erskine Caldwell --
A wicked boy / Anton Chekhov --
Luck / Samuel Clemens --
The chaser / John Collier --
The upturned face / Stephen Crane --
A game of billiards / Alphonse Daudet --
Fear / Rhys Davies --
The riddle / Walter De La Mare --
The jewels of M. Lantin / Guy De Maupassant --
The heavenly Christmas tree / Fyodor Dostoevsky --
The ghosts / Lord Dunsany --
The scoop / James T. Farrell --
The bedchamber mystery / C.S. Forester --
Mr. Andrews / E.M. Forster --
The test / Angelica Gibbs. Truth and consequences / Brendan Gill --
The disabled soldier / Oliver Goldsmith --
Virtuoso / Herbert Goldstone --
Her lover / Maxim Gorky --
Proof positive / Graham Greene --
The butterfly / James Hanley --
Absent-mindedness in a parish choir / Thomas Hardy --
The hollow of the three hills / Nathaniel Hawthorne --
A question of blood / Ernest Haycox --
The boy who drew cats / Lafcadio Hearn --
The lost soul / Ben Hecht --
The exact science of matrimony / O. Henry --
Fard / Aldous Huxley --
The wife / Washington Irving --
Charles / Shirley Jackson --
Then came the legions / Mackinlay Kantor --
If not higher / Isaac Loeb Perez --
The wild duck's nest / Michael Mclaverty --
A toast to Captain Jerk / Russell Maloney --
Germans at meat / Katherine Mansfield --
Born of man and woman / Richard Matheson --
The ant and the grasshopper / Somerset Maugham --
The guardian angel / Andre Maurois --
The fiddler / Herman Melville --
The pearl of Toledo / Prosper Merimee --
The sniper / Liam O'Flaherty. The crime on Calle De La Persequida / Palacio Valdes --
How the devil lost his poncho / Richard Palma --
The standard of living / Dorothy Parker --
The oval portrait / Edgar Allan Poe --
Three letters- and a footnote / Horacio Quiroga --
A dangerous guy indeed / Damon Runyon --
Reginald's choir treat / Saki --
The kiss / William Sansom --
The shepherd's daughter / William Saroyan --
The foreigner / Frances Steegmuller --
Tom Varnish / Richard Steele --
Over the hill / John Steinbeck --
An attempt at reform / August Strindberg --
The three hermits / Leo Tolstoy --
The doctor's heroism / Villiers De L'Isle-Adam --
The beggar-woman of Locarno / Heinrich Von Kleist --
The phoenix / Sylvia Townsend Warner --
Slipping beauty / Jerome Weidman --
The hour of letdown / E.B. White --
Moonlight sonata / Alexander Woollcott --
God / Eugene Ivanovich Zamiatin --
HoewGrandpa came into the money . Elsa Zantner --
The three veterans / Leane Zugsmith --
Kong at the seaside / Arnold Zweig

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, Anthologies, Unfinished, Collections

283 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1961

Reviews

[Federico DN · Rating 3 out of 5]

6 Masterpieces, 26 Middlepieces and 43 Mehpieces.

An old anthology of so called “75 short masterpieces”, in my humble opinion more accurately titled as noted above. Like with most anthologies, I was pleasantly delighted to encounter some authors I had never sampled before and really wanted to, like Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Forster and Hardy.

New neat finds include: Walter De La Mare, Algren, Haycox and Gorky.

Some inevitable acquaintances I already knew that always seem to make it to whatever collection I read, like Poe, Bradbury, Maupassant, Maugham, Chekhov, Greene, O. Henry, S. Jackson, Irving, Quiroga, Bierce and Hawthorne.

And many many more authors too, for which I don’t particularly harbor any strong positive or negative feelings about. Except maybe Villiers de L'isle-Adam, who has almost always delivered me exclusively duds.

Also a special mention for James Hanley and his “Butterfly” story, who vexed me so much as to inspire me to write my ”The Priest, the Boy and the Slug” in response, in mere five days, and finally initiated me in the authorship path. Thank you for that Hanley.

Go for the Best, consider the Good, whatever the Meh.

The Best :
★★★★★ "The Three Hermits", by Leo Tolstoy. [4.5]
★★★★☆ "The Heavenly Christmas Tree" , by Fyodor Dostoevsky. [4.5]
★★★★☆ “The Oval Portrait.”, Edgar Allan Poe.
★★★★☆ "The Riddle", by Walter De La Mare.
★★★★☆ "He Swung and He Missed", by Nelson Algren. [3.5]
★★★★☆ "A Question of Blood", by Ernest Haycox. [3.5]

The Good :
★★★☆☆ "I See You Never", by Ray Bradbury. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ "The Guardian Angel", by Andre Maurois. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ "The False Gems", by Guy De Maupassant. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ "The Ant and the Grasshopper", by Somerset Maugham. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ "Her Lover", by Maxim Gorky. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ "An Attempt at Reform", by August Strindberg. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ "The Beggar-Woman of Locarno", by Heinrich Von Kleist. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ "A Wicked Boy", by Anton Chekhov.
★★★☆☆ "The Sniper", by Liam O'Flaherty.
★★★☆☆ "Virtuoso", by Herbert Goldstone.
★★★☆☆ "Proof Positive", by Graham Greene.
★★★☆☆ "The Lost Soul", by Ben Hecht.
★★★☆☆ "The Phoenix", by Sylvia Townsend Warner.
★★★☆☆ "Fard", by Aldous Huxley.
★★★☆☆ "The Crime on Calle de la Perseguida", by Palacio Valdes.
★★★☆☆ "The Boy Who Drew Cats", by Lafcadio Hearn.
★★★☆☆ "Senor Payroll", by William E Barret. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "The Exact Science of Matrimony", by O. Henry. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "The Wife", by Washington Irving. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "Charles", by Shirley Jackson. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "Kong at the Seaside", by Arnold Zweig. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "The Test", by Angelica Gibbs. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "The Butterfly", by James Hanley. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "If Not Higher", by Isaac Loeb Perez. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "A Wedding Without Musicians", by Sholem Aleichem. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "Luck", by Samuel Clemens. [2.5]

The Meh :
★★☆☆☆ "Born of Man and Woman", by Richard Matheson. [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ "The Chaser", by John Collier. [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ "The Fiddler", by Herman Melville. [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ "The Pearl of Toledo", by Prosper Merimee. [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ "The Bedchamber Mystery", by C. S. Forester. [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ "How Grandpa Came into the Money", by Elsa Zantner. [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ "The Standard of Living", by Dorothy Parker. [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ "The Shepherd's Daughter", by William Saroyan.
★★☆☆☆ "The Foreigner", by Francis Steegmuller.
★★☆☆☆ "Three Letters... and a Footnote", by Horacio Quiroga.
★★☆☆☆ "A Dangerous Guy Indeed", by Damon Runyon.
★★☆☆☆ "Mr. Andrews", by E. M. Forster.
★★☆☆☆ "The Ghosts", by Lord Dunsany.
★★☆☆☆ "The Disabled Soldier", by Oliver Goldsmith.
★★☆☆☆ "Slipping Beauty", by Jerome Weidman.
★★☆☆☆ "The Hour of Letdown", by E. B. White.
★★☆☆☆ "Then Came the Legions", by Mackinlay Kantor.
★★☆☆☆ "A Toast to Captain Jerk", by Russell Maloney.
★★☆☆☆ "Over the Hill", by John Steinbeck.
★★☆☆☆ "Fear", by Rhys Davies.
★★☆☆☆ "The Lottery Ticket", by Ventura Garcia Calderon.
★★☆☆☆ "A Psychological Shipwreck", by Ambrose Bierce. [1.5]
★★☆☆☆ "Moonlight Sonata", by Alexander Woollcott. [1.5]
★★☆☆☆ "The Kiss", by William Sansom. [1.5]
★★☆☆☆ "The Father", by Bjornstjerne Bjornson. [1.5]
★★☆☆☆ "Neifile's Story", by Boccaccio. [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "Absent-Mindedness in a Parish Choir", by Thomas Hardy. [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "The Hollow of the Three Hills", by Nathaniel Hawthorne. [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "The Wild Duck's Nest", by Michael McLaverty. [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "Germans at Meat", by Katherine Mansfield. [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "How the Devil Lost His Poncho", by Ricardo Palma. [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "Reginald's Choir Treat", by Saki. [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "How Light Belief Bringeth Damage", by Bidpai. [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "Houseparty", by Walter Bernstein.
★☆☆☆☆ "God", by Eugene Ivanovich Zamiatin.
★☆☆☆☆ "Truth And Consequences", by Brendan Gill.
★☆☆☆☆ "Daughter", by Erskine Caldwell.
★☆☆☆☆ "The Upturned Face", by Stephen Crane.
★☆☆☆☆ "The Scoop", by James T. Farrell.
★☆☆☆☆ "A Game Of Billiards", by Alphonse Daudet.
★☆☆☆☆ "The Doctor's Heroism", by Villiers de L'isle-Adam.
★☆☆☆☆ "The Three Veterans", by Leane Zugsmith.
☆☆☆☆☆ "Tom Varnish", by Richard Steele.

-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1961] [283p] [Anthology] [2.5] [Partially Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------

6 Obras Maestras, 26 Obras Intermedias y 43 Obras Meh.

Una antigua antología de llamadas “75 obras maestras”, en mi humilde opinión titulada con mayor precisión como señalo ahí arriba. Como ocurre con la mayoría de las antologías, tuve el placer de encontrarme con algunos autores que nunca antes había probado y que tenía muchas ganas de conocer, como Dostoievski, Tolstoi, Forster y Hardy.

Nuevos hallazgos interesantes incluyen: Walter De La Mare, Algren, Haycox y Gorky.

Algunos inevitables personajes que ya conocía y que siempre parecen aparecer en cualquier colección que lea, como Poe, Bradbury, Maupassant, Maugham, Chekhov, Greene, O. Henry, S. Jackson, Irving, Quiroga, Bierce y Hawthorne.

Y también muchos más autores, por los cuales no albergo ningún sentimiento positivo o negativo. Excepto tal vez Villiers de L'isle-Adam, que casi siempre me ha entregado exclusivamente decepciones.

A su vez una mención especial para James Hanley y su historia “Mariposa”, que me molestó tanto que me inspiró a escribir mi ”El Cura, el Niño y la Babosa” en respuesta, en apenas cinco días, y finalmente me inició en el camino de la autoría. Gracias por eso Hanley.

Ir por lo Mejor, considerar lo Bueno, loquesea lo Meh.

Lo Mejor :
★★★★★ "Los Tres Ermitaños", de Leo Tolstoy. [4.5]
★★★★☆ “El Arbol de Navidad Celestial”, de Fyodor Dostoevsky. [4.5]
★★★★☆ “El Retrato Ovalado.”, de Edgar Allan Poe.
★★★★☆ "El Acertijo", de Walter De La Mare.
★★★★☆ "Él Lanzó y Falló", de Nelson Algren. [3.5]
★★★★☆ "Una Cuestión de Sangre", de Ernest Haycox. [3.5]

Lo Bueno :
★★★☆☆ "Nunca te Veré", de Ray Bradbury. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ "El Angel de la Guarda", de André Maurois. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ "Las Joyas Falsas", de Guy De Maupassant. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ "La Hormiga y el Saltamontes", de Somerset Maugham. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ "Su Amante", de Maxim Gorky. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ "Un Intento de Reforma", de August Strindberg. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ "La Mendiga de Locarno", de Heinrich Von Kleist. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ "Un Niño Malvado", de Antón Chéjov.
★★★☆☆ "El Francotirador", de Liam O'Flaherty.
★★★☆☆ "Virtuoso", de Herbert Goldstone.
★★★☆☆ "Prueba Positiva", de Graham Greene.
★★★☆☆ "El Alma Perdida", de Ben Hecht.
★★★☆☆ "El Fénix", de Sylvia Townsend Warner.
★★★☆☆ "Fardo", de Aldous Huxley.
★★★☆☆ “El Crimen de la Calle de la Perseguida”, de Palacio Valdés.
★★★☆☆ "El Niño que Dibujaba Gatos", de Lafcadio Hearn.
★★★☆☆ “Señor Nómina”, de William E Barret. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "La Ciencia Exacta del Matrimonio”, de O. Henry. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "La Esposa", de Washington Irving. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "Charles", de Shirley Jackson. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ “Kong a la Orilla del Mar", de Arnold Zweig. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "La Prueba", de Angelica Gibbs. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "La Mariposa", de James Hanley. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ “Si No Más Alto”, de Isaac Loeb Pérez. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "Una Boda Sin Músicos", de Sholem Aleichem. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "Suerte", de Samuel Clemens. [2.5]

Lo Meh :
★★☆☆☆ "Nacido del Hombre y de la Mujer", de Richard Matheson. [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ "El Cazador", de John Collier. [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ "El Violinista", de Herman Melville. [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ "La Perla de Toledo", de Prosper Merimee. [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ "El Misterio del Dormitorio", de C. S. Forester. [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ "Cómo el Abuelo Ganó el Dinero", de Elsa Zantner. [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ "El Nivel de Vida", de Dorothy Parker. [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ "La Hija del Pastor ", de William Saroyan.
★★☆☆☆ "El Extranjero", de Francis Steegmuller.
★★☆☆☆ “Tres Cartas… y una Nota al Pie”, de Horacio Quiroga.
★★☆☆☆ "Un Tipo Realmente Peligroso", de Damon Runyon.
★★☆☆☆ "Sr. Andrews", de E. M. Forster.
★★☆☆☆ "Los Fantasmas", de Lord Dunsany.
★★☆☆☆ "El Soldado Discapacitado", de Oliver Goldsmith.
★★☆☆☆ "Belleza Resbaladiza", de Jerome Weidman.
★★☆☆☆ "La Hora de la Decepción", de E. B. White.
★★☆☆☆ "Luego Vinieron las Legiones", de Mackinlay Kantor.
★★☆☆☆ "Un Brindis por el Capitán Idiota", de Russell Maloney.
★★☆☆☆ "Sobre la Colina", de John Steinbeck.
★★☆☆☆ "Miedo", de Rhys Davies.
★★☆☆☆ “El Billete de Lotería”, de Ventura García Calderón.
★★☆☆☆ "Un Naufragio Psicológico", de Ambrose Bierce. [1.5]
★★☆☆☆ "Sonata Claro de Luna”, de Alexander Woollcott. [1.5]
★★☆☆☆ "El Beso", de William Sansom. [1.5]
★★☆☆☆ "El Padre", de Bjornstjerne Bjornson. [1.5]
★★☆☆☆ "La Historia de Neifile", de Boccaccio. [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "Distracción en un Coro Parroquial", de Thomas Hardy. [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "El Hueco de las Tres Colinas", de Nathaniel Hawthorne. [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "El Nido del Pato Salvaje", de Michael McLaverty. [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "Alemanes en la Carne", de Katherine Mansfield. [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ “Cómo el Diablo perdió su Poncho”, de Ricardo Palma. [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "El Regalo del Coro de Reginald", de Saki. [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "Cómo la Creencia en la Luz Trae Daño", de Bidpai. [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "Fiesta en Casa", de Walter Bernstein.
★☆☆☆☆ "Dios", de Eugene Ivanovich Zamiatin.
★☆☆☆☆ "Verdad y Consecuencias", de Brendan Gill.
★☆☆☆☆ "Hija", de Erskine Caldwell.
★☆☆☆☆ "La Cara Vuelta Hacia Arriba", de Stephen Crane.
★☆☆☆☆ "La Primicia", de James T. Farrell.
★☆☆☆☆ "Un Juego de Billar", de Alphonse Daudet.
★☆☆☆☆ "Las Tres Veteranas", de Leane Zugsmith.
★☆☆☆☆ "El Heroísmo del Doctor", de Villiers de L'isle-Adam.
☆☆☆☆☆ "Tom Varnish", de Richard Steele.

-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1961] [283p] [Antología] [2.5] [Parcialmente Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I "inter-library loaned" this to read "God" by Zamyatin and knock it off my list. As it turned out, a few more things here were on my list, I'd read and reviewed - on Goodreads - a few things already, and there were a few authors I wouldn't miss a chance at reading, so I ended up reading about half the book, but my review only covers those stories.

Most of these are pretty short, so reading this was much like my experience reading Short Shorts (there were even a few stories shared between the two). As always, since I read a lot of genre short fiction, it's always bracing to read a bunch of mostly non-genre, "Lit" short fiction (although there were a few genre pieces here).

As usual, weakest to strongest. "A Psychological Shipwreck" by Ambrose Bierce - a man takes a sea voyage and meets a young woman he becomes interested in, only for their ship to sink - at which point he awakens to find the whole thing merely a psychic projection or something. Not great. "Germans At Meat" by Katherine Mansfield - over a meal, a visiting Englishwoman is interrogated by Germans about English eating habits, while some of the questions seem to veil far larger topics of politics and potential war. Hmmm - not sure I totally grasped this, although it was well written. "A Wicked Boy" by Anton Chekhov - a boy blackmails his older sister and her suitor over their romantic dalliances, until the boy proposes to the girl, upon which they can take a little revenge on their tormentor. A cute trifle. "Moonlight Sonata" by Alexander Woollcott - droll little macabre piece in which a man, visiting a friend's estate and finding him absent, spends the night only to spy a ghost near his door, quietly embroidering. But as it turns out, it isn't a ghost and that isn't what it is doing. I upgraded this a bit on the reread but not by much - I appreciated its drollness a bit more now, and its attempt to sell the story as true, but still it seems a bit of macabre slumming.

Better stories: "The Hollow of Three Hills" by Nathaniel Hawthorne - is a classic, briefly sketching a scene in which a troubled young woman asks a powerful old lady to conjure some sounds for her. The ending is amazingly dark and mean-spirited, and a specific detail could be read a few ways. "The Boy Who Drew Cats" by Lafcadio Hearn - is one of Hearn's Japanese folk sketches, here involving an artistic boy who is thrown out as a priest's acolyte because he has a compulsion to sketch cats, and what happens when he shelters in an abandoned temple inhabited by a goblin. A light and easy sketch, like much Hearn. "The Shepherd's Daughter" by William Saroyan - the author hears from his grandmother that he should know a craft, and have the ability to make something physical and not just be a writer. To illustrate her point, she tells a fable about the King Of Persia's son who is forced by his bride-to-be to learn a craft, which later saves his life. Nice. "An Attempt At Reform" by August Strindberg - has a modern married couple, unhappy with cultural roles of husband and wife, live in a thoroughly modern and equal way - until pregnancy threatens their perfect system, but then doesn't. Interesting. "God" by Yevgeny Zamyatin - A poor postman is seen as like unto God by a little cockroach that lives behind his stove - but even God has problems. A little bit of absurd satire.

Solidly good stories: "I See You Never" by Ray Bradbury - a woman who runs a boarding house loses her best tenant, Mr. Ramirez, who has been there for years, because he is going to be deported back to Mexico. A touching, human story - sadly prescient. "The Upturned Face" by Stephen Crane - soldiers, under fire, hurry at digging a grave and burying a fallen comrade. A fine piece of "slice of time" writing. "The Riddle" by Walter de la Mare - in which seven children come to visit their Grandma in the countryside and are given free reign of the house except from being warned away from the oak chest in the upstairs guest room. But kids being kids... this is a good, spooky little fable - sure to set young minds working and pleasantly enigmatic for us oldsters. "The Ghosts" by Lord Dunsany - a man stays in a haunted room to disprove the existence of ghosts, and has a revelation about sin, rationality and spirit's exact nature. Nicely done - excellent scene setting up front, compact language, and some powerful dread. "The Exact Science Of Matrimony" by O. Henry - two con-men work up a valid "marriage by mail" scam, but require a real woman to fulfill a role so as to make the whole thing seem legitimate, despite one's trepidation about involving women in the scheme. But it all works out, thanks to some thinking ahead. "Charles" by Shirley Jackson - a young boy dutifully reports about the disruptive actions of another boy at school. Cute. "The Beggarwoman Of Locarno" by Heinrich von Kleist - a good old, Gothic style story of a haunting. Short and sweet.

Still on the good tip: "Born Of Man And Woman" by Richard Matheson - Quite a calling card from a new writer, as it takes a classic genre scenario (scientist creates life) and upends it, telling the story from the POV of the monstrous *thing* in the basement and reveals what it thinks and feels about its parents. A horror/sci-fi gem. "The Ant And The Grasshopper" by W. Somerset Maugham - our narrator tells of his redoubtable, steadfast friend George Ramsey, who suffers with a dissolute black-sheep brother Tom who has led an irresponsible life and is constantly borrowing money. George looks forward to his retirement, and seeing old age undo Tom, but fate has one last twist to play in its hand of cards. Funny, a trifle but entertaining. "The Fiddler" by Herman Melville - a poet seethes about his bad reviews before being invited along on a night on the town by his friend, accompanied by another man who seems to take pure and simple delight in everything. Our poet has a rather cynical reading of how mundane the man must be, to maintain such a breezy and admirable attitude toward life, before the friend informs him of the individual's background. Nice. "The Standard Of Living" by Dorothy Parker - two secretaries, best friends, spend their work breaks playing a game based on the idea of inheriting a million dollars. But upon admiring a string of pearls in a window, and being driven to discover its actual price, they find they need to modify their game slightly. A cute little trifle.

And even more solid stories: "Three Letters...and a Footnote" by Horacio Quiroga - A female correspondent outlines the repeated (and mechanically precise) attempts by many men to get her attention (and by extension, any attractive woman's) on the streetcar, and how she repulses these same advances. The story even leaves a little space at the end for a trace of coquetry. "Reginald's Choir Treat" by Saki - young Reginald, a sardonic youth, takes advantage of an attempt to advance his spiritual growth (by leading a choir practice) to instead play a rather ribald and bachnallian joke on the town. Droll and enjoyable work from Saki. "Luck" by Mark Twain - a priest, whose word can be trusted, relates how an amiable and much lauded war hero is actually an ignorant fool. Cute in that it's an early example of the concept of "failing upward." Meanwhile, "The Doctor's Heroism" by Villiers de L'Isle-Adam - is a blackly comic piece in which a doctor dismissively suggests a unlikely treatment to a dying rich man, only to have the man turn up hale and healthy 6 months later and then, only for the doctor to kill him himself, to discover how such a ridiculous cure could possible have worked - as the health of potential clients is more important than the life of a current one. Black humor from the man who invented the conté cruel.

There were a few truly outstanding stories as well: "The Jewels Of M. Lantin" by Guy de Maupassant - a middle class man makes a wise marriage to a woman who fulfills his every desire. She has only two vices - a taste for audacious costume jewelry and a thirst for seeing plays. But upon her untimely death, the husband uncovers a surprise. Quite good - but then it's Maupassant so how could it be otherwise? - engagingly told, more like a fable whose lesson we must puzzle out. "The Lost Soul" by Ben Hecht - an amnesiac awakens in prison, convinced a mistake has been made and that efforts should be undertaken to prove his identity - but there is no mistake. A grim and well-written little conté cruel. "The Oval Portrait" by Edgar Allan Poe - a man and his valet shelter in an abandoned chateau in the Apennines, a bedchamber of which divulges a portrait of a rare beauty, whose fate a small book explains the artist worked obsessively at capturing the image of the girl, while the model herself declined in health, with her death culminating with the final stroke of the work. This short piece is an example of why Poe was taken up as a hero by the Decadent movement - the linking of art and death, image and reality, and morbidity. It's a nice little cameo (barely even a story). I also found the textual shift - from visually observing the painting to reading the explanation of its origins - to be oddly modern.

Also excellent: "The Chaser" by John Collier - a man wants to buy a foolproof love potion, whose purchase almost certainly assures another, more dire, acquisition in the future. A Collier classic, this was expanded into a memorable TWILIGHT ZONE episode, but is notable here for being told (other than some initial scene setting) entirely in dialogue (and also in that the implied ending is slightly more ambiguous - not in the specific purchase, but in their target of intent). Just great and a model for short story writers. Finally, in "The Phoenix" by Sylvia Townsend Warner - an extremely rare phoenix is acquired by a sideshow but isn't bringing in the money to justify its keep, and so the owner uses cruel means to hasten the bird's death, selling the rights and charging top dollar for the expected spectacle of its self-immolation and rebirth. I laughed out loud at the punchline!

All in all, a nice little reader.

[Iana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of the book promised so much. My expectations were raised a bar higher seeing the names of Dostoevsky, De Maupassant, Jackson, Tolstoy, Edgar Allan Poe on the cover only to be let down upon reading the entire thing. 75 short stories and I can name maybe five to six really remarkable ones. Most them are forgettable and a tad bit too short.

The really good ones are GREAT. Despite being disappointed by the book in general, those gems of a story make me not regret reading it.

It would also be good to note that most of the stories here have obvious moral lessons and are highly philosophical. This will be of good use to parents/teachers/big brothers or sisters/babysitters. With a little tweaking, some will pass for bedtime stories.

From all 75 stories, here are the ones I loved:

Señor Payroll - William Barret
The Chaser - John Collier
Charles - Shirley Jackson
The Heavenly Christmas Tree - Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Exact Science of Matrimony - O. Henry
The Ant & The Grasshopper - Somerset Maugham
The Sniper - Liam O'Flaherty

[Marcello]

Will miss this book. It was a friendly companion on many a bus ride. It's the first anthology I've read that ranges with complete freedom across different authors, styles, genres, centuries, nationalities. That made it much more fun to read because I never knew what to expect. Italo Calvino's novel "If on a Winter's Night a Traveler..." was inspired by the special excitement one feels when first starting to read a story - each chapter is the first chapter of a different book. The experience of reading this anthology recalled that sentiment.

I think any of the included authors would blush to hear the label "masterpiece" applied to their respective contribution. I don't think the use of the term has any relation to popular or scholarly reception, rather it was a hasty invention of the publisher's early 1960's marketing department. Some of the stories are clearly pot-boilers originally dashed off to fill a few pages of a magazine, with a punchline akin to something you'd smirk at in a Sunday newspaper comic strip, perhaps never thought of twice after reading, and in writing, barely thought of once.

Some of the pieces left me in awe. I like them too much to cheapen them with the label "masterpiece".

Many were light. Usually the old stuff we read is heavy in one way or another. It was nice, in a few of the stories, to connect to a past sensibility during a moment when its only aim was to charm.

These are the (33) stories I liked (in the order they appear):

Señor Payroll - William E. Barret
Houseparty - Walter Bernstein
The Chaser - John Collier
Fear - Rhy Davies
The Riddle - Walter de la Mare
The Heavenly Christmas Tree - Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Ghosts - Lord Dunsany
Truth and Consequences - Brendan Gill
The Disabled Soldier - Oliver Goldsmith
Her Lover - Maxim Gorky
Proof Positive - Graham Greene
The Butterfly - James Hanley
The Hollow of the Three Hills - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Fard - Aldous Huxley
The Wife - Washington Irving
If Not Higher - Isaac Loeb Perez
The Wild Duck's Nest - Michael Mclaverty
A Toast to Captain Jerk - Russell Maloney
Germans at Meat - Katherine Mansfield
Born of Man and Woman - Richard Matheson
The Fiddler - Herman Melville
The Pearl of Toledo - Prosper Mérimée
The Standard of Living - Dorothy Parker
The Oval Portrait - Edgar Allan Poe
Three Letters...And a Footnote - Horacio Quiroga
The Kiss - William Sansom
The Shepherd's Daughter - William Saroyan
Slipping Beauty - Jerome Weidman
God - Eugene Ivanovich Zamiatin
The Three Veterans - Leane Zugsmith
Kong at the Seaside - Arnold Zweig

[Jordan Bethea · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories are very short, most around 4 pages. But, some are quite good, making good use of their space to tell quick snappy stories and vignettes. Some are not as good, feeling like they don't really tell a full story, or that they are wasting their space. It runs the gamut of comedy to drama to horror. The horror ones seem odd, it's hard to build up a good horror tone in such a short space.

The big problem with the book is that such short stories are like pieces of candy, and reading the whole book through is kind of like eating a plateful. It works better a few at a time, to give them time to percolate.

[Irina Ruseva · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a so-so collection of short stories, the authors follow alphabetically instead of chronologically or at least by some other theme...

[Bri (the short story guy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wedding without musicians / Sholem Aleichem --
He swung and he missed / Nelson Algren --
Senor Payroll / William E. Barrett --
Houseparty / Walter Bernstein --
How light belief bringeth damage / Bidpai --
A psychological shipwreck / Ambrose Bierce --☆☆☆
The father / Bjornstjerne Bjornson --
Neifile's story / Boccaccio --
I see you never / Ray Bradbury --☆☆
The lottery ticket / Ventura Garcia Calderon --
Daughter / Erskine Caldwell --
A wicked boy / Anton Chekhov --☆☆
Luck / Samuel Clemens --
The chaser / John Collier --
The upturned face / Stephen Crane --
A game of billiards / Alphonse Daudet --
Fear / Rhys Davies --
The riddle / Walter De La Mare --
The jewels of M. Lantin / Guy De Maupassant --
The heavenly Christmas tree / Fyodor Dostoevsky --☆☆☆
The ghosts / Lord Dunsany --
The scoop / James T. Farrell --
The bedchamber mystery / C.S. Forester --
Mr. Andrews / E.M. Forster --
The test / Angelica Gibbs. Truth and consequences / Brendan Gill --
The disabled soldier / Oliver Goldsmith --
Virtuoso / Herbert Goldstone --
Her lover / Maxim Gorky --
Proof positive / Graham Greene --☆☆☆☆
The butterfly / James Hanley --
Absent-mindedness in a parish choir / Thomas Hardy --
The hollow of the three hills / Nathaniel Hawthorne --
A question of blood / Ernest Haycox --
The boy who drew cats / Lafcadio Hearn --
The lost soul / Ben Hecht --
The exact science of matrimony / O. Henry --
Fard / Aldous Huxley --
The wife / Washington Irving --
Charles / Shirley Jackson --☆☆☆
Then came the legions / Mackinlay Kantor --
If not higher / Isaac Loeb Perez --
The wild duck's nest / Michael Mclaverty --
A toast to Captain Jerk / Russell Maloney --
Germans at meat / Katherine Mansfield --
Born of man and woman / Richard Matheson --☆☆☆☆
The ant and the grasshopper / Somerset Maugham --
The guardian angel / Andre Maurois --
The fiddler / Herman Melville --
The pearl of Toledo / Prosper Merimee --
The sniper / Liam O'Flaherty ☆☆☆☆
The crime on Calle De La Persequida / Palacio Valdes --
How the devil lost his poncho / Richard Palma --
The standard of living / Dorothy Parker --
The oval portrait / Edgar Allan Poe --
Three letters- and a footnote / Horacio Quiroga --
A dangerous guy indeed / Damon Runyon --
Reginald's choir treat / Saki --
The kiss / William Sansom --
The shepherd's daughter / William Saroyan --
The foreigner / Frances Steegmuller --
Tom Varnish / Richard Steele --
Over the hill / John Steinbeck --☆☆☆
An attempt at reform / August Strindberg --
The three hermits / Leo Tolstoy --
The doctor's heroism / Villiers De L'Isle-Adam --
The beggar-woman of Locarno / Heinrich Von Kleist --
The phoenix / Sylvia Townsend Warner --
Slipping beauty / Jerome Weidman --
The hour of letdown / E.B. White --
Moonlight sonata / Alexander Woollcott --
God / Eugene Ivanovich Zamiatin --
HoewGrandpa came into the money . Elsa Zantner --
The three veterans / Leane Zugsmith --
Kong at the seaside / Arnold Zweig

[Lyzette Wanzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a flash-fiction aficionado, so I read quite a few collections of sudden and micro fiction. This collection includes authors that are best known for their longer book-length, television, or stage works: Graham Greene, Samuel Clemens, Aldous Huxley, August Strindberg, Richard Matheson, Dorothy Parker, Herman Melville, E.B. White, and so many others. Since you really don't need to read these in any particular sequence, some of my favorites were:

"The Upturned Face" by Stephen Crane. Excellent, evocative elegance.
"Absent-Mindedness in a Parish Choir" by Thomas Hardy. I'm not even a Hardy fan!
"A Question of Blood" by Ernest Haycox. Terrific character study.

[Joseph F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well how can I not give 4 stars to such a collection as this? The authors are like a who's who of great writers. Most of the stories I found to be 3 or 4 stars actually. But here and there were a sterling 5 star tale. And because I found all to be worthy of at least 2 stars, I thought a total of 4 stars was fair.
This collection also excited me because it introduced me to a whole group of writers I never heard of before, and that I would like to read more of. There are some gems here that are from many out of the way writers.

[Alice Yoder · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful collection of short stories, whick took me over a year to read because I kept putting it down for other books. Some of my favorites:

The Exact Science of Matrimony by O. Henry: a story about grifters with a funny twist at the end.

Charles by Shirley Jackson: who hasn't had that troublesome friend in kindergarten?

If Not Higher by Isaac Loeb Perez: reads like an old Lithuanian folktale.

The Sniper by Liam O'Flaherty: another twist at the end, this one sad.

Three Letters......and a Footnote by Horacio Quiroga: A reminder not to miss the opportunity.

[Sandi Cunningham · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some top authors in this book and there are some good stories. Some I got, some I did not.
I feel as though this would've been a great English lit or Book Club to pick apart the stories, set them in their time period and discuss what it meant.
Nevertheless, easy to read with a dictionary at my side for a lot of urban language and historical references.
Overall, good read especially when the electricity or cable goes out, so you can put it down and pick it up again without losing a whole novel worth of pages.

[Mark Isaak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kept this book in my car for filling in unexpected few minutes of waiting that come up occasionally. It has probably been years since I began it, so I don't remember the stories well. I do recall, among the later ones at least, they ranged from okay to great. At any rate, the book served its purpose well.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our local library book sale included this treasure. It holds a wealth of stories by amazing literary talents and I'm so lucky to have found it! It now has a permanent spot in my bookshelves for any time I want an excellent, quick read.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a mixed bag. Then again, it would be hard to select something everyone would enjoy. One man’s junk being another’s treasure and all that. Some were delightful- I got a real kick out of The Three Veterans. Some were boring. Some sad. Overall a great combination though.

[Brendon Fehre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great selection of short stories. Not sure all of them could be called masterpieces but certainly there are some that would fit into that category. Worth the time reading all of them for the styles in writing and for the stories, some brilliantly written.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some real gems - a few clunkers as well, and some dupes from another collection in the series, but a fantastic collection on the whole!

[E.J. Cullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

short, but sweet stories for the most part.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Used for the PopSugar 2020 prompt An anthology.

[Scarlett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty disappointing collection, some good stories here and there, but most were not good.

[Walter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Masterpieces sounds nice on the cover. I get it.

[Jeff Hobbs]

Read so far:

A wedding without musicians / Sholem Aleichem --
He swung & he missed / Nelson Algren --
Senor Payroll / William Barrett --
Houseparty / Walter Bernstein --
How light belief bringeth damage / Bidpai --
A psychological shipwreck / Ambrose Bierce --3
The father / Bjornson --2
Neifile's story / Boccaccio --
*I see you never / Ray Bradbury --
The lottery ticket / Ventural Garcia Calderon --
*Daughter / Erskine Caldwell --
A wicked boy / Anton Chekhov --
Luck / Mark Twain --2
The chaser / John Collier --2
The upturned face / Stephen Crane --2
A game of billiards / Alphonse Daudet --3
*Fear / Rhys Davies --
*The riddle / Walter de la Mare --
*The jewels of M. Lantin / Guy de Maupassant --
The heavenly Christmas tree / Dostoevsky --3
The ghosts / Lord Dunsany --3
The scoop / James Farrell --
The bedchamber mystery / C. S. Forester --2
Mr. Andrews / E. M. Forster --2
The test / Angelica Gibbs --
Truth & consequences / Brendan Gill --
The disabled soldier / Oliver Goldsmith --3
Virtuoso / Herbert Goldstone --
Her lover / Maxim Gorky --2
*Proof positive / Graham Greene --
The butterfly / James Hanley --
Absent-mindedness in a parish choir / Thomas Hardy --3
*The hollow of the three hills / Nathaniel Hawthorne --
A question of blood / Ernest Haycox --
The boy who drew cats / Lafcadio Hearn --3
*The lost soul / Ben Hecht --
*The exact science of matrimony / O. Henry --
*Fard / Aldous Huxley --
The wife / Washington Irving --2
Charles / Shirley Jackson --3
*Then came the legions / MacKinlay Kantor --
If not higher / Isaac Loeb Perez --
*The wild duck's nest / Michael McLaverty --
A toast to Captain Jerk / Russell Maloney --
Germans at meat / Katherine Mansfield --3
Born of man & woman / Richard Matheson --
The ant & the grasshopper / Somerset Maugham --3
The guardian angel / Andre Maurois --
The fiddler / Herman Melville --2
The pearl of Toledo / Prosper Merimee --2
The sniper / Liam O'Flaherty --3
The crime on Calle de la Persequida / Palacio Valdes --
How the devil lost his poncho / Ricardo Palma --
The standard of living / Dorothy Parker --3
The oval portrait / Edgar Allan Poe --2
Three letters & a footnote / Horacio Quiroga --2
*A dangerous guy indeed / Damon Runyon --
*Reginald's choir treat / Saki --
*The kiss / William Sansom --
*The shepherd's daughter / William Saroyan --
The foreigner / Francis Steegmuller --2
Tom Varnish / Richard Steele --
Over the hill / John Steinbeck --
An attempt at reform / August Strindberg --
*The three hermits / Leo Tolstoy --
*The doctor's heroism / Villiers de L'Isle-Adam --
The beggar-woman of Locarno / Heinrich von Kleist --1
The phoenix / Sylvia Warner --2
*Slipping Beauty / Jerome Weidman --
*The hour of letdown / E. B. White --
Moonlight sonata / Alexander Woollcott --2
God / Eugene Ivanovich Zamiatin --
How grandpa came into the money / Elsa Zantner --
The three veterans / Leane Zugsmith --
Kong at the seaside / Arnold Zweig --

[Trudie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect book to take with you...the stories are short, just short enough to read while waiting for an appointment. Great airplane/vacation read. My favorite story is "Senor Payroll,"
by William E. Barrett. Many well known authors (Bradbury, Boccaccio, Stephen Crane, Saki, O. Henry as well as some new to me and now cherished favorites).

[Arindam Mallick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps the term "masterpieces" is a misnomer as far as this collection of short stories goes. Granted it was owing to this book & this book alone that I was introduced to some writers whose work I had never across earlier (& probably would never have come across in the future), but out of the extensive collection of 75 stories, only about 5 are good.. & 1 of those 5 is truly a 'masterpiece'..

[Joey Brockert · Rating 4 out of 5]

These were truly a good selection of stories. I wish I could write a bit about each one, but that is too much. Every story is good and worth reading. Many of the authors are well known and honored as the best in the business.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a lot of fun. Each story is 3-5 pages long, which is perfect for passing time while waiting for the water to boil or your nails to dry or your eyes to get sleepy.

[Umit Dogan Gultekin]

It will be so useful for my lessons

[Ryan Mahuron · Rating 1 out of 5]

Favorite story: Born of Man and Woman by Richard Matheson

Other favorites: Señor Payroll by William E. Barrett, The Sniper by Liam O'Flaherty

[Maggie Tiojakin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect!