Short Story

by Seán Ó Faoláin

Combines essays and anthology to illustrate a critical analyses of both the personal and technical elements of short story writing with representative works by eight masters of past and present

Paperback

First published January 1, 1948

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Short Story" is a good treatment of how to appreciate reading short stories and what to consider when writing them. I had heard of Ó. Faoláin peripherally, having read collections of literary criticism; but I found him to be among the clearest of explainers of many of the techniques used by masters of the short story such as Daudet, Chekhov, de Maupassant, and many others. Reading Seán Ó. Faoláin kindled my interest in learning more about him and the writers he talks about.

I like to read a good collection or treatise on literary criticism about once every 1 1/2 to 2 years. In this way I, as a rather amateur reader, can better prioritize my reading, making sure that I am including top-ranked authors whom I can still stomach while dipping in and out of genres for pleasure--my sole motivation for picking up a book in the first place. Also, now, I am considering culling through my list of "want-to-reads" on GR and replacing some with more literary short story collections, like I just did with Alice Munro.