Nancy Hale: On the Life and Work of a Lost American Master

by Dan Chaon (Editor), Norah H. Lind (Editor), Phong Nguyen (Editor)

Fiction. Literary History & Criticism. Edited by Dan Chaon, Norah Hardin Lind, and Phong Nguyen. This third volume in the Pleiades Unsung Masters Series focuses on 1930s and 40s fiction writer Nancy Hale, whose stories helped shape the early identity of The New Yorker. By her death in 1988, Hale had slipped into obscurity, and all but one of her more than 30 books were out of print. Featuring seven of Hale's best stories and essay on her work by Ann Beattie, Debra Brenegan, Trudy Lewis, Anne Freeman, G. Thomas Tanselle, and John Beebe, this books makes the case for Hale's continuing importance to American literature.

218 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2012

About the author

Dan Chaon is the author of Among the Missing, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and You Remind Me of Me, which was named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, and Entertainment Weekly, among other publications. Chaon’s fiction has appeared in many journals and anthologies, including Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize, and The O. Henry Prize Stories. He has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award in Fiction, and he was the recipient of the 2006 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Chaon lives in Cleveland, Ohio, and teaches at Oberlin College, where he is the Pauline M. Delaney Professor of Creative Writing. His new novel, Await Your Reply, will be published in late August 2009.