Great American Short Stories: Hawthorne, Poe, Cather, Melville, London, James, Crane, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Bierce, Twain & more

by Paul Negri (Editor)

Featuring 19 of the finest works from the most distinguished writers in the American short-story tradition, this new compilation begins with Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1835 tale "Young Goodman Brown" and ranges across an entire century, concluding with Ernest Hemingway's 1927 classic, "The Killers." Other selections include Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," Melville's "Bartleby," Harte's "The Luck of Roaring Camp," "To Build a Fire," by Jack London, "The Real Thing" by Henry James, F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Bernice Bobs Her Hair," plus stories by Mark Twain, Sarah Orne Jewett, Charles Chesnutt, Kate Chopin, Stephen Crane, Willa Cather, Ambrose Bierce, Theodore Dreiser, and others. Perfect for classroom use, this outstanding collection of tales will also prove popular with fiction readers everywhere.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, Literature, Anthologies, Short Story Collection, Collections

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 23, 2002

Reviews

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did discover many new short stories that I'd never read before and am still not done. There are A LOT.

The problem is I have read many of them in the past. So even though there are new stories, there are a lot I skipped over, having already read them.

But there are quite a lot of Poe stories in this collection and I did read some Poe stories that I didn't even know existed before so that's always good. If you like short stories, I'd highly recommended this collection.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best possible choice for a gateway to the very best classic American literature. And what a price! I asked myself years and years ago, "What have I overlooked among the greats in my country?" And this collection showed my ignorant self a thing or two. It really is the best of the best, the essential.

COME ON: 'Bartleby', 'The Yellow Wallpaper', 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge', 'Paul's Case', 'The Egg', 'To Build A Fire', 'The Tell-Tale Heart', 'The Killers' - on an on with stellar story after stellar story. The very cream, people.

I'll always be grateful to this little book for introducing me to Ambrose Bierce and Sherwood Anderson, and giving me perfect gateways to a lot of famous masters.

I have to nitpick the choice for Twain: 'The Private History of A Campaign That Failed'. It's an interesting and well-written account, but is a straight autobiographical piece, and is presented as such. Strange choice, since Twain has an abundance of pure short fiction, but he did sort of mix things up in interesting ways. There's stuff you could pull out of 'Life on The Mississippi' as great little short stories, for example, but anyhow...

Let's talk about Henry James. His 'The Real Thing' is the rotten tooth in this gleaming set of literary chompers. The little note before the story explains how James believed he couldn't write the type of fiction he wanted to in America, so already I was perturbed with this James guy - I had been chugging along spooning down so much good stuff written way before him about American IN America, and then comes this sourpuss, saying, "No! Too coarse here! I must away to merry England! For there the true artist can thrive!" And then I read this story that isn't even set in America and isn't about Americans. I was miffed! I can appreciate the subtle critique of the aristocracy. But goodness gracious, England by that point already had such an abundance of great writers critiquing the aristocracy. It didn't make sense. I was indeed miffed! Look at the first sentence of 'The Real Thing':

When the porter's wife (she used to answer the house-bell), announced "A gentleman—with a lady, sir," I had, as I often had in those days, for the wish was father to the thought, an immediate vision of sitters.

GOODNESS gracious! What a mess!

My distaste for James bothers me. I want to just dismiss him completely. But so many authors I love admired him. Take Katherine Anne Porter for example. The influence can be seen clearly in so many of her stories, the detached examination of complex shifts of emotion. But Porter is just much better than James, it just has to be said. Could it be because she had more disappointment in life, more range of experience? Or Peter Taylor for example, such lovely stories.

So I try James again. Some suggest 'The Turn of the Screw' as his most accessible. I can't. read. it. It's AWFUL! IT'S A MESS! The story is obviously good, have you seen 'The Innocents' with Deborah Kerr? Riveting! What about that Olivia de Havilland 'Washington Square' adaptation? Fantastic!

I adore ornate language in a story. The prose of Poe and Melville for example. They had such verve and humor. Perhaps James did too. I wish I knew how to understand and like him, but I may just have to give up. Even attempting something short like 'Daisy Miller' sucks me into a void of nothingness.

Any good suggestions or little tips on how to read James or even little reasons why you might appreciate him I would welcome. If anybody is still reading this...

But a great collection. Well done Negri, and well done Dover Thrift!

[Annelie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really opened my eyes to the great American Classics out there. It also opened my eyes to the great pieces of literature which I was missing. As I have never been a big fan of the modern day books serialized (Gossip Girls? Eww.), but I do think that the classic short stories are very refined and use a lot better vocabulary (and have better context--do I really need to read ten more stories about these cliche break ups? I mean, how may ways can someone break another's heart?). Anyway, these books showed true brilliance, especially "Rappacini's Daughter"! THAT IS THE BEST STORY EVER!!!!

Anyway, all of you must read it. I highly recommend it! Open your eyes to the beauty of classics!

[Todd Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the greatest writers of the 18th and 19th Centuries are featured in this collection, demonstrating their writing abilities in the short story format. Some of the best known include Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”, Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, and Mark Twain’s “The Private History of a Campaign that Failed”. Each of the 19 authors are excellent writers in their own right. The writing is colorful and often complex.

I happen to love short story collections. I own a number of volumes. What most surprised me was the lack of any works by O. Henry. He is the master short story writer. Fortunately, I have a complete collection of O. Henry’s short story works. To me, it is the women who shined most brightly here. Sarah Orne Jewett’s “A White Heron”, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s “A New England Nun”, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” were to me among the best written and most interesting stories.

However, my top vote has to go to Nathaniel Hawthorne for “Young Goodman Brown”. In typical Hawthorne fashion, it is one that incorporates the spiritual and supernatural, but in a vague manner that makes it difficult to determine whether those elements are real or imagined. Hawthorne has really grown on me recently. Surprisingly, I wasn’t overly impressed by “The Scarlet Letter”. But “The House of the Seven Gables” was a true literary masterpiece. “Young Goodman Brown” shares many of the elements of Seven Gables, in a short story format.

My greatest disappointment was with my favorite author on the list Ernest Hemingway with “The Killers”. It was clearly intended as a humorous, tongue-in-cheek piece, but I just didn’t connect well with either the writing or the content. Truly surprising, as before this I have never read a Hemingway that I didn’t love, well, aside from perhaps “A Farewell to Arms”. In “Green Hills of Africa”, Hemingway related that he considers Herman Melville among the best American writers ever. “Bartleby” was Melville’s contribution to this collection. And while the story was interesting(in my opinion, far more so than “Moby Dick”), I just don’t see the greatness in his writing. Anyone looking for a great, New England based American writer is far better served in looking to Hawthorne, in this reviewer’s opinion.

However, the stories are short, the writing is vivid, and anyone who loves interesting and humorous stories can enjoy this fun collection.

[Tyson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting compilation of some classic American authors. Short stories are always a little tough on me. I was ambivalent towards most of them. Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" was by far the best. Hawthorne's take on Puritanism is always fun to read. On its own, probably worth five stars. Sherwood Anderson's "The Egg" was quite a surprise. My second favorite in the book (and given the line-up of authors, that is saying something). Four stars on that one. F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" was probably worth 3-4 stars. Everything else, somewhere between 2-3 stars. In any event, a good read for those who haven't been exposed to a lot of classic American novelists. Lots of different styles and a good sample spectrum for "classic" American literature.

[Davvybrookbook · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting collection of American short story hits, and I greatly enjoyed the concept that it was organized by shifting genres. However, the lack of essays to contextualize the authors and the works within the said genres made this, along with conflict from my bookclub about themes/portrayal within certain works, underwhelming. This is largely a personal assessment of three stars.

Taken together these are a great assortment of well-known and less-well-known works. There were some great standouts: Young Goodman Brown, The Tell Tale Heart, Bartleby, A Bride Come to Yellow Sky, A White Heron, The New England Nun, The Yellow Wall-Paper, the Lost Phoebe, Paul’s Case, and Bernice Bobs Her Hair. Samples of many great authors, and works and authors I had never come across. A useful point of departure. I love a deep dive into each author’s oeuvre before making substantial comment.

[Christine Harvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know the editor ordered the short stories by date, but having 4 stories in a row in which the main character dies at the end was pretty depressing....

[Russell Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

My in-laws sent us a copy of this book as part of their monthly package of stuff for the girls (which they really need to stop, since the only girls left at home at 18 and 16-years-old), because March was, apparently, "Storytelling Month." Whether that's true or not, I flipped through it and thought to myself: I can only recognize three of these stories from my high school English classes--Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart," and London's "To Build a Fire" (though, upon finishing it, I decided that maybe I once read a version of Crane's "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" when I was a little, little kid)--so maybe I should see what I missed? So I read the collection through--and really, a few of these short stories from the 19th and early 20th centuries were genuinely great. Several others I couldn't get anything out of, because the stylistic or narrative conventions at work in their construction were just opaque to me, and a few others were distractingly racist and/or sexist. And some I just thought were dull. But now, thanks to this book, I can firmly recommend Melville's "Bartleby," Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper," James's "The Real Thing," Chopin's "A Pair of Silk Stockings," Dreiser's "The Lost Phoebe," and Cather's "Paul's Case" as absolutely first-rate stories, well deserving of anthologizing. And that makes it worth it, I think.

[Cory Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent collection. only one I wasn't feeling was the one primarily written in a southern slave dialect. Just too hard to read. so many 9/10's here. probably even more consistent than the Faulkner collection I read a few months ago. i found a few authors I hadn't read but had seen their names 1000 times. guess i know why now. this woul be the one I'd reccomend to someone new to short stories like I basically am. about 100 down and some thousands more to go. I have another collection of various authors coming in the mail, that ones like 500 pages and a Eudora Welty collection thats like 350 pages to read. short stories are satisfying in a way novels aren't. great tension sometimes. even knowing the pages left most the time.

[A.K. Frailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the stories were well written. But the latter selections tended to be rather depressing. I certainly agree that sad and depressing scenarios are a part of life and should be reflected in honest literature, but the last few selections were from authors so often used that I can't help but wonder if less well-known authors might have offered a more positive takeaway. I enjoyed the first few selections and wish that the same heartfelt, poignant, and uplifting selections had continued throughout the collection.

[Melinda Christensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can remember reading most of these short stories in college and not being impressed with them then. And now, it felt like a waste of time to read the same stories. The plot isn't developed like
regular-length books and the characterization is definitely lacking. When the stories end, I always feel like something is lacking. Sometimes, I feel these shorts are written for the shock-value

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read the collection of short stories for my Short Story class. I'm counting it since I read the whole book.

Loved: Bartleby, Pair of Silk Stockings, Paul's Case, Bernice Bobs Her Hair, The Egg, and The Killers.
HATED: The Goophered Grapevine, The Luck of Roaring Camp

Liked everything else just fine I suppose.

[Rachel Kingree · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5. Read this book of short stories because it was assigned to one of my kids in high school. I have decided I don’t really understand anything written before 1920. Way too much allegory stuff that I never liked when I was in high school.

[Rachael Kvapil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid set of stories, many that I read in highschool and college plus a few new ones. It fascinates me how American writers of the time seemed obsessed with either killing off their main character or having them go insane.

[Jamie Flick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing really interesting to read, was a bunch of lore I already have knowledge of.

[Cesar Aguilar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This read was of Bartelby by Herman Melville.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great varied collection of short stories. Read a selection with our high school homeschool co op.

[Victor Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorites:

Nathaniel Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown
Edgar Allen Poe, The Tell-Tale Heart
Herman Melville, Bartleby
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper
Kate Chopin, A Pair of Silk Stockings
Jack London, To Build a Fire

[Tryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this diverse anthology of short stories by American authors from the past. I love short stories because I can begin and end them in one sitting. The collection includes classic stories I have read before but enjoyed revisiting, like "Young Goodman Brown," "To Build a Fire," "A Telltale Heart," and "The Yellow Wallpaper." Many others I had not read and enjoyed discovering here, like "A New England Nun," "Bernice Bobs Her Hair," "The White Heron," and "The Luck of Roaring Camp."

“New England Nun” and “White Heron” had similar themes. In “New England Nun” a woman is engaged to a man who set off fifteen years earlier to make his fortune in a faraway place. Now he has (finally) returned to marry her, but she comes to realize that the simple order and beauty of the life she has created for herself are more appealing than the changes, rigors, and expectations of married life. She breaks off the engagement, choosing personal values and solitude over marriage and community.

In “White Heron” a young country girl revels in nature and loves the birds and animals of her forest home. She chooses loyalty to them over newfound friendship and budding romance with a visiting young man who wants to hunt one of the white herons she could lead him to if she chose. Again, this character chooses personal values and solitude over romance. Both stories made me sigh. The women gave up something wonderful but I do not blame them. A tiny part of me envies them.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-tale Heart," Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper, "Jack London's (author of Call of the Wild)To Build a Fire, Abrose Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (this was my second favorite), and Theodore Drieser's "The Lost Phoebe." Oh yes, my favorite was "Paul's Case," by Willa Cather. The utter demented, slightly insane air of Paul himself captivated me, as well as the futility of everything he did. Very depressing, obviously, but of course every story in this entire book was depressing.
I really didn't understand Herman Melville's famous "Bartleby," which seemed long, pointless and boring to me. I hated "The Goophered Grapevine," (Charles Chestnutt) because it might have been a half-decent story if it was told in a half-intelligible fashion. As it was, it took me abotu a minute per paragraph to try to decipher old Black Southern slang, a completely unnecessary touch in my opinion.
Some of these stories I would give a 5, and some a 1 (specifically, Bartleby, so I'm averaging.

[Reshma Popat]

Features 19 works from distinguished writers in American history.
Nathaniel Hawthorne: "Young Goodman Brown"
Edgar Allan Poe: "The Tell-Tale Heart"
Sarah Orne Jewett: "A White Heron"
Charlotte Gilman Perkins: "The Yellow Wallpaper"
Ambrose Bierce: "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"


Those are just a few that can be found this book of short stories. Most of which I've read many times before. Classic stories, I'm sure most of you have read all the short stories I mentioned.

I know I have read them.
I am such a fan of "The Yellow Wallpaper."

[Kevin Lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Young Goodman Brown" - Nathanial Hawthorne
"The Yellow Wallpaper" - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
"Bartlby the Scrivener" - Herman Melville
"Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" - Stephen Crane
"A Pair of Silk Stockings" - Kate Chopin
"White Heron" - Sarah Orne Jewett
"Bernice Bobs Her Hair" = F. Scott Fitzgerald
"The Killers" - Ernest Hemmingway
"To Build A Fire" - Jack London
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" - Ambrose Bierce

And another year of Honors 10 English almost done....

[Pedro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Demorei efetivamente um ano a percorrer esta coletânea de contos da literatura norte-americana, mas acabei, finalmente!
Contos que ficaram na memória:

"Bartleby" (Melville)
"A White Heron" (Jewett)
"An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (Ambrose Bierce)
"The egg" (Anderson)
"The Killers" (Hermingway)

[Babs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up when I want to get back to basics with my literature...critical reading...

I enjoyed all the different writers between these two covers...Hawhtorne, Melville, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, etc. It was neat to read their different styles one after another.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow! what fun! I'd only read two of these before. I've read more European short stories (British, French) than American so this was a good find and totally enjoyable. Sometimes, only a short story will do....

[Ann Dowd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun collection of stories! Thanks Devin Smith for putting it on your Beacon Hill reading list this year. It reminded me of how much I enjoyed short stories:) My book group of wonderful, reading ladies are coming tomorrow night to discuss it!

[sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

we read some of these in school...

[Kory · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite selection is Jack London's, To Build a Fire. Many great short stories. Excellent for bedtime reading, as you can get in good stories, and finish something!

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read some of the stories... The ones I read were very good!

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good collection of America's finest works. Short stories that are straight to the point. A good reflection of America's ideologies, the good and the bad.