Selected Stories

by Bret Harte

Francis Bret Harte (August 25, 1836 – May 5, 1902) was an American author and poet, best remembered for his short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a career spanning more than four decades, he wrote poetry, fiction, plays, lectures, book reviews, editorials, and magazine sketches in addition to fiction. As he moved from California to the eastern U.S. to Europe, he incorporated new subjects and characters into his stories, but his Gold Rush tales have been most often reprinted, adapted, and admired.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Classics, Westerns, Collections, 19th Century

134 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1870

About the author

People note American writer Francis Bret Harte for The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Sketches (1870), his best-known collection of his stories about California mining towns.

People best remember this poet for his short-story fiction, featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the Gold Rush. In a career, spanning more than four decades, he wrote poetry, plays, lectures, book reviews, editorials, and magazine sketches in addition to fiction. As he moved from California to the eastern United States to Europe, he incorporated new subjects and characters into his stories, but people most often reprinted, adapted, and admired his tales of the Gold Rush.

Parents named him after Francis Brett, his great-grandfather. Bernard Hart, paternal grandfather of Francis and an Orthodox Jewish immigrant, flourished as a merchant and founded the New York stock exchange. Henry, father of the young Francis, changed the spelling of the family name from Hart to Harte. Later, Francis preferred that people know his middle name, which he spelled Bret with only one t.

An avid reader as a boy, Harte at 11 years of age published his first work, a satirical poem, titled "Autumn Musings", now lost. Rather than attracting praise, the poem garnered ridicule from his family. As an adult, he recalled to a friend, "Such a shock was their ridicule to me that I wonder that I ever wrote another line of verse". His formal schooling ended at 13 years of age in 1849.

Reviews

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a mixed bag. First off, most of the stories in this volume are westerns set in mining towns. I'm a big western fan, but here's the catch. These stories were written DURING the "wild west" era, or close to it. Therefore, what I was thinking of as a western was written more as a contemporary story. In other words, these weren't the usual "westerns" we think of, but instead stories about many different things told in a western setting. I don't think it was so much thought of as the "wild west" as just "the times we live in" back then.

That being said, there are still some really nice stories in here.

Outcasts of Poker Flats is probably the most famous, but it's also sad. Barker's Luck may have been my favorite story, as it was more humor than anything else. A Yellow Dog was another of my favorites, also pretty humorous. Bulger's Reputation was another good one with a twist ending, and In the Tules as a good story but also tragic.

There were a few drawbacks. For one thing the language was archaic and sometimes hard to follow. This made some of the stories confusing, and I think the point of the tales got lost. Some of the stories seemed to drag, and were a little pointless, but some of that may have been to the language issue as well.

Overall though this was a good read and a nice piece of historic fiction. If you enjoy truly authentic westerns, without the gunfights but with plenty of characterization, give this book a try.

[Altivo Overo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harte was a journalist, fond of descriptions and with an extensive vocabulary. Many of us were exposed to him in high school when his story "The Luck of Roaring Camp" was assigned reading. I liked his wordy style then, and still enjoy it, though not everyone agrees. These stories are about humanity in the midst of the hurly-burly of the Old West and the gold rushes. There is a lot of deep insight in them.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Motivated by the Gold Rush town in which he shares his name, Twain Harte, CA, I sought to find out what inspired the namers to link him to such a fine writer. This collection is wonderful. I read the first half slowly, interspersing stories with novels, but finished the second half one story after another, so remember them better. Harte does many things well, the short story format, sometimes with snappy story endings, describing settings, many of which are personally familiar, and characters of transparency who are affected by California’s days before statehood, with only one story’s occurring outside the state. There are a variety of settings within the state, primarily Gold Rush towns, but also mission towns and the Sacramento River area and delta. Beyond these well done components, I loved the writing, the turn of phrases, and stand in awe of Harte’s vocabulary. I’m glad my eBook reader has a dictionary. Is whilom missing in your vocabulary, too?

Examples of writing that struck me as as spot on:
“(She) used her tongue with such precision of statement and epithet that the soprano burst into tears.”
“Even the audacities and insolence of this stranger affected Morse as he might have been touched and captivated by the coquetries or imperiousness of some bucolic virgin”
“… the demon of hurry and unrest…”
“… our exalted amity…’
Harte does a fine job, also, with accents and human interactions, particularly showing well the man/woman and man/man relationships in the Gold Rush camps and elsewhere, where women were often rare and men often lonely. My fave here was probably A Convert of the Mission, but I thoroughly enjoyed many of these stories.

[Jewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very old. It was NOT published in 2006, I could not find it listed in any list of books. It contains: The Luck of Roaring Camp, The Outcasts of Poker Flat, Miggles, Tennessee's Partner, The Idyl of Red Gulch, Brown of Calaveras, High-Water Mark, A Lonely Ride, The Man of No Account, MLiss, The Right Eye of the Commander, Notes by Flood and Field, An Episode of Fiddletown, Barker's Luck, A Yellow Dog, A Mother of Five, Bulger's Reputation, In the Tules, A Convert of the Mission, The Indiscretion of Elsbeth, and, The Devotion of Enriquez.
The book is in very good condition, no pages missing, yet, there is no publication date in it. It was Printed in the United States of America by American Book-Stratford Press, Inc., New York.

[D. E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading everything by Zane Grey and Max Brand the only solid western writer was Bret Harte. He was they're and he lived the life then turned to writing to record what he had seen in numerous collection and independent novels. I began reading Bret Hart in 1950. My Mom and I went to a used book store and found over 25 hardbacks and double the paperbacks.. His work were excellent reads for the western genre.....ER

[Bruce Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a mixed bag. Some were moving, some were not. As a cross-section of Bret Harte's writing it is as good a place to start as any.

[Cynthia Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love short stories. a couple of these were NOT short but I soldiered on anyhow. It was basically a quick read and I was unfamiliar with him or his style. So it was nice for a change

[Charles Pearce · Rating 4 out of 5]

My enjoyment of the stories varied. Harte's style is a little stilted but once you get past that, some stories I liked.