The American Short Story: A Treasury of the Memorable and Familiar

by Thomas Parkes (ed)

A collection of short stories by American authors from Washington Irving to Saul Bellow.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, Anthologies, Literature

1002 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1994

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been working on this book, on and off, for more than a year. It is a collection of 59 short stories covering about 200 years: Nathaniel Hawthorne to Joyce Carol Oates. All of the authors are familiar but some of the stories selected are not the stories you tend to think of when you think of a particular author, which is a nice change. It's a good sampling, but don't let it be the end of your exploration of short fiction.

[Ron Me]

Yeah, OK, this is a pretty good collection of American literature, although a few of the short stories seemed long enough to possibly be novellas. And they're well written. Just not very exciting to read. Not going to keep this book.

[Marilyn]

Starts with Washington Irving1783 and goes Thru Joyce Carol Oates 1938

Wide variety of authors

[Devin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally finished. Not the best. Really enjoyed some of the stories, but there were far too many that I had to force my way through.

[Steve Shilstone · Rating 5 out of 5]

52 writers! 52! Invaluable! Covers 200 years!

[Steven Groner · Rating 5 out of 5]

An ambitious collection at 1,000 pages. Over 50 selections, ranging in chronology from Washington Irving through mid-20th Century.

[Tlingit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm more than 3/4 of the way through this book and I only avoided one story. I started reading these stories hoping to get some really good plots and interesting descriptions because normally I like short stories. I have to admit that many of the stories were disappointing. I expected to read dated accounts and unusual usage of the English language compared to nowadays. Some of these stories are older than 100 years.
The fact is some of the authors went on and on in their descriptions. I assume it was to create atmosphere but many got to be boring.
Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and the Tar Baby / Joel Chandler Harris I found interesting because of the vernacular though. I found The lost boy / Thomas Wolfe way too nostalgic and would fall asleep while reading it. Imagine kissing Pete by John O'Hara reminded me of an updated (to the 1920s-1940s,) F. Scott Fitzgerald even though he's represented here with Babylon revisited, I've read his story but really don't remember it. The one story I didn't read was Jack London's To build a fire it bored me too much and I was never a big fan of his anyway. I did enjoy Rip Van Winkle ; The legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving but I've read that before in school. I always liked The lottery / Shirley Jackson so I have something to look forward to reading.
There is a good selection here but this book is ungainly. I take it to bed at night and it flips and flops over. I've been reading it since my Mother went into the hospital for her cancer in 2013 and I am actually so close to the end of it that I'm proud to have read some of the stories that didn't entertain me. I find it sad that I remember so few. All that time and not a memory left of them.

So 2 years to read this tome. I skipped The Lottery just because I've read it more than a few times and recently. If you have nothing else to read it is still not a book I'd recommend. I wonder if it was created for an english writing class. It would be good for that kind of a class considering the different kinds of writing in here. Don't waste your time on all of it though. Pick an author you might recognize (I was surprised that John Updike's story bored me. I was thinking of picking up on of his novels.) and read it.

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

For sale on Amazon for $.01. Selection issues aside, the book is worth a few bucks. Many great stories.

I gave the collection only 2 stars because, as other reviewers noted, so many of the stories are so bleak. One must assume that the editors had many choices. Many of the stories are excellent. Did they consciously choose so many which are depressing?

For example, the editor chooses Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory over Capote's My Side of the Matter. I consider My Side of the Matter far less dark, equally if not better written, and a more memorable story. Especially given the other selections, I was surprised My Side was omitted in favor of the story chosen. A BBC related firm published The American Short Story. Maybe they are still mad about that little revolution thing. I googled the editor Thomas Parkes, curious to see if he had committed suicide. No answer. Someone let me know.

6 years to finally finish The American Short Story, reading it in drips. Glad I did. If you find the book too dark, skip the last 3 stories. Great writing. But another reason to live is to find and scold whoever a) selected them; and b) placed them back to back to back to end this collection.

[Sskous · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is actually the collection I am reading and I am enjoying it more and more every day. I have learned that my husband is a whilom rantipole, and hope to discover more and more about us all!

Later: these stories are small treasures. I can read one at a sitting by the fire, enriched and happy that such writing is available for me to appreciate. Short story characters are marvelously drawn and linger long after. Read them!

Finished! I drew out the stories like small gems and loved them. most highly recommend.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to thank my sister for buying this book, and for not noticing that I stole it nearly 14 years ago. This collection is the sort of anthology that acts as a catalyst for so much more in terms of literature. When I was younger this was my first taste of many of the authors that I consider favorites now, so I have The American Short Story to thank for shaping my knowledge base of American story tellers.

[Mom]

Contains Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, O. Henry, Jack London, Dorothy Parker, James Thurber, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Kurt Vonnegut, Truman Capote, John Updike, among others. I wanted to read The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (James Thurber) before I saw the film.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

a really great collection of stories from some of the best American authors. Read some Poe for Halloween including The Fall of the House of Usher and The Murders in the Rue Morgue