Twenty Grand: Great American Short Stories

by John Steinbeck

From twenty of the finest authors of American fiction comes "Twenty Grand."

Don't always look for happy endings...these stories are as real and unpredictable as life itself.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1941

About the author

John Ernst Steinbeck was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception". He has been called "a giant of American letters."
During his writing career, he authored 33 books, with one book coauthored alongside Edward F. Ricketts, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and two collections of short stories. He is widely known for the comic novels Tortilla Flat (1935) and Cannery Row (1945), the multi-generation epic East of Eden (1952), and the novellas The Red Pony (1933) and Of Mice and Men (1937). The Pulitzer Prize–winning The Grapes of Wrath (1939) is considered Steinbeck's masterpiece and part of the American literary canon. By the 75th anniversary of its publishing date, it had sold 14 million copies.
Most of Steinbeck's work is set in central California, particularly in the Salinas Valley and the California Coast Ranges region. His works frequently explored the themes of fate and injustice, especially as applied to downtrodden or everyman protagonists.

Reviews

[Darinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable collection of short stories.

The stories:
1. A Mother in Mannville by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
2. Without Words by Elliott Merrick
3. Sixteen by Maureen Daly
4. Split Cherry Tree by Jesse Stuart
5. After the Ball by Sally Benson
6. Eight-Oared Crew by Harry Silvester
7. A Start in Life by Ruth Suckow
8. A Student in Economics by George Millburn
9. Romance by William Saroyan
10. Clothe the Naked by Dorothy Parker
11. The Heyday of the Blood by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
12. Rope by Katherine Anne Porter
13. A Tooth for Paul Revere by Stephen Vincent Benet
14. Fumble by Katharine Brush
15. Prelude by Albert Halper
16. One with Shakespeare by Martha Foley
17. The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck
18. Young Man Axelbrod by Sinclair Lewis
19. Strawberry Ice Cream Soda by Irwin Shaw
20. I Can't Breathe by Ring Lardner

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection was originally published by Scholastic Magazine in 1947, and is tailor-made for young adults. About half of them are good stories for adults; the other half are pleasant enough tales that fizzle at the end (particularly George Milburn's "A Student in Economics" and Katherine Brush's "Fumble"). They are also typical of their era in sporting a patina of wholesomeness that is sometimes dated (as in "Sixteen" by Maureen Daly) and sometimes refreshing (as in Katherine Ann Porter's "Rope"). My favorite lesser known story is "Eight-Oared Crew" by Harry Sylvester, a suspenseful tale about the attractions of jingoism.

[Garth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seek this out at any cost--if you like short stories tehre are some great ones in here--and they're old as hell! I love it! The cover on mine is just "barely there"!

[Alyssa Finch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't remember the exact date that I read this... but I really loved all of the short stories in here!

[Manna_Sue]

Stole this book from my brother (I think he thought he was getting something different when he got it at the book fair in grade school). I read it in high school and look forward to reading it again.

[Tibor Konig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Selejtezés közben akadtam rá erre az érdekes gyűjteményre: a negyvenes évek egyesült államokbeli fiataljainak készült, akik nem teljesen készek a felnőtt irodalomra, de jobbat érdemelnek a nekik gyártott kalandos és romantikus novelláknál. Elég magas a színvonal, de elsősorban azért, mert néhány kitűnő írás felhúzza az átlagot. Nekem különösen tetszett
- a "Without Words", amiben egy prémvadász üldöz egy indián családot, akik furcsán értelmezik a tulajdon fogalmát,
- az "Eight-Oared Crew", amiben egy kezdő egyetemi evezőscsapat és tapasztalt vezetőjük próbál megbirkózni saját korlátaival és az egyetemi "arisztokrácia" előítéleteivel,
- a "Rope", amiben egy újdonsült házaspár egyre jobban eldurvuló nézeteltérése végül megoldódik, és
- az "A Tooth for Paul Revere", egy mágikus realizmussal kacérkodó történelem-alulnézetből sztori.

Szóval érdekes, de nem tartom meg... :-)

#readandrecycle

[Bap · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a tattered copy of this book, I think, that I read at the suggetion of my mother and enjoyed very much even if I can not tell you what the stories were.