25 and Under: Fiction

by Robert Coles (Introduction), Neil Giordano (Editor), Susan Ketchin (Editor)

Selected from an extensive nationwide search, this book of fifteen stories by American writers twenty-five years old and younger introduces a new generation of literary talent. These stories represent a wide and diverse range of visions, sensibilities, techniques and themes, providing a vivid glimpse of our world through the eyes of young artists as we approach the twenty-first century.

From quiet vignettes of triumph over daily despair, to richly textured narratives of almost epic proportion, the authors explore themes at once contemporary and timeless: the often tangled relationship between parent and child; the lingering legacy of the war in Vietnam; the mysteries of birth, death, sexuality, and marriage; and the sometimes redemptive power of suffering. Visceral, engaging, eminently readable, and memorable, these stories provide an inspiring preview of literary achievement to come.

Genres: Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction

242 pages, Paperback

First published May 27, 1997

About the author

Child psychiatrist, author, Harvard professor.

Robert Coles is a professor of psychiatry and medical humanities at the Harvard Medical School, a research psychiatrist for the Harvard University Health Services, and the James Agee Professor of Social Ethics at Harvard College.