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The Seagull Reader: Stories
Each volume offers an inviting mix of classics and less familiar pieces, complemented by concise genre introductions, short headnotes and annotations, brief author biographies, and a glossary of terms.
The Readers also include access to innovative writing tips, study and review material, and much more at LitWeb and Norton Literature Online.
522 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
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November 2, 2008I have had a number of customers request one or another SEAGULL READER. Finally, I noticed that the store was returning THE SEAGULL READER: STORIES. Thinking this was a shame, I decided to buy one. I'm glad I did. It is what it says it is: An anthology "lightly supplemented by editorial apparatus."
These are pretty famous stories, but the introduction, biographical sketches and glossary are unique in that they are to-the-point, informative and, somehow, fresh. His introduction concludes with a little arrow-pointing. He wants us to read Frank O'Connor's "Guests of the Nation." I read it today. I defy you not to be moved by it. Kelly has also included a masterful story by that other O'Connor whose first name begins with "F." It is one of the most memorable stories in all literature.
W. W. Norton publishes THE SEAGULL READER series. I think there's some idea at Norton that textbooks the size of the Manhattan phone book, with pages as thin as butterfly wings, are a bit forbidding. THE SEAGULL READER has thin pages, but they're no thicker than a composition notebook. The covers are, indeed, designed to look like composition notebooks. These are marketed toward students. When I was a student, Norton Anthologies were not only huge, they featured covers by Edward Hopper. Maybe the Hopper Estate is beginning to charge? So, Norton's gone thrifty. One thing, though. Norton should stop shrink-wrapping these. Let the people shopping at Barnes and Noble have a peek inside. READER is in the title, after all.
These are pretty famous stories, but the introduction, biographical sketches and glossary are unique in that they are to-the-point, informative and, somehow, fresh. His introduction concludes with a little arrow-pointing. He wants us to read Frank O'Connor's "Guests of the Nation." I read it today. I defy you not to be moved by it. Kelly has also included a masterful story by that other O'Connor whose first name begins with "F." It is one of the most memorable stories in all literature.
W. W. Norton publishes THE SEAGULL READER series. I think there's some idea at Norton that textbooks the size of the Manhattan phone book, with pages as thin as butterfly wings, are a bit forbidding. THE SEAGULL READER has thin pages, but they're no thicker than a composition notebook. The covers are, indeed, designed to look like composition notebooks. These are marketed toward students. When I was a student, Norton Anthologies were not only huge, they featured covers by Edward Hopper. Maybe the Hopper Estate is beginning to charge? So, Norton's gone thrifty. One thing, though. Norton should stop shrink-wrapping these. Let the people shopping at Barnes and Noble have a peek inside. READER is in the title, after all.
January 2, 2024
As it turns out, I had previously read close to 50 per cent of the literary short stories collected withiin this 550 page book. Some I recognized from years before, so some sort of impact they had.
If you like a variety of styles and subjects, this is a decent collection. You will doubtless enjoy some stories over others.
On another note, I am somewhat surprised and dismayed by the number of classics that deal primarily with how terrible human beings can behave toward one another.
You'll get some surprise twists at the end, or endings deliberately vague, and stories that seem to have no real point whatsoever~ but that's condensed reading for you.
If you like a variety of styles and subjects, this is a decent collection. You will doubtless enjoy some stories over others.
On another note, I am somewhat surprised and dismayed by the number of classics that deal primarily with how terrible human beings can behave toward one another.
You'll get some surprise twists at the end, or endings deliberately vague, and stories that seem to have no real point whatsoever~ but that's condensed reading for you.
February 3, 2021
The Seagull Reader: Stories contains 29 short stories, 16 of which I have read; that is around 55%. I read most of these stories in an Oxford textbook on literature in college. Judging from other reviews, this book is used in teaching, as well, making it clear to me that this book is, in a way, a miniature version of my textbook with some different stories. I loved all the stories I read in college, so I guess I can do nothing but say that this was a good buy!
February 22, 2017
Read this for my Literature class and as far an anthologies go this one was great. It holds a lot of short stories that I will definitely come back to read time and time again.
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August 25, 2020I just realized I really didn’t want to read this! So away it goes
October 16, 2023
did i actually read every story in this book? No. I am still logging it as if I did? yes, because I can do whatever I want and I read enough of them for it to count
September 12, 2024
Read for school. I liked that movie one and The Yellow wallpaper, that’s about it though.
September 27, 2024
Best mandatory book I’ve ever read
May 2, 2016
I read some short stories in this book which were all about different things but were all interesting in their own sense. I like short stories in general because I feel like they get to the point faster than I regular book does. I liked all of the stories that I read, even the ones that just felt like little poems. They were all about the way a new experience made someone feel or how they had already felt.
One example of external conflict was in the story by Joyce Carol Oates, when Connie was trying to fight the fact that the boy who was waiting for her at her door would not leave her alone until she gave into him. It was kinda scary to read because I didn't know how far he was gonna take his obsession. An example of the internal conflict was the story by Kate Chopin when the lady her that her husband dies and she doesn't know how to cope. She later finds out that he was not really dead and dies of to much joy. That was really intense to think about because she just had so many emotions going on, on died because of her happiness
One example of external conflict was in the story by Joyce Carol Oates, when Connie was trying to fight the fact that the boy who was waiting for her at her door would not leave her alone until she gave into him. It was kinda scary to read because I didn't know how far he was gonna take his obsession. An example of the internal conflict was the story by Kate Chopin when the lady her that her husband dies and she doesn't know how to cope. She later finds out that he was not really dead and dies of to much joy. That was really intense to think about because she just had so many emotions going on, on died because of her happiness
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 6, 2009
Wow, what a mix of authors and stories! Of the 29, the best in my opinion, Stephen Crane's The Open Boat; Tillie Olsen's I Stand Here Ironing; Alice Walker's Everyday Use; and Updike's A&P. And the worst ... James Joyce's Araby and Chinua Achebe's Uncle Ben's Choice. More than some stories in this collection nearly made me ill - so violent, dark and too realistic! It is interesting to wonder what makes people tick, how they create such things. Especially Charlotte Perkins Gilman and her The Yellow Wallpaper! *shiver*
Never heard of Alice Walker but her Everyday Use from 1973 is a good story! Another poster, Frederick, says O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard to Find is "one of the most memorable stories in all literature". I guess I can agree on this. It is written very well and it certainly held my attention but it's scary, violent and too realistic on random acts of violence for my comfort!
Never heard of Alice Walker but her Everyday Use from 1973 is a good story! Another poster, Frederick, says O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard to Find is "one of the most memorable stories in all literature". I guess I can agree on this. It is written very well and it certainly held my attention but it's scary, violent and too realistic on random acts of violence for my comfort!
February 7, 2017
Great book
July 26, 2012
I had to read 25 short stories from this book for my LIT class. Most were amazing and some were totally confusing. It's different learning how to read something with an analytical mind, instead of just for enjoyment. I understand why my teacher chose this book, because the stories all provoke higher level thinking. You have to think outside the box to understand some of them. Of the stories I read, the 2 most profound for me were Cathedral and Hills Like White Elephants. I highly recommend them.
July 7, 2012
I recently compared a handful of textbooks winnowed down from a much larger list for an Intro to Fiction class. This one did make the final cut. Not bad, but like many collections of this sort too many 'iconic'/'canonic' stories and too few surprises.
Pluses are the clean design (easy on the eyes) and relatively affordable price.
Pluses are the clean design (easy on the eyes) and relatively affordable price.
March 17, 2016
Classic, oft-anthologized stories which are good for upcoming fiction writers. Some of my favorites are "What You Pawn I Will Redeem," Sherman Alexie; "The Yellow Wallpaper," Charlotte Perkins Gilman; "Hills Like White Elephants," Ernest Hemingway; "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been," Joyce Carol Oates; and "A&P," John Updike.
June 8, 2009
This is a nice collection of short stories that isn't too large (like so many anthologies). It has a nice range of stories and authors, and also includes a short paragraph intro to each. It would be great for using in high school classrooms.
November 27, 2012
Read most of the stories in this thing. I wasn't particularly impressed, honestly. I guess this just isn't the format style for me. A lot of the stories weren't that interesting to me 'Classics' maybe but really, had I not been assigned to read them I wouldn't have read them.
December 30, 2009
Some were fabulous, some weren't, some were the 'necessary' classics.
September 6, 2012
This book was assigned for my comp class, and I've kept it. I like to take it off the shelf and peruse through it.
May 3, 2013
Ponderous and entertaining stories.
March 14, 2015
Great combination of short stories. A really handy tool for an English Major as most of these stories are often mentioned in other works.
June 14, 2016
It was alright for what it is. Didn't find many short stories I enjoyed. Was mainly reading it for class purposes.
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February 5, 2018I read some of the stories in this collection for my literature class (and then read most of the others on my own).
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April 8, 2019Read selections for class spring 2019.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews