The Short Story: An Introduction

This is a chronologically organized anthology of short stories analysing the genre from two points of reference: the story as an art form, and the story as an event in cultural change. A broad array of super selections is combined with an excellent survey of the development of the genre, an introduction to fiction techniques, biographical, and critical material. The selections include samples of the genre in its various stages of development, from pre-story forms (myth, legend, parable, allegory, fable) to conventional stories, and on the experimental and avante-garde forms. Short introductions precede the work of all writers, combining biographical information with a critical assessment of their role in the development of the short story. Almost 40 per cent of the material from the previous edition is new or reorganized, and the introduction is rewritten to make itself more accessible to the 'average' student.