Although the short story has often been called America's unique contribution to the world's literature, relatively few critics have taken the form seriously. May's collection of essays by popular commentators, academic critics, and short story writers attempts to assess the reasons for this neglect and provides significant theoretical directions for a reevaluation of the form. The essays range from discussions by Poe to comments by John Cheever. Frank O'Connor describes the short story as depicting \u201can intense awareness of human loneliness,\u201d and Nadine Gordimer suggests that the story is more suitable than the novel in rendering the fragmentary modern experience. Eudora Welty sees the story as something \u201cwrapped in an atmosphere\u201d of its own; Randall Jarrell speaks of the mythic basis of the genre. Elizabeth Bowen and Alberto Moravia discuss thematic and structural distinctions between the novel and the story. The collection also includes discussions of various types of stories, as satiric and lyric, critical surveys of the development of the modern short story, and the status of the form at the present time. An excellent annotated bibliography is also included, which describes 135 books and articles on the short story, evaluating their contribution to a unified theory of the form.

The first edition of May's Short Story Theories (1976) opened with an essay entitled "The Short Story: An Underrated Art." Almost two decades later, the short story suffers no such slight. Publishers and critics have become increasingly interested in the form, which has enjoyed a renaissance led by such writers as Raymond Carver, Tobias Wolff, Ann Beattie, Bobbie Ann Mason, and Mary Robison. An important part of this revival of interest, Short Story Theories has continued to attract a strong and loyal audience among students and teachers. The New Short Story Theories includes a few basic pieces from the earlier volume-Poe's Hawthorne review, Brander Matthew's extension and formalization of Poe's theories, and essays by Randall Jarrell, Elizabeth Bowen, and Nadine Gordimer-but most of the essays are new to the collection. Addressing problems of definition, historical considerations, issues of technique, and cognitive approaches, essays include: "The Tale as Genre in Short Story Fiction," by W. S. Penn "O. Henry and the Theory of the Short Story," by Suzanne C. Ferguson "On Writing," by Raymond Carver "From Tale to Short Story," by Robert F. Marler "A Cognitive Approach to Storyness," by Susan Lohafer May's new collection will continue to highlight the short story, to provoke debate, and to enrich our experience of a demanding and rewarding literary form.

"I Am Your Brother" Short Story Studies is a study of the short story as a genre, written both for academic and general readers. After establishing the origins of the short story in myth, the book examines issues of genre and history, discusses the difference between the short story and the novel, and analyzes the importance of obsession, mystery, and metaphoric motivation in the form. Chapters also are devoted to mythic perception in the short fiction of John Steinbeck and Bernard Malamud, love and separateness in the short stories of Eudora Welty, and the birth of the modern short story by Anton Chekhov. The final two chapters are extended discussions of the short stories of Raymond Carver and Alice Munro.

This Critical Survey was originally published in 1981, with a supplement in 1987 and revised editions in 1993 and 2001. The Fourth Edition includes all writers from the previous edition and adds 145 new ones, covering 625 writers in total. Altogether, the writers covered in this set represent 44 countries and the history of short fiction from antiquity to the 21st century. The set also offers 53 informative overviews; 24 of these essays were added for this edition, including all the literary movement essays. In addition, seven resources are provided, two of them new. Author portraits are included as available.

Critical Survey of Short Fiction profiles the lives, achievements, and important works of major writers. Originally published in 1981 and revised in 2001, the latest edition adds an additional 145 writers, covering 625 writers in total. Now, for the first time, the essays have been arranged in several subsets, so that libraries can choose the complete set, or only the titles they are interested in. Plus, complimentary online access is provided through Salem Literature.

This volume is an effort to introduce O'Connor to a new generation of readers by including previously published essays that clarify her religious ideas, her narrative technique, her use of humor, and the regional and social context of her fiction. Original essays commissioned especially for this volume make significant new contributions to the understanding and appreciation of her work. Essays discuss the religious context of such stories as "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "Good Country People." Other essays explore O'Connor's use of humor in the story "Temple of the Holy Ghost" as well as her two short novels Wise Blood and The Violent Bear it Away.

This is a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the most often studied short story writers from around the world.The 146 authors, and 800 works covered in this set reflect the range and diversity of nineteenth and twentieth century short-story writing. More than half the authors covered are from the United States, reflecting the strength of the genre in its birthplace. The second largest national grouping is England, added to which are some of the great authors of Ireland and Scotland. Readers will also find some of the cornerstone short fiction writers of Canada, the Continent, Russia, Asia, Africa, and South America. Women authors have excelled in the genre, and of the 49 surveyed in these volumes, 21 are new to this edition.""Short Story Writers, Revised Edition"", is the first revision of this Magill's ""Choice"" set published in 1997. This new edition adds 44 more articles on important authors of short fiction. The three-volume set has 146 articles on the most frequently taught, most frequently read, most acclaimed, and most often researched short-fiction writers studied in American schools and colleges. All the essays in these volumes have been culled from the 480 author essays in Salem Press' ""Critical Survey of Short Fiction, Second Revised Edition"" (2001) and have been updated. They collectively provide an essential look at the best in short-fiction writing in an easy-to-use and student-friendly format.The essays are arranged alphabetically, by authors' surnames, in the three volumes, and their concise and accessible formats follow an easy-to-use template. Each essay begins with the author's name, birth date and place, death date and place when appropriate, and a chronological list of the subject's major publications of short fiction. The text of the essay is divided into four subsections: Other literary forms describes other genres in which the author has worked; Achievements addresses what the author has contributed to the genre and mentions any important honors and awards the author has received; Biography summarizes the author's life; and Analysis, the main body of the text, is a detailed examination of the author's short-story writing that usually includes three or four subheaded sections focusing on individual stories that help explain the author's work.Volume 3 concludes with a glossary of more than 150 terms and techniques commonly used in the study of short fiction and a comprehensive index. A list of the many scholars who contributed their time and knowledge to writing the articles appears on the following page.

Masterplots II: Short Story Series provides penetrating discussions of the content, themes, structure and techniques of 1,490 stories from every inhabited region in the world: North America, Africa, Asia, West Indies, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, and other European countries. Each article begins with birth and death dates, type and time of the plot, locale, principal characters and first-publication information. A synopsis of the story, critical discussion and analysis of the stylistic devices is also included.

This series contains 515 essays, revolving around authors of short fiction. Essays are arranged alphabetically by author and provide in-depth overviews of short-story writers. Each essay contains full birth and death data, substantial listings of literary works by genre, and an analysis and survey of the major themes and techniques in the writer's work, using specific titles for examples. Finally, there is a list of other publication by genre, and an annotated bibliography.

Masterplots II: Short Story Series provides penetrating discussions of the content, themes, structure and techniques of 1,490 stories from every inhabited region in the world: North America, Africa, Asia, West Indies, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, and other European countries. Each article begins with birth and death dates, type and time of the plot, locale, principal characters and first-publication information. A synopsis of the story, critical discussion and analysis of the stylistic devices is also included.

Masterplots II: Short Story Series provides penetrating discussions of the content, themes, structure and techniques of 1,490 stories from every inhabited region in the world: North America, Africa, Asia, West Indies, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, and other European countries. Each article begins with birth and death dates, type and time of the plot, locale, principal characters and first-publication information. A synopsis of the story, critical discussion and analysis of the stylistic devices is also included.

This series contains 515 essays, revolving around authors of short fiction. Essays are arranged alphabetically by author and provide in-depth overviews of short-story writers. Each essay contains full birth and death data, substantial listings of literary works by genre, and an analysis and survey of the major themes and techniques in the writer's work, using specific titles for examples. Finally, there is a list of other publication by genre, and an annotated bibliography.

This series contains 515 essays, revolving around authors of short fiction. Essays are arranged alphabetically by author and provide in-depth overviews of short-story writers. Each essay contains full birth and death data, substantial listings of literary works by genre, and an analysis and survey of the major themes and techniques in the writer's work, using specific titles for examples. Finally, there is a list of other publication by genre, and an annotated bibliography.

Masterplots II: Short Story Series provides penetrating discussions of the content, themes, structure and techniques of 1,490 stories from every inhabited region in the world: North America, Africa, Asia, West Indies, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, and other European countries. Each article begins with birth and death dates, type and time of the plot, locale, principal characters and first-publication information. A synopsis of the story, critical discussion and analysis of the stylistic devices is also included.

This series contains 515 essays, revolving around authors of short fiction. Essays are arranged alphabetically by author and provide in-depth overviews of short-story writers. Each essay contains full birth and death data, substantial listings of literary works by genre, and an analysis and survey of the major themes and techniques in the writer's work, using specific titles for examples. Finally, there is a list of other publication by genre, and an annotated bibliography.

Critical Survey of Short Fiction profiles the lives, achievements, and important works of major writers. Originally published in 1981 and revised in 2001, the latest edition adds an additional 145 writers, covering 625 writers in total. Now, for the first time, the essays have been arranged in several subsets, so that libraries can choose the complete set, or only the titles they are interested in. Plus, complimentary online access is provided through Salem Literature.

Critical Survey of Short Fiction profiles the lives, achievements, and important works of major writers. Originally published in 1981 and revised in 2001, the latest edition adds an additional 145 writers, covering 625 writers in total. Now, for the first time, the essays have been arranged in several subsets, so that libraries can choose the complete set, or only the titles they are interested in. Plus, complimentary online access is provided through Salem Literature.