Great Short Stories by American Women (Dover Thrift Editions)

Rating:
Summary: Incredible classroom text!
Review: As a college student, I am burdened with purchasing many expensive books for classes. "Great Short Stories by American Women," however, was not a burden to purchase at all. The book showcases great works from many great female authors in the late 19th and early 20th century. Zora Neale Hurston, Edith Wharton, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Louisa May Alcott are just a few of the authors featured in the book.

In my class, we spent an hour discussing just one of the stories each day. "Great Short Stories by American Women" is an excellent classroom resource, and is very inexpensive.

Also, I highly recommend "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman for class discussion. It is a compelling piece, and especially interesting to high school and college age students. It makes for an involved discussion.

Rating:
Summary: Alcott! Wharton! Hurston! And more!
Review: I was greatly impressed with "Great Short Stories by American Women," the anthology edited by Candace Ward. The stories in this volume were originally published between 1861 and 1930, and represent the work of some of the United States' best writers. The contents of the book are as follows:

Rebecca Harding Davis' "Life in the Iron Mills," a compelling piece of social protest; Louisa May Alcott's "Transcendental Wild Oats," a satiric view of life in a Utopian commune; Sarah Orne Jewett's "A White Heron," a reflection on men, women, and nature; Mary E. Wilkins Freeman's "A New England Nun," about an extended engagement; Charlotte Perkins Gilman's creepy "The Yellow Wall-Paper," about a woman who, diagnosed with "a slight hysterical tendency," is forced to undergo an oppressive treatment; Kate Chopin's lusty, sensuous "The Storm"; Edith Wharton's "The Angel at the Grave," an ironic study of the legacy of a famous philosopher; Willa Cather's "Paul's Case," a tale about a dandyish young man who just can't fit into society; Alice Dunbar-Nelson's "The Stones of the Village," a study of racism, shame, and secrecy; Susan Glaspell's "A Jury of Her Peers," a murder mystery which the author adapted from her own one-act play entitled "Trifles"; Djuna Barnes' multigenerational family story "Smoke"; Zora Neale Hurston's "Sweat," a story of a nightmarishly bad marriage; and Nella Larsen's chilling "Sanctuary."

This is an excellent, richly varied selection of thirteen tales. Unfortunately, the brief intros to each tale and its author commit the two cardinal sins of such intros: (1) They are excessively intrusive, sometimes revealing the stories' endings; and (2) they often leave out relevant information -- such as the knowledge that both Edith Wharton and Susan Glaspell received Pulitzer Prizes for their writing.

So, if you skip the brief story/author intros, you will find this to be a fine anthology, good both for literature courses and for individual reading.

Rating:
Summary: Great compilation of American women writers!
Review: This compilation of American women is a fantastic introduction to the genre--from the American experience of Rebecca Harding Davis, to the superiorly intelligent prose of Edith Wharton (my personal favorite, although her story here is not my fav.) to the feminist leanings of Kate Chopin and Zora Neale Hurston---I could go on and on. This edition makes a super (and super cheap) travel companion; especially, if like me, you prefer to read short stories when traveling, rather than longer works. This book would make a great gift for a young woman, say age 13 to 25, who would appreciate the varied perspectives on life that these women provide; and its a great way to generate interest in the authors and reading. The stories are very entertaining and thought provocing; the ideas are readily accesible. You certainly cannot go wrong with this edition... I guarantee it will leave you or the lucky recipient wanting more.