The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction

Rating:
Summary: The selection and genere of stories is made for any reader.
Review: "The Story and Its Writer" is a collection of excellent short stories and I recommend it for any caliber of reader. Ann Charters has managed to collect a spectrum of very short to extensive and detailed stories that include themes and ideas like death, sensuality, murder, love, and witchcraft. Writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, the infamous author of "The Scarlet Letter", Edgar Allen Poe, the father of the short story form, William Faulkner, who wrote hundreds of short stories and novels in his lifetime, and Franz Kafka, who wrote the most famous of all first lines in short story literature grace the pages of this brilliant read. In addition to the stimulating variety of authors and themes, multiple cultures are represented. As an author writes from their soul so much of the background that they are from is apparent in the text. Leo Tolstoy was the greatest Russian writer of prose fiction. Guy de Maupassant was born in Normandy. Clarice Lispector was born to Russian parents and was raised in Brazil. As you turn the pages of Charters' collection you scan the lives of great authors and poets from all across the globe. Men and women who give us a peak into the lives of persons of cultures far different from our own. Festivals of wine, days of horse and buggy, times when witchcraft was not a myth, and the Great Depression all are times and eras that a reader might not be familiar with. Thanks are to Charters that through this compilation we might become acquainted with them. Another brilliant benefit that Charters' collections brings to the moderately intrigued to avid reader is the commentary from notable writes on the text given. Viable commentary is always valuable supplement to any text. Theories on the intent, theme, language, style and form can help a reader to digest all that they can from an encounter with text. Explanatory literature can open their own creative minds and spark interest in the art of literature. Included, as supplementary reading, is also a background of each writer. How priceless is a history, and even more so of people as great as these. From the lives of these artists we can better understand the feeling that might be portrayed in writing and propose the events that the stories might have stemmed from. Also, Charters' includes Raymond Carver, a contemporary author, in response to the older writings. The book then concludes with sections on fiction into film, the history of the short story, the elements of fiction, writing about short stories, and a glossary, chronological listing of authors and stories, and a list of short stories on film. This book can be thoroughly enjoyed by anyone who enjoys reading. Stories are the tales of those who lived and those who might have lived. We can learn from them what an author might have us learn and we can write them to teach what we might have others know. Ann Charters' has created a medium where by we might enjoy, learn about, and appreciate the story and its writer. I would recommend it to anyone and advise all who attempt to become artists of language to devour it from cover to cover.

Rating:
Summary: Good stories with commentaries by their writers
Review: Ann Charters has done a wonderful job of compiling a variety of great works of short fiction. There's Oates, Chekhov, Borges, Updike, Bierce, Carver, Cheever, and MANY others.

There is also an extended amount of commentary on the works themselves. You'll read about Flannery O'Connor's "Reasonable Use of the Unreasonable," John Cheever's "Why I Write Short Stories," and more. You often get a candid response from writers about not only their writing, but other writers as well. It is a very nice touch.

Before each story, there is a small biography of the writer, often informing the reader about the origin of the story that follows.

Last, the appendices to the book are quite good as well. They cover the basic "Elements of Fiction" and "A Brief History of the Short Story" as well as a glossary of literary terms that are handy for students of short fiction and helpful for those simply interested in the technique behind the art.

The book doesn't pretend to present everything about short fiction, but gives you a taste for the good stuff out there.

Rating:
Summary: Good stories with commentaries by their writers
Review: Ann Charters has done a wonderful job of compiling a variety of great works of short fiction. There's Oates, Chekhov, Borges, Updike, Bierce, Carver, Cheever, and MANY others.

There is also an extended amount of commentary on the works themselves. You'll read about Flannery O'Connor's "Reasonable Use of the Unreasonable," John Cheever's "Why I Write Short Stories," and more. You often get a candid response from writers about not only their writing, but other writers as well. It is a very nice touch.

Before each story, there is a small biography of the writer, often informing the reader about the origin of the story that follows.

Last, the appendices to the book are quite good as well. They cover the basic "Elements of Fiction" and "A Brief History of the Short Story" as well as a glossary of literary terms that are handy for students of short fiction and helpful for those simply interested in the technique behind the art.

The book doesn't pretend to present everything about short fiction, but gives you a taste for the good stuff out there.

Rating:
Summary: The only short story anthology you'll need
Review: Charters has made absoluely wonderful selections for this anthology. Although many of the stories can be considered "southern literature," the book contains an inspiring variety of stories ranging from classic Faulkner to racy Atwood. This is a perfect book for educators or just for anyone who loves to read. With The Short Story and Its Writer, it is impossible to be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A good anthology
Review: This anthology belongs on the shelves of any serious reader of literary fiction. The short stories in it are among the highest caliber and are often used by professors to teach students how to write. If you enjoy reading good fiction, or want to study how good authors write so you can write like them, then this book is one you ought to consider getting from your library or owning.

Rating:
Summary: Amy Charters smacks a grand slam.
Review: This is such a great book -- one of the most valuable on my shelves. Amy Charters has made wonderful choices here -- she's managed to create an anthology that simultaneously does justice to the classics while remaining hip and accessible. For those who like background information, there's a handy appendix filled with writers either talking about their own work or commenting on a selection in the book.

For those who have not "taken" to short stories, I suggest you consider The Story and its Writer. For teachers, this is simply a great resource -- I use it all the time.

Rating:
Summary: Amy Charters smacks a grand slam.
Review: This is such a great book -- one of the most valuable on my shelves. Amy Charters has made wonderful choices here -- she's managed to create an anthology that simultaneously does justice to the classics while remaining hip and accessible. For those who like background information, there's a handy appendix filled with writers either talking about their own work or commenting on a selection in the book.

For those who have not "taken" to short stories, I suggest you consider The Story and its Writer. For teachers, this is simply a great resource -- I use it all the time.