Uniquely capable of capturing a moment in time, the short story occupies a cherished place in the history of
American literature. During the last 200 years, some of this nation's greatest writers have produced outstanding
examples of this art form, many of which are included in this collection.
Beginning with well-known stories by Hawthorne, Melville, and Poe, this diverse and colorful collection includes
tales by Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce, Sherwood Anderson, Henry James, Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, Stephen Crane,
and Mary Wilkins Freeman. From Sarah Orne Jewett's portraits of rural Maine to F. Scott Fitzgerald's brilliant
tales from the Jazz Age, these stories span the breadth of the American experience. In addition to acknowledged
masters of the short story form, such as O. Henry, Jack London, and Ernest Hemingway, this volume features stories
by Charles W. Chesnutt, the first important African-American novelist, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a leading
theorist of the early women's movement.
