A Collection of Short-stories

This anthology opens with a practical guide to the short story as a literary art, presenting a carefully selected classroom collection meant for study rather than final judgment. Its introduction traces the form from ancient tale-telling through medieval, seventeenth-, and eighteenth-century precursors such as Boccaccio, Chaucer, Cervantes, Voltaire, Addison, Steele, and Lamb, then shows how the modern short story was refined by Irving, Hawthorne, Poe, Maupassant, Stevenson, Björnson, Henry James, Harte, and Kipling. It defines the form by its unity of impression, economy, and concentration on a single character, event, or emotion, and teaches students to write by choosing a strong idea, a fitting viewpoint, a compelling opening, and a natural ending. The volume then turns to Björnstjerne Björnson's "The Father," the moving story of Thord Överaas, whose pride in his son is transformed by tragedy into sacrifice and spiritual blessing. Editorial commentary presents Björnson as a major Norwegian writer and patriot. The selection also includes Poe's eerie treasure-hunt scene, where Legrand, guided by a golden beetle and a skull in a tulip-tree, pursues buried treasure through suspense, misdirection, and obsessive logic. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.