American Short Stories, 8th edition

American Short Stories offers a discriminating collection of both canonical and recent stories in a brief anthology made all the more flexible by its streamlined apparatus. American short stories capture America’s past and present in a unique way.  Now students have an opportunity to immerse themselves in the more than two hundred year history of the American short story by reading the new eighth edition of American Short Stories. 

While retaining its historical thrust, chronological organization, and attention to “classic” works, the new eighth edition of American Short Stories features more contemporary stories, a greater representation of writers from diverse ethnic backgrounds, and more contextual information.

• Organized Chronologically. The eighth edition is divided into five historical periods: 1820-1890; 1890-1920; 1920-1940; 1940-1980; 1980-present.
• The stories cover a wide range of themes and techniques, forms and types, motifs, tones, and issues. 
• The anthology, representing some of the American short story’s major achievements, offers a concise and compelling textual history of the American short story. 
• Historical introductions, author head notes, and questions for discussion and writing offer context and teaching assistance.
• Enriched Selection of Stories and Authors. Representing a wide range of forms, themes, and genres, the stories range from journey stories to encounters with mysterious strangers, the coming-of-age tale, ghost stories, race against time stories, studies in the grotesque, stories in the detective genre, the absurd, Old Southwestern humor, social satire, the familiar, the exotic...it's all here.
• The contemporary section of the anthology has the largest selection, four more stories than in the previous edition.
• The stories included in the eighth edition reflect a rich array of writers and themes in terms of gender, ethnical, regional, and racial diversity.
• The introductions of the five time periods clarify the two-hundred year history of the American short story, its developing forms, and enduring themes. Head notes introduce each writer. New author quotes, commentary, and biographical information help students place the authors in relation to his/her time period, in relation to other writers, and to American literature in general.
• Improved Suggestions for Discussion and Writing Questions. While retaining its useful but non-intrusive apparatus, the questions in this new edition stimulate fruitful class discussion and writing exercises.

• An enriched, powerful selection of stories from classic and contemporary authors.  Of the sixty selected stories making up this anthology, sixteen are new to the eighth edition along with nine new authors.
• New and improved Suggestions for Discussion and Writing features encourage meaningful class discussion and stimulate writing.
• Increased representation of cultural diversity with attention to race, ethnicity, gender, region, and individual social and cultural concerns.
• Enhanced Introductions and Headnotes make use of an author’s own words to place the author in relation to his or her time, to other writers, and to American literary history.