A Companion to the American Short Story

A Companion to the American Short Story traces the development of this versatile literary genre over the past two centuries. Written by leading critics in the field, and edited by two major scholars, it explores a wide range of writers, from Edgar Allen Poe and Edith Wharton, Kate Chopin, and Charles Chesnutt at the end of the nineteenth century. In the twentieth the focus is on such important Modern writers as Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Richard Wright before moving into the contemporary period with essays on Raymond Carver, Saul Bellow, and Denise Ch vez. Contributions with a broader focus address groups of multiethnic, Asian, and Jewish writers. All the essays set the short story in context, focusing on the interaction of cultural forces and aesthetic principles. The Companion takes account of cutting edge approaches to literary studies and contributes to the ongoing redefinition of the American canon, embracing genres such as ghost and detective fiction, cycles of interrelated short fiction, and comic, social and political stories. The volume also reflects the diverse communities that have adopted this literary form and made it their own, featuring entries on a variety of feminist and multicultural traditions. This volume presents an important new consideration of the role of the short story in the literary history of American literature.

A Companion to the American Short Story traces thedevelopment of this versatile literary genre over the past twocenturies. Written by leading critics in the field, and edited bytwo major scholars, it explores a wide range of writers, from EdgarAllen Poe and Edith Wharton, Kate Chopin, and Charles Chesnutt atthe end of the nineteenth century. In the twentieth thefocus is on such important Modern writers as Ernest HemingwayWilliam Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Richard Wright beforemoving into the contemporary period with essays on Raymond CarverSaul Bellow, and Denise Chávez. Contributions with abroader focus address groups of multiethnic, Asian, and Jewishwriters. All the essays set the short story in context, focusing onthe interaction of cultural forces and aesthetic principles.The Companion takes account of cutting edge approaches toliterary studies and contributes to the ongoing redefinition of theAmerican canon, embracing genres such as ghost and detectivefiction, cycles of interrelated short fiction, and comic, socialand political stories. The volume also reflects the diversecommunities that have adopted this literary form and made it theirown, featuring entries on a variety of feminist and multiculturaltraditions. This volume presents an important new consideration ofthe role of the short story in the literary history of Americanliterature.

Notes on Contributors viiiPreface xivAcknowledgments xviPart I: The Nineteenth Century 11 The Emergence and Development of the American Short Story 3Alfred Bendixen2 Poe and the American Short Story 20Benjamin F. Fisher3 A Guide to Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener" 35Steven T. Ryan4 Towards History and Beyond: Hawthorne and the American Short Story 50Alfred Bendixen5 Charles W. Chesnutt and the Fictions of a "New" America 68Charles Duncan6 Mark Twain and the American Comic Short Story 78David E. E. Sloane7 New England Local-Color Literature: A Colonial Formation 91Josephine Donovan8 Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the Feminist Tradition of the American Short Story 105Martha J. Cutter9 The Short Stories of Edith Wharton 118Donna CampbellPart II: The Transition into the New Century 13310 The Short Stories of Stephen Crane 135Paul Sorrentino11 Kate Chopin 152Charlotte Rich12 Frank Norris and Jack London 171Jeanne Campbell Reesman13 From "Water Drops" to General Strikes: Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Short Fiction and Social Change 187Andrew J. FurerPart III: The Twentieth Century 21514 The Twentieth Century: A Period of Innovation and Continuity 217James Nagel15 The Hemingway Story 224George Monteiro16 William Faulkner's Short Stories 244Hugh Ruppersburg17 Katherine Anne Porter 256Ruth M. Alvarez18 Eudora Welty and the Short Story: Theory and Practice 277Ruth D. Weston19 The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald: Structure, Narrative Technique, Style 295Kirk Curnutt20 "The Look of the World": Richard Wright on Perspective 316Mikko Tuhkanen21 Small Planets: The Short Fiction of Saul Bellow 328Gloria L. Cronin22 John Updike 345Robert M. Luscher23 Raymond Carver in the Twenty-First Century 366Sandra Lee Kleppe24 Multi-Ethnic Female Identity and Denise Chávez's The Last of the Menu Girls 380Karen WeekesPart IV: Expansive Considerations 38925 Landscape as Haven in American Women's Short Stories 391Leah B. Glasser26 The American Ghost Story 408Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock27 The Detective Story 425Catherine Ross Nickerson28 The Asian American Short Story 436Wenying Xu29 The Jewish American Story 450Andrew Furman30 The Multiethnic American Short Story 466Molly Crumpton Winter31 "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" American Restlessness and the Short-Story Cycle 482Jeff BirkensteinIndex 502