The American Short Story Handbook

This is a concise yet comprehensive treatment of the American short story that includes a historical overview of the topic, as well as discussion of notable American authors and individual stories, from Benjamin Franklin’s “The Speech of Miss Polly Baker” in 1747 to The Joy Luck Club.

The American Short Story Handbook includes a selection of writers chosen not only for their contributions of individual stories but for bodies of work that advanced the boundaries of short fiction. These writers include Washington Irving, Sarah Orne Jewett, Stephen Crane, Jamaica Kincaid, and Tim O’Brien.

The book addresses the ways in which American oral storytelling and other narrative traditions were integral to the formation and flourishing of the short story genre.

Written in accessible and engaging prose by a renowned literary scholar, the book is suitable for students at all levels and serves to illuminate an important genre that has received insufficient attention in the scholarly literature of the last century.

The handbook includes a glossary defining the most common terms used in literary history and in critical discussions of fiction, as well as a bibliography of works for further study.