Longman / Prentice Hall

English

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The Contemporary American Short Story
Bich Minh Nguyen, Purdue University
Porter Shreve, Purdue University

ISBN-10: 0321117271
ISBN-13: 9780321117274

Publisher: Longman
Copyright: 2004
Format: Paper; 672 pp
Published: 10/16/2003

Suggested retail price: $67.80
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This comprehensive anthology of contemporary American short fiction focuses on the story and its context from 1960 to the present.

The over 50 stories featured in Nguyen and Shreve's anthology range in style from the traditional narrative to experimental forms. Classic stories are juxtaposed with newer, often unexpected voices. The stories are thematically diverse as well, addressing issues of family and culture, love and loss, ethnicity and gender.

  • Student-friendly introduction to the elements of fiction. Using examples from the anthology, this introduction helps students understand—or review—the rise of the short story as well as elements such as tone, point of view, and character and ideas such as realism and postmodernism.
  • Stories organized by theme, elements, and subject. The Table of Contents organizes the authors alphabetically. However, the appendices provide instructors and students with additional organizing tools, particularly useful in terms of comparing stories and appreciating them within their historical contexts.
  • 11 author commentaries. Written by some of the authors included in the anthology, these commentaries offer a variety of insights into the craft, revision, and art of reading and writing about short stories.
  • Glossary. This appendix including scores of examples from the selected stories provides students with a quick reference to literary terms.
  • Author bios. Preceding each story is an overview of the author's life and works. Besides providing biographical and social context, the bios include quotations from the authors themselves about their narrative process and strategies.



Preface to Instructors.


Introduction.


Short Stories.

Sherman Alexie, “Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play 'The Star-Spangled Banner' at Woodstock.”

Dorothy Allison, “River of Names.”

Margaret Atwood, “Happy Endings.”

Toni Cade Bambara, “The Lesson.”

Andrea Barrett, “The Littoral Zone.”

John Barth, “Lost in the Funhouse.”

Donald Barthelme, “The School.”

Richard Bausch, “The Man Who Knew Belle Star.”

Charles Baxter, “Gryphon.”

Ann Beattie, “Janus.”

Gina Berriault, “The Birthday Party.”

Raymond Carver, “Cathedral.”

John Cheever, “The Swimmer.”

Sandra Cisneros, “The Monkey Garden.”

Peter Ho Davies, “The Hull Case.”

Junot Díaz, “Fiesta, 1980.”

Andre Dubus, “The Fat Girl.”

Stuart Dybek, “Pet Milk.”

Nathan Englander, “In This Way We Are Wise.”

Louise Erdrich, “The Red Convertible.”

Carolyn Ferrell, “Proper Library.”

Richard Ford, “Communist.”

Karen Joy Fowler, “The Elizabeth Complex.”

Pam Houston, “How to Talk to a Hunter.”

Gish Jen, “In the American Society.”

Ha Jin, “The Woman from New York.”

Charles Johnson, “Menagerie: A Child's Fable.”

Denis Johnson, “Emergency.”

Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl.”

Jhumpa Lahiri, “The Third and Final Continent.”

David Leavitt, “Gravity.”

Andrea Lee, “Brothers and Sisters Around the World.”

Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.”

Bernard Malamud, “The Jewbird.”

James Alan McPherson, “Of Cabbages and Kings.”

Bobbie Ann Mason, “Shiloh.”

David Means, “What They Did.”

Lorrie Moore, “Which Is More Than I Can Say About Some People.”

Bharati Mukherjee, “The Management of Grief.”

Alice Munro, “The Turkey Season.”

Joyce Carol Oates, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”

Tim O'Brien, “The Things They Carried.”

Flannery O'Connor, “Everything That Rises Must Converge.”

Grace Paley, “Wants.”

Jayne Anne Phillips, “Satisfaction.”

Mark Richard, “Strays.”

George Saunders, “My Flamboyant Grandson.”

Akhil Sharma, “Surrounded by Sleep.”

Leslie Marmon Silko, “Yellow Woman.”

Susan Sontag, “The Way We Live Now.”

John Updike, “Here Come the Maples.”

Helena Maria Viramontes, “The Moths.”

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., “Harrison Bergeron.”

Alice Walker, “Everyday Use.”

John Edgar Wideman, “newborn thrown in trash and dies.”

Tobias Wolff, “The Rich Brother.”



Appendix I: Author Commentaries.

Sherman Alexie, “ The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me.”

Dorothy Allison, “Context.”

John Barth, “A Few Words About Minimalism.”

Richard Bausch, “Dear Writer.”

Raymond Carver, “On Writing.”

Charles Baxter, From “Burning Down the House.”

Jamaica Kincaid, “Those Words That Echo...Echo...Echo...Through Life.”

Bharati Mukherjee, “A 400-Year-Old Woman.”

Alice Munro, “What Is Real?”

Joyce Carol Oates, “Why Is Your Writing So Violent?”

Flannery O'Conner, “The Nature and Aim of Fiction.”



Appendix II: Chronological Table of Contents.


Appendix III: Stories Grouped by Elements, Subjects, and Themes.


Appendix IV: Glossary.

For American Literary Survey


For Creative Writing - Fiction


For Introduction to Fiction


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