The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction

The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction
by R. V. Cassill, Richard Bausch

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Book Summary Information

Author: R. V. Cassill, Richard Bausch
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-01-05
ISBN: 0393926117
Number of pages: 1776
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Book Reviews of The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction

Book Review: Terrific Anthology
Summary: 5 Stars

Too often, fiction anthologies look exactly the same because they rely on the same old stories: Joyce's "Araby," John Updike's "A&P," Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily." And even when these conservative, non-risk-taking anthologies try and embrace more contemporary voices, again, the choices tend to be the same: Raymond Carver's "Cathedral," Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl." Don't misunderstand me, many of these often-anthologized stories are terrific, but as an English Instructor, I grow frustrated with anthology after anthology that fails to stand out.

Even though Norton is a giant in the field of literary anthologies, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the content of the Norton Anthology of Short Fiction was a terrific mix of old and new. Better still, editors Richard Bausch and R.V. Cassill often choose fresh stories that haven't been anthologized to death. Thus, instead of publishing Margaret Atwood's terrific (but too-anthologized) "Rape Fantasies," they instead include "Death by Landscape." Instead of Bernard Malamud's "The Magic Barrel," they include "Angel Levine." And although the classic heavies are well-represented (Faulkner, Hemingway, Gilman, Chopin, Poe, Chekhov), there's a healthy (and I mean HEALTHY) dose of fantastic contemporary writers: Stuart Dybek, Barry Hannah, Amny Hempel, Louise Erdrich, Bharati Mukherjee, and on, and on, and on. And unlike other weak anthologies that I've seen, where the editors try to fold in contemporary voices but pick weaker stories by those voices, Bausch and Cassill have carefully selected fine, fine contemporary works. The instructor, student, or general reader who chooses to slowly make his/her way through the stories in this collection will be rewarded with a nuanced, broad vision of fiction's landscape.

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Summary of The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction

The classroom standard for readers and aspiring writers of fiction, The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction offers the most comprehensive, engaging selection of classic and contemporary stories in the field.

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