Collected Stories of Carson McCullers, including The Member of the Wedding and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe [Paperback]

Carson McCullers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1998

Carson McCullers--novelist, dramatist, poet--was at the peak of her powers as a writer of short fiction. Here are nineteen stories that explore her signature themes: wounded adolescence, loneliness in marriage, and the tragicomedy of life in the South. Here too are "The Member of the Wedding" and "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe," novellas that Tennessee Williams judged to be "assuredly among the masterpieces of our language." (A Mariner Reissue)

Editorial Reviews

Review

This work collects for the first time all 19 of McCullers's stories from a 1951 edition and from The Mortgaged Heart (1971). Her most critically acclaimed novels round out the reader, while the author's biographer Virginia Carr provides a lucid, thoughtful introduction. McCullers patented the Southern gothic genre that embraces grotesque, morbid characters with such pervading themes as unrequited love and wounded adolescence. Largely set in the South and richly autobiographical, her writings have endured because of their great power and originality. Sure to appeal to the general reader, the volume will also satisfy scholars with its broad look at McCullers's oeuvre. Edward C. Lynskey, Documentation, Atlantic Research Corp., Alexandria, Va.
(Library Journal )

About the Author

Carson McCullers (1917-1967) was the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, including The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The Member of the Wedding, Reflections in a Golden Eye, and Clock Without Hands. Born in Columbus, Georgia, on February 19, 1917, she became a promising pianist and enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York when she was seventeen, but lacking money for tuition, she never attended classes. Instead she studied writing at Columbia University, which ultimately led to The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, the novel that made her an overnight literary sensation. On September 29, 1967, at age fifty, she died in Nyack, New York, where she is buried.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (September 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395925053
• ISBN-13: 978-0395925058
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,364 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carson McCullers (1917-1967) was the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, including The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The Member of the Wedding, Reflections in a Golden Eye, and Clock Without Hands. Born in Columbus, Georgia, on February 19, 1917, she became a promising pianist and enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York when she was seventeen, but lacking money for tuition, she never attended classes. Instead she studied writing at Columbia University, which ultimately led to The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, the novel that made her an overnight literary sensation. On September 29, 1967, at age fifty, she died in Nyack, New York, where she is buried.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful collection, September 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Collected Stories of Carson McCullers, including The Member of the Wedding and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe (Paperback)

This book contains a wealth of moving stories by a great writer, including a well-written introduction by her biographer. This would definitely be one of my desert island books.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor Kindle Edition, December 17, 2010

By 

Patrick Martin-Breen (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Collected Stories of Carson McCullers (Kindle Edition)

The Kindle edition contains a large number of errors, in the hundreds, likely reflecting poor or non-existent proofing of scanned text. Most are obvious and distracting ("1" for "I", for instance); occasionally, they render sentences incoherent, and it is not clear what the originals were. Rarely, but non-negligilby, they change meaning--we have "Wonderland" for "Wunderkind" in the story--yes--"Wunderkind".

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting..., November 14, 2001

By 

C. Bonanni "loosefur" (Margate, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Collected Stories of Carson McCullers, including The Member of the Wedding and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe (Paperback)

I have always read stories in the past that gave me feelings right away. After reading these short stories, I was somewhat confused why McCullers didn't elaborate, or why she ended the story where she did. It was only after reading her biography, that I began to reread the stories and became obsessed with all of them. The meanings became clearer, the ideas behind them were revealed, and she has become my favorite author. I would recommend this to anyone, and I would also recommend her novels too. Enjoy.