New Short Story Theories [Paperback]

Charles E. May (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 364 pages
• Publisher: Ohio University Press; 1 edition (July 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821410873
• ISBN-13: 978-0821410875
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #282,269 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charles May was born and raised in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. After receiving his Ph.D. degree from Ohio University, he taught literature at California State University, Long Beach for 40 years, retiring in 2006. His academic and critical interest is the short story form, on which he has published several books and several hundred articles and reviews. He published his first short story in Appalachian Heritage in 2009. It can be read at: http://community.berea.edu/appalachianheritage/issues/summer2009/charlesmay.pdf His blog, "Reading the Short Story," is at may-on-the-short-story.blogspot.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For understanding, not writing, short stories, June 10, 2002

By 

Jeff Birkenstein (Lexington, KY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New Short Story Theories (Paperback)

In short (pun intended), this is one of the two or three best books out there on the theory of short story (see also _Short Story Theory at a Crossroads_ ed. by Lohafer and Clarey).

There are countless books out there for helping you craft your own short fiction. This book is not for that, nor does it make any claims to this purpose.

Instead, it is an excellent, critical look at the history and current state of the genre of the short story. If this is at all your interest, you must have this book.

Please disregard John Jr's review, for it is "almost useless" as far as this book is concerned.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but difficult, September 15, 2000

By 

"[e-mail]" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New Short Story Theories (Paperback)

John Jr (below) obviously has a little chip on his shoulder about writing theory and probably about academia.

No, this is not a how-to book filled with exercises and tips and explanations of different techniques. It is a book for the advanced student or writer, and discusses issues involved with the short story, placing the form in assorted contexts and dissecting it from those positions. It is not easy reading, but neither is it impregnable to the thoughtful reader. It will not tell you how to write short stories, but it will provide you with intelligent ways of thinking about them, and hence, being more disciplined and perhaps original in your work.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sorry, John, March 30, 2001

By 

Charles E. May (Garden Grove, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New Short Story Theories (Paperback)

Just a note to my colleague John to say I am sorry he did not find the book useful. I did not intend it for creative writing classes, but for students interested in the generic nature of the short story. Perhaps he might find the earlier version of the book more helpful, but this book does represent the best current thinking about the short story I could find. And thanks to John for at least a kind word about my own essay. Charles May