The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction [Paperback]

R. V. Cassill (Editor), Richard Bausch (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0393975088 | ISBN-13: 978-0393975086 | Publication Date: February 2000 | Edition: 6th

A bestseller from first publication, The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction has been adopted in over 750 schools in its Fifth Edition. From the start, it has offered students the writer's voice, pure and unencumbered by excessive editorial commentary. This new Sixth Edition continues to abide by R.V. Cassill's initial plan: "to put together a very large group of stories that would, in detail and overall design, express both the living tradition of short fiction and the culture of which it is a part."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard Bausch holds the Lillian and Morrie A. Moss Chair of Excellence at the University of Memphis. He is the author of nine novels, including In the Night Season and Hello to the Cannibals, and five volumes of stories, among them a Modern Library edition of selected stories and The Stories of Richard Bausch. In 2004 he was given the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction.

R. V. Cassill the original editor of The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, taught creative writing at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and at Brown, Purdue, Columbia, and Harvard. He was the author of more than thirty books of fiction, including the novels Clem Anderson, Dr. Cobb’s Game, and After Goliath. Cassil’s Collected Stories was published in 1989. He died in Rhode Island in 2002. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1738 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 6th edition (February 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393975088
• ISBN-13: 978-0393975086
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,723 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars almost great....but.., January 2, 2003

By 

Patrick Ellis Hogan (denver, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction (Paperback)

This antholology has some excellent selections, with intelligent choices made as to which works of certain authors to present( Faulkner's are amazing) and a wonderful variety of styles and subjects. As to Cassill himself being a "master" of the short story, however, that may be undue praise, and his own addition to the collection(rather presumptuous and inappropriate for the editor) would have been better replaced by more worthy possibilities. Jack London is unpardonably nowhere to be found. Yet on the whole worth a space on your shelf.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A writer's anthology, February 20, 2006

By 

William Cordray (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction (Paperback)

Writers, especially beginning writers, interested in short stories should take a good glance at this anthology. The book draws from a wide selection of international literature leaning towards the contemporary (stories written within the last 20 - 30 years) rather than the modern or classics of the short story genre. The beginning briefly covers some common ideas about action, plot, complication, point of view, indirection, the part and the whole and coherence followed up by questions suitable for classroom discussions. The bulk of the book comes from stories chosen by the editors who wish to believe that even if you bother to read every selection in the book, you as a reader may finish reading the book but the book, the stories themselves may not be finished with you, their ideas staying with you long after the book has been sold back to a college usedbook store or disposed of in some other way. Finally, the last hundred pages deal with writing literature criticism as well as the act of writing itself in short, brief excerpts written by several of the writers who are included in the collection. Although it is on the pricey side, it is a good reference for those interested in short story writing. Another anthology to consider is The Art of the Story edited by Daniel Halpern which is much less expensive and more contemporary than the Norton Anthology.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great, July 21, 2003

By 

Michael Salingio "MS" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction (Paperback)

The short stories in this collection are excellent. However, I wish that at the end of each story, there would be 2-3 questions to help guide the reader's analysis. Some of the stories are really out there and I sometimes found myself puzzled upon completing a story. Some of the stories have an accompaning essay which analizes the work. However, these essays are scarce. Even worse, the essays are attached to short stories that are well-known such as the "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad. There is plenty written about these famous stories that can be found on the internet. The less famous stories, which don't have accompaning essays, have almost no criticism written about them. A couple "guide questions" at the end of the story would not have added much to the length of the anthology. Of course, if you are using this collection in a college course, you don't need analysis included in the collection because your teacher or class discussion can help clarify the story.

Another problem I have with the collection is that the date the story was written are not included with the story. The dates the stories were written are contained in a separate section of the book. Thus, it is annoying to flip to this section and then to flip back to the story itself.

At the beginning of each story, the editors of the collection have included a short synopsis about the author's life and writing career. This adds much to the collection. The editors also include helful footnotes that explain era-specific words and phrases. The anthology also contains useful essays regarding writing about short fiction.

Overall, this book is wonderful. Hopefully in future editions, my concerns can be addressed.