Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

An anthology of 75 stories by an ethnically balanced group of contemporary and classic writers. The book emphasizes the writing process by focusing on taking marginal notes, keeping a journal of notes and observations, developing ideas, brainstorming and assembling materials into a coherent form.

Product Details

• Paperback: 816 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall College Div; 3 Sub edition (December 19, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0133192601
• ISBN-13: 978-0133192605
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,313,161 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent textbook or just some great stories to enjoy, March 28, 2000

By	Paula Bennett "[e-mail]" (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews

This anthology is obviously designed to be used as a classroom text, but it contains an excellent and very substantial selection of short stories (about 75) that would be of interest to anyone who enjoys short fiction. Although most of the authors represented are American, they include a wide range of voices within our culture, both past and present, and there are over a dozen selections from other countries as well.

I've used the text many times in my introduction to fiction courses and have found that it lends itself well to exploring particular themes (such as coming of age stories, gender issues, ethnicity and racism, etc.) and to teaching students how to analyze fiction. Because it is designed as a course textbook, it contains explanatory material about the elements of fiction and about how to write essays about fiction. These sections are less satisfactory than the stories themselves, and I suggest to students that they either skip those sections altogether or read them after reading the stories in each chapter. Better readers don't need the explanatory sections, but students who have had little or no prior experience in studying fiction find the explanations and sample essays helpful. Those portions of the book would not be of interest to the general reader who simply wants to enjoy a collection of fine short stories.