Download or read book Sunday Evenings at Home Being Stories from History for Every Sunday Etc in the Year Etc written by Henry Cadwallader Adams and published by . This book was released on 1875 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Happy Sunday Evenings The New Testament Story of Jesus Christ A child s book By T E L written by T. E. L. and published by . This book was released on 1868 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Best American Humorous Short Stories written by Mark Twain and published by Xist Publishing. This book was released on 2016-02-20 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Different Kind of Humor The Best American Humorous Short Stories is a collection of 19th-century and early 20th-century stories written by the likes of Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, George William Curtis, Bret Harte or O. Henry. These stories aren’t humorous in the sense of our modern understanding, they present a different kind of humor like jokes about men who don’t wear hats and ridiculous notions about the African-Americans and about women. This Collection Includes: INTRODUCTION Alexander Jessup THE LITTLE FRENCHMAN AND HIS WATER LOTS (1839) George Pope Morris THE ANGEL OF THE ODD (1844) Edgar Allan Poe THE SCHOOLMASTER'S PROGRESS (1844) Caroline M.S. Kirkland THE WATKINSON EVENING (1846) Eliza Leslie TITBOTTOM'S SPECTACLES (1854) George William Curtis MY DOUBLE; AND HOW HE UNDID ME (1859) Edward Everett Hale A VISIT TO THE ASYLUM FOR AGED AND DECAYED PUNSTERS (1861) Oliver Wendell Holmes THE CELEBRATED JUMPING FROG OF CALAVERAS COUNTY (1865) Mark Twain ELDER BROWN'S BACKSLIDE (1885) Harry Stillwell Edwards THE HOTEL EXPERIENCE OF MR. PINK FLUKER (1886) Richard Malcolm Johnston THE NICE PEOPLE (1890) Henry Cuyler Bunner THE BULLER-PODINGTON COMPACT (1897) Frank Richard Stockton COLONEL STARBOTTLE FOR THE PLAINTIFF (1901) Bret Harte THE DUPLICITY OF HARGRAVES (1902) O. Henry BARGAIN DAY AT TUTT HOUSE (1905) George Randolph Chester A CALL (1906) Grace MacGowan Cooke HOW THE WIDOW WON THE DEACON (1911) William James Lampton GIDEON (1914) Wells Hastings This Xist Classics edition has been professionally formatted for e-readers with a linked table of contents. This eBook also contains a bonus book club leadership guide and discussion questions. We hope you’ll share this book with your friends, neighbors and colleagues and can’t wait to hear what you have to say about it. Xist Publishing is a digital-first publisher. Xist Publishing creates books for the touchscreen generation and is dedicated to helping everyone develop a lifetime love of reading, no matter what form it takes

Download or read book Grandma s miracles or Stories told at six o clock in the evening by Pansy written by Isabella Macdonald Alden and published by . This book was released on 1887 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Uncle Arthur s Bedtime Stories written by Arthur Stanley Maxwell and published by . This book was released on 1976 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A collection of true stories designed to help parents teach morals to their children and to show parents how to have a happier home. Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories are intended for parents to read to their children at bedtime or for family worship. This world-reknown best-selling classic has been a favorite of children and parents for generations."--Amazon.com.

Download or read book Messengers The Saturday Evening Post s Collection of Stories written by The Saturday Evening Post and published by Namaskar Book. This book was released on 101-01-01 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experience the power of storytelling with "Messengers" by The Saturday Evening Post. Immerse yourself in a collection of captivating tales that span genres and themes, each one a testament to the enduring legacy of American literature. As you journey through the pages of this anthology, prepare to be transported to different worlds and time periods, each story offering a glimpse into the human experience. From tales of love and loss to stories of triumph and tragedy, every narrative resonates with emotion and insight.But amidst the diversity of voices and perspectives, a question emerges: What if the true purpose of storytelling is to bridge the gap between past, present, and future? Could the stories we tell today serve as messengers to future generations, preserving our collective memory and wisdom? Explore the depths of human emotion and the power of the written word as you delve into the pages of this anthology. The Saturday Evening Post's commitment to excellence in storytelling shines through in every word, inviting readers to laugh, cry, and everything in between. Are you prepared to be moved by the timeless tales found in "Messengers"?Discover the magic of storytelling as you lose yourself in the pages of this anthology. Let the stories linger in your mind long after you've turned the final page, their messages echoing in your heart. Here's your chance to not just read, but to connect with the voices of generations past and present. This is more than an anthology; it's a celebration of the human experience in all its complexity. Will you heed the call of the messengers?Seize the opportunity to own a treasure trove of literary gems. Purchase "Messengers" now, and let the stories within its pages inspire and illuminate your own journey through life.

Download or read book Grandma s Miracles Or Stories Told at Six O clock in the Evening written by Pansy and published by . This book was released on 1902 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Best American Humorous Short Stories written by Various Authors and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2009-02-24 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Books for All Kinds of Readers. ReadHowYouWant offers the widest selection of on-demand, accessible format editions on the market today. Our 7 different sizes of EasyRead are optimized by increasing the font size and spacing between the words and the letters. We partner with leading publishers around the globe. Our goal is to have accessible editions simultaneously released with publishers' new books so that all readers can have access to the books they want to read.

Download or read book The Sunday book of story and parable written by Sunday book and published by . This book was released on 1888 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Best American Humorous Short Stories written by H. C. Bunner Et Al. and published by Prabhat Prakashan. This book was released on 2024-06-01 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prepare to be entertained with a collection of laughter-inducing tales in "The Best American Humorous Short Stories," curated by H. C. Bunner and others. Dive into a world where wit, satire, and absurdity reign supreme, offering a delightful escape from the ordinary. As you journey through these uproarious stories, you'll encounter a diverse cast of characters and scenarios guaranteed to tickle your funny bone. But amidst the hilarity, a question lingers: What makes a story truly humorous, and why do we find certain situations so irresistibly funny? Experience the genius of Bunner and his contemporaries as they masterfully craft tales that elicit chuckles and belly laughs alike. Each story is a testament to the enduring appeal of humor and its ability to transcend time and culture. But beyond the laughter lies a deeper truth: In a world filled with chaos and uncertainty, humor serves as a coping mechanism, offering solace and perspective in the face of life's absurdities. Get ready to bust a gut with the side-splitting humor of "The Best American Humorous Short Stories." Bunner and his collaborators invite you on a rollercoaster ride of hilarity, where every twist and turn leaves you gasping for breath. Indulge in the richness of comedic storytelling as you explore the nuances of wit, irony, and satire. Through these timeless tales, you'll discover the universal appeal of humor as a reflection of the human experience. Are you prepared to embark on a journey of laughter and merriment? Grab your copy of "The Best American Humorous Short Stories" now and join the ranks of those who know that sometimes, the best medicine is a good laugh. Don't miss your chance to experience the joy of these classic tales. Purchase your copy today and discover why laughter truly is the best medicine. ```

Download or read book The Best American Humorous Short Stories written by Alexander Jessup and published by Phoemixx Classics Ebooks. This book was released on 2021-08-19 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Best American Humorous Short Stories Alexander Jessup - A Different Kind of Humor The Best American Humorous Short Stories is a collection of 19th-century and early 20th-century stories written by the likes of Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, George William Curtis, Bret Harte or O. Henry. These stories aren't humorous in the sense of our modern understanding, they present a different kind of humor like jokes about men who don't wear hats and ridiculous notions about the African-Americans and about women. This Collection Includes: INTRODUCTION Alexander Jessup THE LITTLE FRENCHMAN AND HIS WATER LOTS (1839) George Pope Morris THE ANGEL OF THE ODD (1844) Edgar Allan Poe THE SCHOOLMASTER'S PROGRESS (1844) Caroline M.S. Kirkland THE WATKINSON EVENING (1846) Eliza Leslie TITBOTTOM'S SPECTACLES (1854) George William Curtis MY DOUBLE; AND HOW HE UNDID ME (1859) Edward Everett Hale A VISIT TO THE ASYLUM FOR AGED AND DECAYED PUNSTERS (1861) Oliver Wendell Holmes THE CELEBRATED JUMPING FROG OF CALAVERAS COUNTY (1865) Mark Twain ELDER BROWN'S BACKSLIDE (1885) Harry Stillwell Edwards THE HOTEL EXPERIENCE OF MR. PINK FLUKER (1886) Richard Malcolm Johnston THE NICE PEOPLE (1890) Henry Cuyler Bunner THE BULLER-PODINGTON COMPACT (1897) Frank Richard Stockton COLONEL STARBOTTLE FOR THE PLAINTIFF (1901) Bret Harte THE DUPLICITY OF HARGRAVES (1902) O. Henry BARGAIN DAY AT TUTT HOUSE (1905) George Randolph Chester A CALL (1906) Grace MacGowan Cooke HOW THE WIDOW WON THE DEACON (1911) William James Lampton GIDEON (1914) Wells Hastings

Download or read book One Scandalous Story written by Marvin Kalb and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-05-11 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1963 Marvin Kalb observed the Secret Service escorting an attractive woman into a hotel for what was most likely a rendezvous with President Kennedy. Kalb, then a news correspondent for CBS, didn't consider the incident newsworthy. Thirty-five years later, Kalb watched in dismay as the press dove headfirst into the scandal of President Clinton's affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, disclosing every prurient detail. How and why had the journalistic landscape shifted so dramatically? One Scandalous Story seeks to answer this critical question through the inside story of thirteen days -- January 13-25, 1998 -- that make up a vital chapter in the history of American journalism. In riveting detail, Kalb examines just how the media covered the Lewinsky scandal, offering what he calls an "X-ray of the Washington press corps." Drawing on hundreds of original interviews, Kalb allows us to eavesdrop on the incestuous deals between reporters and sources, the bitter disagreements among editors, the machination of moguls for whom news is Big Business, and above all, the frantic maneuvering to break the story. With fresh insight, he retraces decisions made by Michael Isikoff of Newsweek, Internet renegade Matt Drudge, Jackie Judd of ABC, Clinton-basher Lucianne Goldberg, Susan Schmidt of The Washington Post, Jackie Bennett of the Office of the Independent Counsel, and other key players in this scandal that veered from low comedy to high drama. Through the lens of those thirteen turbulent days, Kalb offers us a portrait of the "new news" in all its contradictions. He reveals how intense economic pressures in the news business, the ascendancy of the Internet, the blurring of roles between reporters and commentators, and a surge of dubious sourcing and "copy-cat journalism" have combined to make tabloid-style journalism increasingly mainstream. But are we condemned to a resurgence of "yellow journalism"? Painstakingly documented and sobering in its conclusions, One Scandalous Story issues a clarion call to newsmakers and the American public alike: "Journalism can change for the better -- and must."

Download or read book The Best American Humorous Short Stories written by Various and published by BEYOND BOOKS HUB. This book was released on 2023-07-24 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume does not aim to contain all “the best American humorous short stories”; there are many other stories equally as good, I suppose, in much the same vein, scattered through the range of American literature. I have tried to keep a certain unity of aim and impression in selecting these stories. In the first place I determined that the pieces of brief fiction which I included must first of all be not merely good stories, but good short stories. I put myself in the position of one who was about to select the best short stories in the whole range of American literature, but who, just before he started to do this, was notified that he must refrain from selecting any of the best American short stories that did not contain the element of humor to a marked degree. But I have kept in mind the wide boundaries of the term humor, and also the fact that the humorous standard should be kept second — although a close second — to the short story standard. In view of the necessary limitations as to the volume’s size, I could not hope to represent all periods of American literature adequately, nor was this necessary in order to give examples of the best that has been done in the short story in a humorous vein in American literature. Probably all types of the short story of humor are included here, at any rate. Not only copyright restrictions but in a measure my own opinion have combined to exclude anything by Joel Chandler Harris — Uncle Remus — from the collection. Harris is primarily — in his best work — a humorist, and only secondarily a short story writer. As a humorist he is of the first rank; as a writer of short stories his place is hardly so high. His humor is not mere funniness and diversion; he is a humorist in the fundamental and large sense, as are Cervantes, Rabelais, and Mark Twain. No book is duller than a book of jokes, for what is refreshing in small doses becomes nauseating when perused in large assignments. Humor in literature is at its best not when served merely by itself but when presented along with other ingredients of literary force in order to give a wide representation of life. Therefore “professional literary humorists,” as they may be called, have not been much considered in making up this collection. In the history of American humor there are three names which stand out more prominently than all others before Mark Twain, who, however, also belongs to a wider classification: “Josh Billings” (Henry Wheeler Shaw, 1815–1885), “Petroleum V. Nasby” (David Ross Locke, 1833–1888), and “Artemus Ward” (Charles Farrar Browne, 1834–1867). In the history of American humor these names rank high; in the field of American literature and the American short story they do not rank so high. I have found nothing of theirs that was first-class both as humor and as short story. Perhaps just below these three should be mentioned George Horatio Derby (1823–1861), author of Phoenixiana (1855) and the Squibob Papers (1859), who wrote under the name “John Phoenix.” As has been justly said, “Derby, Shaw, Locke and Browne carried to an extreme numerous tricks already invented by earlier American humorists, particularly the tricks of gigantic exaggeration and calm-faced mendacity, but they are plainly in the main channel of American humor, which had its origin in the first comments of settlers upon the conditions of the frontier, long drew its principal inspiration from the differences between that frontier and the more settled and compact regions of the country, and reached its highest development in Mark Twain, in his youth a child of the American frontier, admirer and imitator of Derby and Browne, and eventually a man of the world and one of its greatest humorists.” Nor have such later writers who were essentially humorists as “Bill Nye” (Edgar Wilson Nye, 1850–1896) been considered, because their work does not attain the literary standard and the short story standard as creditably as it does the humorous one. When we come to the close of the nineteenth century the work of such men as “Mr. Dooley” (Finley Peter Dunne, 1867- ) and George Ade (1866- ) stands out. But while these two writers successfully conform to the exacting critical requirements of good humor and — especially the former — of good literature, neither — though Ade more so — attains to the greatest excellence of the short story. Mr. Dooley of the Archey Road is essentially a wholesome and wide-poised humorous philosopher, and the author of Fables in Slang is chiefly a satirist, whether in fable, play or what not. This volume might well have started with something by Washington Irving, I suppose many critics would say. It does not seem to me, however, that Irving’s best short stories, such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle, are essentially humorous stories, although they are o’erspread with the genial light of reminiscence. It is the armchair geniality of the eighteenth century essayists, a constituent of the author rather than of his material and product. Irving’s best humorous creations, indeed, are scarcely short stories at all, but rather essaylike sketches, or sketchlike essays. James Lawson (1799–1880) in his Tales and Sketches: by a Cosmopolite (1830), notably in The Dapper Gentleman’s Story, is also plainly a follower of Irving. We come to a different vein in the work of such writers as William Tappan Thompson (1812–1882), author of the amusing stories in letter form, Major Jones’s Courtship (1840); Johnson Jones Hooper (1815–1862), author of Widow Rugby’s Husband, and Other Tales of Alabama (1851); Joseph G. Baldwin (1815–1864), who wrote The Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi (1853); and Augustus Baldwin Longstreet (1790–1870), whose Georgia Scenes (1835) are as important in “local color” as they are racy in humor. Yet none of these writers yield the excellent short story which is also a good piece of humorous literature. But they opened the way for the work of later writers who did attain these combined excellences. The sentimental vein of the midcentury is seen in the work of Seba Smith (1792–1868), Eliza Leslie (1787–1858), Frances Miriam Whitcher (“Widow Bedott,” 1811–1852), Mary W. Janvrin (1830–1870), and Alice Bradley Haven Neal (1828–1863). The well-known work of Joseph Clay Neal (1807–1847) is so all pervaded with caricature and humor that it belongs with the work of the professional humorist school rather than with the short story writers. To mention his Charcoal Sketches, or Scenes in a Metropolis (1837–1849) must suffice. The work of Seba Smith is sufficiently expressed in his title, Way Down East, or Portraitures of Yankee Life (1854), although his Letters of Major Jack Downing (1833) is better known. Of his single stories may be mentioned The General Court and Jane Andrews’ Firkin of Butter (October, 1847, Graham’s Magazine). The work of Frances Miriam Whitcher (“Widow Bedott”) is of somewhat finer grain, both as humor and in other literary qualities. Her stories or sketches, such as Aunt Magwire’s Account of Parson Scrantum’s Donation Party (March, 1848, Godey’s Lady’s Book) and Aunt Magwire’s Account of the Mission to Muffletegawmy (July, 1859, Godey’s), were afterwards collected in The Widow Bedott Papers (1855-56-80). The scope of the work of Mary B. Haven is sufficiently suggested by her story, Mrs. Bowen’s Parlor and Spare Bedroom (February, 1860, Godey’s), while the best stories of Mary W. Janvrin include The Foreign Count; or, High Art in Tattletown (October, 1860, Godey’s) and City Relations; or, the Newmans’ Summer at Clovernook (November, 1861, Godey’s). The work of Alice Bradley Haven Neal is of somewhat similar texture. Her book, The Gossips of Rivertown, with Sketches in Prose and Verse (1850) indicates her field, as does the single title, The Third-Class Hotel (December, 1861, Godey’s). Perhaps the most representative figure of this school is Eliza Leslie (1787–1858), who as “Miss Leslie” was one of the most frequent contributors to the magazines of the 1830’s, 1840’s and 1850’s. One of her best stories is The Watkinson Evening (December, 1846, Godey’s Lady’s Book), included in the present volume; others are The Batson Cottage (November, 1846, Godey’s Lady’s Book) and Juliet Irwin; or, the Carriage People (June, 1847, Godey’s Lady’s Book). One of her chief collections of stories is Pencil Sketches (1833–1837). “Miss Leslie,” wrote Edgar Allan Poe, “is celebrated for the homely naturalness of her stories and for the broad satire of her comic style.” She was the editor of The Gift one of the best annuals of the time, and in that position perhaps exerted her chief influence on American literature When one has read three or four representative stories by these seven authors one can grasp them all. Their titles as a rule strike the keynote. These writers, except “the Widow Bedott,” are perhaps sentimentalists rather than humorists in intention, but read in the light of later days their apparent serious delineations of the frolics and foibles of their time take on a highly humorous aspect. George Pope Morris (1802–1864) was one of the founders of The New York Mirror, and for a time its editor. He is best known as the author of the poem, Woodman, Spare That Tree, and other poems and songs. The Little Frenchman and His Water Lots (1839), the first story in the present volume, is selected not because Morris was especially prominent in the field of the short story or humorous prose but because of this single story’s representative character. Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) follows with The Angel of the Odd (October, 1844, Columbian Magazine), perhaps the best of his humorous stories. The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether (November, 1845, Graham’s Magazine) may be rated higher, but it is not essentially a humorous story. Rather it is incisive satire, with too biting an undercurrent to pass muster in the company of the genial in literature. Poe’s humorous stories as a whole have tended to belittle rather than increase his fame, many of them verging on the inane. There are some, however, which are at least excellent fooling; few more than that. Probably this is hardly the place for an extended discussion of Poe, since the present volume covers neither American literature as a whole nor the American short story in general, and Poe is not a humorist in his more notable productions. Let it be said that Poe invented or perfected — more exactly, perfected his own invention of — the modern short story; that is his general and supreme achievement. He also stands superlative for the quality of three varieties of short stories, those of terror, beauty and ratiocination. In the first class belong A Descent into the Maelstrom (1841), The Pit and the Pendulum (1842), The Black Cat (1843), and The Cask of Amontillado (1846). In the realm of beauty his notable productions are The Assignation (1834), Shadow: a Parable (1835), Ligeia (1838), The Fall of the House of Usher (1839), Eleonora (1841), and The Masque of the Red Death (1842). The tales of ratiocination — what are now generally termed detective stories — include The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) and its sequel, The Mystery of Marie Rogêt (1842–1843), The Gold-Bug (1843), The Oblong Box (1844), “Thou Art the Man” (1844), and The Purloined Letter (1844). Then, too, Poe was a master of style, one of the greatest in English prose, possibly the greatest since De Quincey, and quite the most remarkable among American authors. Poe’s influence on the short story form has been tremendous. Although the effects of structure may be astounding in their power or unexpectedness, yet the means by which these effects are brought about are purely mechanical. Any student of fiction can comprehend them, almost any practitioner of fiction with a bent toward form can fairly master them. The merit of any short story production depends on many other elements as well — the value of the structural element to the production as a whole depends first on the selection of the particular sort of structural scheme best suited to the story in hand, and secondly, on the way in which this is combined with the piece of writing to form a well-balanced whole. Style is more difficult to imitate than structure, but on the other hand the origin of structural influence is more difficult to trace than that of style. So while, in a general way, we feel that Poe’s influence on structure in the short story has been great, it is difficult rather than obvious to trace particular instances. It is felt in the advance of the general level of short story art. There is nothing personal about structure — there is everything personal about style. Poe’s style is both too much his own and too superlatively good to be successfully imitated — whom have we had who, even if he were a master of structural effects, could be a second Poe? Looking at the matter in another way, Poe’s style is not his own at all. There is nothing “personal” about it in the petty sense of that term. Rather we feel that, in the case of this author, universality has been attained. It was Poe’s good fortune to be himself in style, as often in content, on a plane of universal appeal. But in some general characteristics of his style his work can be, not perhaps imitated, but emulated. Greater vividness, deft impressionism, brevity that strikes instantly to a telling effect — all these an author may have without imitating any one’s style but rather imitating excellence. Poe’s “imitators” who have amounted to anything have not tried to imitate him but to vie with him. They are striving after perfectionism. Of course the sort of good style in which Poe indulged is not the kind of style — or the varieties of style — suited for all purposes, but for the purposes to which it is adapted it may well be called supreme. Then as a poet his work is almost or quite as excellent in a somewhat more restricted range. In verse he is probably the best artist in American letters. Here his sole pursuit was beauty, both of form and thought; he is vivid and apt, intensely lyrical but without much range of thought. He has deep intuitions but no comprehensive grasp of life. His criticism is, on the whole, the least important part of his work. He had a few good and brilliant ideas which came at just the right time to make a stir in the world, and these his logical mind and telling style enabled him to present to the best advantage. As a critic he is neither broad-minded, learned, nor comprehensive. Nor is he, except in the few ideas referred to, deep. He is, however, limitedly original — perhaps intensely original within his narrow scope. But the excellences and limitations of Poe in any one part of his work were his limitations and excellences in all. As Poe’s best short stories may be mentioned: Metzengerstein (Jan. 14, 1832, Philadelphia Saturday Courier), Ms. Found in a Bottle (October 19, 1833, Baltimore Saturday Visiter), The Assignation (January, 1834, Godey’s Lady’s Book), Berenice (March, 1835, Southern Literary Messenger), Morella (April, 1835, Southern Literary Messenger), The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall (June, 1835, Southern Literary Messenger), King Pest: a Tale Containing an Allegory (September, 1835, Southern Literary Messenger), Shadow: a Parable (September, 1835, Southern Literary Messenger), Ligeia (September, 1838, American Museum), The Fall of the House of Usher (September, 1839, Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine), William Wilson (1839: Gift for 1840), The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion (December, 1839, Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine), The Murders in the Rue Morgue (April, 1841, Graham’s Magazine), A Descent into the Maelstrom (May, 1841, Graham’s Magazine), Eleonora (1841: Gift for 1842), The Masque of the Red Death (May, 1842, Graham’s Magazine), The Pit and the Pendulum (1842: Gift for 1843), The Tell-Tale Heart (January, 1843, Pioneer), The Gold-Bug (June 21 and 28, 1843, Dollar Newspaper), The Black Cat (August 19, 1843, United States Saturday Post), The Oblong Box (September, 1844, Godey’s Lady’s Book), The Angel of the Odd (October, 1844, Columbian Magazine), “Thou Art the Man” (November, 1844, Godey’s Lady’s Book), The Purloined Letter (1844: Gift for 1845), The Imp of the Perverse (July, 1845, Graham’s Magazine), The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether (November, 1845, Graham’s Magazine), The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar (December, 1845, American Whig Review), The Cask of Amontillado (November, 1846, Godey’s Lady’s Book), and Lander’s Cottage (June 9, 1849, Flag of Our Union). Poe’s chief collections are: Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (1840), Tales (1845), and The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe (1850–56). These titles have been dropped from recent editions of his works, however, and the stories brought together under the title Tales, or under subdivisions furnished by his editors, such as Tales of Ratiocination, etc. Caroline Matilda Stansbury Kirkland (1801–1864) wrote of the frontier life of the Middle West in the mid-nineteenth century. Her principal collection of short stories is Western Clearings (1845), from which The Schoolmaster’s Progress, first published in The Gift for 1845 (out in 1844), is taken. Other stories republished in that collection are The Ball at Thram’s Huddle (April, 1840, Knickerbocker Magazine), Recollections of the Land-Fever (September, 1840, Knickerbocker Magazine), and The Bee-Tree (The Gift for 1842; out in 1841). Her description of the country schoolmaster, “a puppet cut out of shingle and jerked by a string,” and the local color in general of this and other stories give her a leading place among the writers of her period who combined fidelity in delineating frontier life with sufficient fictional interest to make a pleasing whole of permanent value. George William Curtis (1824–1892) gained his chief fame as an essayist, and probably became best known from the department which he conducted, from 1853, as The Editor’s Easy Chair for Harper’s Magazine for many years. His volume, Prue and I (1856), contains many fictional elements, and a story from it, Titbottom’s Spectacles, which first appeared in Putnam’s Monthly for December, 1854, is given in this volume because it is a good humorous short story rather than because of its author’s general eminence in this field. Other stories of his worth noting are The Shrouded Portrait (in The Knickerbocker Gallery, 1855) and The Millenial Club (November, 1858, Knickerbocker Magazine). Edward Everett Hale (1822–1909) is chiefly known as the author of the short story, The Man Without a Country (December, 1863, Atlantic Monthly), but his venture in the comic vein, My Double; and How He Undid Me (September, 1859, Atlantic Monthly), is equally worthy of appreciation. It was his first published story of importance. Other noteworthy stories of his are: The Brick Moon (October, November and December, 1869, Atlantic Monthly), Life in the Brick Moon (February, 1870, Atlantic Monthly), and Susan’s Escort (May, 1890, Harper’s Magazine). His chief volumes of short stories are: The Man Without a Country, and Other Tales (1868); The Brick Moon, and Other Stories (1873); Crusoe in New York, and Other Tales (1880); and Susan’s Escort, and Others (1897). The stories by Hale which have made his fame all show ability of no mean order; but they are characterized by invention and ingenuity rather than by suffusing imagination. There is not much homogeneity about Hale’s work. Almost any two stories of his read as if they might have been written by different authors. For the time being perhaps this is an advantage — his stories charm by their novelty and individuality. In the long run, however, this proves rather a handicap. True individuality, in literature as in the other arts, consists not in “being different” on different occasions — in different works — so much as in being samely different from other writers; in being consistently one’s self, rather than diffusedly various selves. This does not lessen the value of particular stories, of course. It merely injures Hale’s fame as a whole. Perhaps some will chiefly feel not so much that his stories are different among themselves, but that they are not strongly anything — anybody’s — in particular, that they lack strong personality. The pathway to fame is strewn with stray exhibitions of talent. Apart from his purely literary productions, Hale was one of the large moral forces of his time, through “uplift” both in speech and the written word. Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894), one of the leading wits of American literature, is not at all well known as a short story writer, nor did he write many brief pieces of fiction. His fame rests chiefly on his poems and on the Breakfast-Table books (1858-1860-1872-1890). Old Ironsides, The Last Leaf, The Chambered Nautilus and Homesick in Heaven are secure of places in the anthologies of the future, while his lighter verse has made him one of the leading American writers of “familiar verse.” Frederick Locker-Lampson in the preface to the first edition of his Lyra Elegantiarum (1867) declared that Holmes was “perhaps the best living writer of this species of verse.” His trenchant attack on Homeopathy and Its Kindred Delusions (1842) makes us wonder what would have been his attitude toward some of the beliefs of our own day; Christian Science, for example. He might have “exposed” it under some such title as The Religio-Medical Masquerade, or brought the batteries of his humor to bear on it in the manner of Robert Louis Stevenson’s fable, Something In It: “Perhaps there is not much in it, as I supposed; but there is something in it after all. Let me be thankful for that.” In Holmes’ long works of fiction, Elsie Venner (1861), The Guardian Angel (1867) and A Mortal Antipathy (1885), the method is still somewhat that of the essayist. I have found a short piece of fiction by him in the March, 1832, number of The New England Magazine, called The Début, signed O.W.H. The Story of Iris in The Professor at the Breakfast Table, which ran in The Atlantic throughout 1859, and A Visit to the Asylum for Aged and Decayed Punsters (January, 1861, Atlantic) are his only other brief fictions of which I am aware. The last named has been given place in the present selection because it is characteristic of a certain type and period of American humor, although its short story qualities are not particularly strong. Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835–1910), who achieved fame as “Mark Twain,” is only incidentally a short story writer, although he wrote many short pieces of fiction. His humorous quality, I mean, is so preponderant, that one hardly thinks of the form. Indeed, he is never very strong in fictional construction, and of the modern short story art he evidently knew or cared little. He is a humorist in the large sense, as are Rabelais and Cervantes, although he is also a humorist in various restricted applications of the word that are wholly American. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County was his first publication of importance, and it saw the light in the Nov. 18, 1865, number of The Saturday Press. It was republished in the collection, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches, in 1867. Others of his best pieces of short fiction are: The Canvasser’s Tale (December, 1876, Atlantic Monthly), The £1,000,000 Bank Note (January, 1893, Century Magazine), The Esquimau Maiden’s Romance (November, 1893, Cosmopolitan), Traveling with a Reformer (December, 1893, Cosmopolitan), The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg (December, 1899, Harper’s), A Double-Barrelled Detective Story (January and February, 1902, Harper’s) A Dog’s Tale (December, 1903, Harper’s), and Eve’s Diary (December, 1905, Harper’s). Among Twain’s chief collections of short stories are: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches (1867); The Stolen White Elephant (1882), The £1,000,000 Bank Note (1893), and The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, and Other Stories and Sketches (1900). Harry Stillwell Edwards (1855– ), a native of Georgia, together with Sarah Barnwell Elliott (? – ) and Will N. Harben (1858–1919) have continued in the vein of that earlier writer, Augustus Baldwin Longstreet (1790–1870), author of Georgia Scenes (1835). Edwards’ best work is to be found in his short stories of black and white life after the manner of Richard Malcolm Johnston. He has written several novels, but he is essentially a writer of human-nature sketches. “He is humorous and picturesque,” says Fred Lewis Pattee, “and often he is for a moment the master of pathos, but he has added nothing new and nothing commandingly distinctive An exception to this might be made in favor of Elder Brown’s Backslide (August, 1885, Harper’s), a story in which all the elements are so nicely balanced that the result may well be called a masterpiece of objective humor and pathos. Others of his short stories especially worthy of mention are: Two Runaways (July, 1886, Century), Sister Todhunter’s Heart (July, 1887, Century), “De Valley an’ de Shadder” (January, 1888, Century), An Idyl of “Sinkin’ Mount’in” (October, 1888, Century), The Rival Souls (March, 1889, Century), The Woodhaven Goat (March, 1899, Century), and The Shadow (December, 1906, Century). His chief collections are Two Runaways, and Other Stories (1889) and His Defense, and Other Stories (1898). The most notable, however, of the group of short story writers of Georgia life is perhaps Richard Malcolm Johnston (1822–1898). He stands between Longstreet and the younger writers of Georgia life. His first book was Georgia Sketches, by an Old Man (1864). The Goose Pond School, a short story, had been written in 1857; it was not published, however, till it appeared in the November and December, 1869, numbers of a Southern magazine, The New Eclectic, over the pseudonym “Philemon Perch.” His famous Dukesborough Tales (1871–1874) was largely a republication of the earlier book. Other noteworthy collections of his are: Mr. Absalom Billingslea and Other Georgia Folk (1888), Mr. Fortner’s Marital Claims, and Other Stories (1892), and Old Times in Middle Georgia (1897). Among individual stories stand out: The Organ-Grinder (July, 1870, New Eclectic), Mr. Neelus Peeler’s Conditions (June, 1879, Scribner’s Monthly), The Brief Embarrassment of Mr. Iverson Blount (September, 1884, Century); The Hotel Experience of Mr. Pink Fluker (June, 1886, Century), republished in the present collection; The Wimpy Adoptions (February, 1887, Century), The Experiments of Miss Sally Cash (September, 1888, Century), and Our Witch (March, 1897, Century). Johnston must be ranked almost with Bret Harte as a pioneer in “local color” work, although his work had little recognition until his Dukesborough Tales were republished by Harper & Brothers in 1883. Bret Harte (1839–1902) is mentioned here owing to the late date of his story included in this volume, Colonel Starbottle for the Plaintiff (March, 1901, Harper’s), although his work as a whole of course belongs to an earlier period of our literature. It is now well-thumbed literary history that The Luck of Roaring Camp (August, 1868, Overland) and The Outcasts of Poker Flat (January, 1869, Overland) brought him a popularity that, in its suddenness and extent, had no precedent in American literature save in the case of Mrs. Stowe and Uncle Tom’s Cabin. According to Harte’s own statement, made in the retrospect of later years, he set out deliberately to add a new province to American literature. Although his work has been belittled because he has chosen exceptional and theatric happenings, yet his real strength came from his contact with Western life. Irving and Dickens and other models served only to teach him his art. “Finally,” says Prof. Pattee, “Harte was the parent of the modern form of the short story. It was he who started Kipling and Cable and Thomas Nelson Page. Few indeed have surpassed him in the mechanics of this most difficult of arts. According to his own belief, the form is an American product ... Harte has described the genesis of his own art. It sprang from the Western humor and was developed by the circumstances that surrounded him. Many of his short stories are models. They contain not a superfluous word, they handle a single incident with grapic power, they close without moral or comment. The form came as a natural evolution from his limitations and powers. With him the story must of necessity be brief.... Bret Harte was the artist of impulse, the painter of single burning moments, the flashlight photographer who caught in lurid detail one dramatic episode in the life of a man or a community and left the rest in darkness.” Harte’s humor is mostly “Western humor” There is not always uproarious merriment, but there is a constant background of humor. I know of no more amusing scene in American literature than that in the courtroom when the Colonel gives his version of the deacon’s method of signaling to the widow in Harte’s story included in the present volume, Colonel Starbottle for the Plaintiff. Here is part of it: True to the instructions she had received from him, her lips part in the musical utterance (the Colonel lowered his voice in a faint falsetto, presumably in fond imitation of his fair client) “Kerree!” Instantly the night becomes resonant with the impassioned reply (the Colonel here lifted his voice in stentorian tones), “Kerrow!” Again, as he passes, rises the soft “Kerree!”; again, as his form is lost in the distance, comes back the deep “Kerrow!” While Harte’s stories all have in them a certain element or background of humor, yet perhaps the majority of them are chiefly romantic or dramatic even more than they are humorous. Among the best of his short stories may be mentioned: The Luck of Roaring Camp (August, 1868, Overland), The Outcasts of Poker Flat (January, 1869, Overland), Tennessee’s Partner (October, 1869, Overland), Brown of Calaveras (March, 1870, Overland), Flip: a California Romance (in Flip, and Other Stories, 1882), Left Out on Lone Star Mountain (January, 1884, Longman’s), An Ingenue of the Sierras (July, 1894, McClure’s), The Bell-Ringer of Angel’s (in The Bell-Ringer of Angel’s, and Other Stories, 1894), Chu Chu (in The Bell-Ringer of Angel’s, and Other Stories, 1894), The Man and the Mountain (in The Ancestors of Peter Atherly, and Other Tales, 1897), Salomy Jane’s Kiss (in Stories in Light and Shadow, 1898), The Youngest Miss Piper (February, 1900, Leslie’s Monthly), Colonel Starbottle for the Plaintiff (March, 1901, Harper’s), A Mercury of the Foothills (July, 1901, Cosmopolitan), Lanty Foster’s Mistake (December, 1901, New England), An Ali Baba of the Sierras (January 4, 1902, Saturday Evening Post), and Dick Boyle’s Business Card (in Trent’s Trust, and Other Stories, 1903). Among his notable collections of stories are: The Luck of Roaring Camp, and Other Sketches (1870), Flip, and Other Stories (1882), On the Frontier (1884), Colonel Starbottle’s Client, and Some Other People (1892), A Protégé of Jack Hamlin’s, and Other Stories (1894), The Bell-Ringer of Angel’s, and Other Stories (1894), The Ancestors of Peter Atherly, and Other Tales (1897), Openings in the Old Trail (1902), and Trent’s Trust, and Other Stories (1903). The titles and makeup of several of his collections were changed when they came to be arranged in the complete edition of his works Henry Cuyler Bunner (1855–1896) is one of the humorous geniuses of American literature. He is equally at home in clever verse or the brief short story. Prof. Fred Lewis Pattee has summed up his achievement as follows: “Another [than Stockton] who did much to advance the short story toward the mechanical perfection it had attained to at the close of the century was Henry Cuyler Bunner, editor of Puck and creator of some of the most exquisite vers de société of the period. The title of one of his collections, Made in France: French Tales Retold with a U.S. Twist (1893), forms an introduction to his fiction. Not that he was an imitator; few have been more original or have put more of their own personality into their work. His genius was Gallic. Like Aldrich, he approached the short story from the fastidious standpoint of the lyric poet. With him, as with Aldrich, art was a matter of exquisite touches, of infinite compression, of almost imperceptible shadings. The lurid splashes and the heavy emphasis of the local colorists offended his sensitive taste: he would work with suggestion, with microscopic focussings, and always with dignity and elegance. He was more American than Henry James, more even than Aldrich. He chose always distinctively American subjects...FROM THE BOOKS.

Download or read book The Best American Humorous Short Stories Volume 1 of 2 EasyRead Super Large 18pt Edition written by and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Best American Humorous Short Stories written by Alexander Jessup and published by IndyPublish.com. This book was released on 1920 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

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Download or read book The Wonderful Land of Bed Time Stories written by Lewis Carroll and published by Good Press. This book was released on 2023-12-18 with total page 10383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Wonderful Land of Bed-Time Stories stands as a monumental anthology that gathers under its wings an illustrious array of tales that have enchanted young hearts and minds over generations. This collection boasts an exceptional diversity in storytelling, ranging from the whimsical adventures in fairylands to the profound moral tales that have shaped childhood ethos across cultures. The anthology encapsulates the essence of literary traditions from the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen to the daring narratives of Jack London, and the whimsical worlds created by L. Frank Baum and J.M. Barrie, making it a treasure trove of literary styles and themes. Its significance lies not only in the collective cultural memory it represents but also in its capacity to inspire imagination and impart timeless wisdom. The contributing authors and editors bring with them rich backgrounds that span continents, centuries, and realms of imagination. From the Victorian enchantments of Lewis Carroll and Oscar Wilde to the pioneering spirit of American letters embodied by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Louisa May Alcott, this anthology is a cross-cultural dialogue in narrative richness. These authors, belonging to various literary movementsRomanticism, the Golden Age of Children's Literature, and early Modernismcome together to provide a panoramic view of the landscape of children's literature, their collective works echoing the universal truths and fantasies that have historically connected human experiences. For readers seeking an adventure into the heart of childhood's most beloved stories, The Wonderful Land of Bed-Time Stories offers an unparalleled journey. This anthology is not just a collection but an opportunity to explore the breadth and depth of literary craftsmanship across different eras and ideologies. It invites educators, students, and aficionados of classic literature to delve into its pages, to appreciate the nuances of each tale, and to celebrate the enduring power of storytelling. This compilation is an essential addition to any library, promising both the joy of discovery and the comfort of familiar tales retold for generations to come.