The best short stories of 1918, and the yearbook of the American short story
General
The best short stories of 1918, and the yearbook of the American short story
American fiction -- 20th century; Short stories -- 20th century -- Bibliography; Short stories -- 20th century -- Indexes; Short stories, American
_Modern Short Stories_: _A Book for High Schools_, Edited with
Introduction and Notes by _Frederick Houk Law_ (Century Company). This
collection of twenty-two stories drawn entirely from contemporary work
is a most persuasive introduction of the short story to young readers.
The selection is catholic, and should make the student familiar with
many types of plot, characterization and style. The selection ranges
from Lafcadio Hearn to Tolstoy, and from Richard Harding Davis to Fiona
Macleod. Such notable stories of the past year or two as Phyllis
Bottome’s “Brother Leo” and Stacy Aumonier’s “A Source of Irritation”
afford a refreshing change from the conventional routine. Mr. Law has
succeeded almost admirably in coating the educational pill.
_The Land Where the Sunsets Go_, by _Orville H. Leonard_ (Sherman,
French & Company). This volume was published in 1917 somewhat obscurely,
but it has certain remarkable qualities which would make me sorry to
neglect it. These sketches of the American desert are divided somewhat
evenly between verse and prose. The verse is very bad, and the prose is
very good. While the prose sketches are not short stories in the strict
sense of the word, they contain much fine characterization and a
pictorial value which place them easily first among all imaginative
records of the American desert.
_The Red One_, by _Jack London_ (The Macmillan Company). These four
short stories include the best of the work upon which Mr. London was
engaged at the time of his death. “Like Argus of the Ancient Times” is a
true saga full of the open spaces and the zest of youth lingering on
into old age. “The Hussy” also takes its place among the best of Mr.
London’s later stories. While the other stories are distinctive I cannot
report upon them so favorably.
_Canadian Wonder Tales_, by _Cyrus Macmillan_ (John Lane Company). These
stories are drawn from all parts of Canada and include both Indian and
French Canadian legends. While they lack the naïve reality of the folk
storyteller’s method, the selection is excellent, and should prove a
revelation to the American reader of the rich, though neglected,
treasures which lie at our back door. Until Mr. C. M. Barbeau of Ottawa
renders his invaluable collections accessible in more popular form, this
collection will be practically the only introduction of these treasures
to the general reader.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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