Great American Short Stories: A Guide for Writers and Readers

Plunge into several centuries of short stories in the American tradition, looking at how to write them, how to read them, and how to appreciate their powerful influence.

• By This Professor
• 01: “Come In Here”: How Stories Draw Us In
• 02: Discovering the American Short Story
• 03: The Storytelling Instinct in America
• 04: Storytelling and American Mythos
• 05: Sentimental Fiction and Social Reform
• 06: The Rise of Realism in American Fiction
• 07: American Modernists
• 08: Contemporary American Storytelling
• 09: Setting or Donnée in American Short Fiction
• 10: The Use of Detail in American Short Fiction
• 11: Character: Who You Are in the Dark
• 12: American Dialogue and Interior Monologue
• 13: Standing Apart: The Third Person
• 14: Standing Close: The First and Second Person
• 15: Plot: What Characters Do Next
• 16: Imagery in American Short Fiction
• 17: Style in Traditional American Short Stories
• 18: Experimental American Short Stories
• 19: Genre Short Fiction in America
• 20: Graphic Short Fiction in America
• 21: Postmodern Short Fiction in America
• 22: American Microfictions
• 23: Short Story Endings
• 24: A Hundred False Starts