Columbia Companion to the Twentieth Century American Short Story

Each entry presents a critique of at least two of an author’s stories, a biliography of the story collections, and recommendations for more sustained critiques of the author’s work.–American Literature

Here are the categories of a postcanonical era with a vengeance: not just stories with a thematic cycle but also those written by African Americans, Asian Americans, Chicano-Latinos, lesbians and gays, Native Americans, non-English speakers, members of the working class, people concerned with the Holocaust, and even those with ecological interests.–American Literary Scholarship

An eminently useful work. While there are other books on short stories and on the authors included here, this new resource is unusually well done…. The Columbia Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Short Story is essential for academic libraries and is highly recommended for public and school libraries.–Neal Wyatt “Library Journal “

Particularly useful because it includes contemporary authors who are difficult to find… The writing is uniformly excellent, and the efficient index includes authors, story titles, book titles, and subjects.–J. E. Sheets “Choice “

This reference will be well-used by high school students seeking resources for the ubiquitous literary ‘term paper.’ And in so doing, they may begin to develop a ‘sense of what makes a writer unique.’–Virginia Wallace “ALA Bibliography “