short story, brief prose fiction. The term covers a wide variety of narratives—from stories in which the main focus is on the course of events to studies of character, from the "short short" story to extended and complex narratives such as Thomas Mann's Death in Venice. Most often the short story is restricted in character and situation and is concerned with creating a single, dynamic effect. Its length usually falls between 2,000 and 10,000 words. Short stories date back to earliest times; they can be found in the Bible, Gesta Romanorum Gesta Romanorum (jĕs`tə rō'mənôr`əm), medieval collection of Latin stories.
..... Click the link for more information. of the Middle Ages, Boccaccio's Decameron, and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The modern short story is said to have begun in the 19th cent. with the works of Edgar Allan Poe Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809–49, American poet, short-story writer, and critic, b. Boston. He is acknowledged today as one of the most brilliant and original writers in American literature.
..... Click the link for more information. and Guy de Maupassant Maupassant, Guy de (gē də mōpäsäN`)
..... Click the link for more information. . Notable among the exponents of the form are Henry James James, Henry, 1843–1916, American novelist and critic, b. New York City. A master of the psychological novel, James was an innovator in technique and one of the most distinctive prose stylists in English.

He was the son of Henry James , Sr.
..... Click the link for more information. , O. Henry O. Henry, pseud. of William Sydney Porter, 1862–1910, American short-story writer, b. Greensboro, N.C. He went to Texas in 1882 and worked at various jobs—as teller in an Austin bank (1891–94) and as a newspaperman for the
..... Click the link for more information. , E. T. A. Hoffmann Hoffmann, Ernst Theodor Amadeus (ĕrnst tā`ōdōr ämädā`
..... Click the link for more information. , Chekhov Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich (chĕk`ôf, Rus.
..... Click the link for more information. , Kafka Kafka, Franz (fränts käf`kä), 1883–1924, German-language novelist, b. Prague.
..... Click the link for more information. , D. H. Lawrence Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert Lawrence), 1885–1930, English author, one of the primary shapers of 20th-century fiction.

Life

The son of a Nottingham coal miner, Lawrence was a sickly child, devoted to his refined but domineering mother, who
..... Click the link for more information. , Katherine Mansfield Mansfield, Katherine, 1888–1923, British author, b. New Zealand, regarded as one of the masters of the short story. Her original name was Kathleen Beauchamp. A talented cellist, she did not turn to literature until 1908.
..... Click the link for more information. , Sherwood Anderson Anderson, Sherwood, 1876–1941, American novelist and short-story writer, b. Camden, Ohio. After serving briefly in the Spanish-American War, he became a successful advertising man and later a manager of a paint factory in Elyria, Ohio.
..... Click the link for more information. , Ernest Hemingway Hemingway, Ernest, 1899–1961, American novelist and short-story writer, b. Oak Park, Ill. one of the great American writers of the 20th cent.

Life

The son of a country doctor, Hemingway worked as a reporter for the Kansas City Star
..... Click the link for more information. , Katherine Anne Porter Porter, Katherine Anne, 1890–1980, American author, b. Indian Creek, Tex. Although she published infrequently, she is regarded as a master of the short story.
..... Click the link for more information. , John O'Hara O'Hara, John, 1905–70, American novelist and short-story writer, b. Pottsville, Pa. He worked at a number of jobs and ultimately became a newspaperman before the appearance of his first novel, Appointment in Samarra (1934).
..... Click the link for more information. , Flannery O'Connor O'Connor, Flannery (Mary Flannery O'Connor), 1925–64, American author, b. Savannah, Ga., grad. Women's College of Georgia (A.B., 1945), Iowa State Univ. (M.F.A., 1947).
..... Click the link for more information. , J. D. Salinger Salinger, J. D. (Jerome David Salinger) (săl`ĭnjər), 1919–, American novelist and short-story writer, b. New York City.
..... Click the link for more information. , John Cheever Cheever, John, 1912–82, American author, b. Quincy, Mass. His expulsion from Thayer Academy was the subject of his first short story, published by the New Republic when he was 17.
..... Click the link for more information. , John Updike Updike, John, 1932–, American author, b. Shillington, Pa., grad. Harvard, 1954. His novels and stories, written in a well-modulated prose of extraordinary beauty and dazzling fluidity, usually treat the tensions and frustrations of middle-class life, often
..... Click the link for more information. , Donald Barthelme Barthelme, Donald (bär`thĕlm), 1931–89, American writer, b. Philadelphia.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Raymond Carver Carver, Raymond, 1938–88, American short-story writer, b. Clatskanie, Oreg. He was raised in the Pacific Northwest, where he often set his sparely written tales of everyday blue-collar life.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bibliography

See W. Allen, The Short Story in English (1981); G. Weaver, The American Short Story (1983); C. A. Moser, ed., The Russian Short Story (1986); J. Updike and K. Kenison, ed., The Best American Short Stories of the Century (1999).

short story

Brief fictional prose narrative. It usually presents a single significant episode or scene involving a limited number of characters. The form encourages economy of setting and concise narration; character is disclosed in action and dramatic encounter but seldom fully developed. A short story may concentrate on the creation of mood rather than the telling of a story. Despite numerous precedents, it emerged only in the 19th century as a distinct literary genre in the works of writers such as E.T.A. Hoffmann, Heinrich Kleist, Edgar Allan Poe, Prosper Mérimée, Guy de Maupassant, and Anton Chekhov.

short story (redirected from Short-story)

Life

Life

Bibliography

short story

short story
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