Try free for 30 days
-
The Short Story
- A Very Short Introduction
- Narrated by: Mike Cooper
- Length: 4 hrs and 19 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $16.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's Summary
What defines a modern short story is much more than a question of length. Despite the efforts of early pioneers like Edgar Allan Poe, the genre was originally synonymous with the anecdote or tale and seen more as entertainment than art. However it has become far more than that, and this Very Short Introduction considers afresh the form's ongoing innovations in plot construction, capacity for psychological insight, and ability to offer intensely concentrated perceptions.
This book charts the rise of the short story from its original appearance in magazines and newspapers. For much of the 19th century, tales were written for the press, and the form's history is marked by engagement with popular fiction. From the later 19th century, the short story earned a reputation for its skillful use of plot design and character study. After the First World War it found outlets in high-brow publications, and single-author collections, as well as anthologies.
Exploring the form's techniques and themes, Andrew Kahn considers the continuity and variation in key structures and techniques such as the beginning, the creation of voice, the ironic turn or plot twist, and how writers manage endings. Throughout he draws on examples from an international and flourishing corpus of work, with close analysis of classic and lesser-known stories.