21 Essential American Short Stories

by Leslie M. Pockell (Editor)

A vibrant journey through the annals of classic American short stories 21 Essential American Short Stories is a collection of beloved stories that have comprised an important part of the fabric of our culture, from the earliest days of our nation to the twentieth century. Some of the stories, such as Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle,” O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi,” William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” and James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” have been long regarded as literary classics, while others, such as Frank Stockton’s “The Lady or the Tiger?” and Ellis Parker Butler’s “Pigs Is Pigs,” are lesser known but well worth discovering. The carefully selected stories, each preceded by an illuminating headnote, powerfully illustrate the varied richness of our national literature and history. This beautifully packaged volume, containing the unforgettable classic short stories that evoke our shared American tradition and national identity, makes the perfect gift for the short story aficionado and novice alike.

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Fiction, Anthologies

320 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 2011

Reviews

[Hannah Jo Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific collection of some great short stories. Love the cover, but the inside layout bummed me out. The pages are too full and crowded with type. I would have left at least one story out and given the type more room to breathe.

[Meghan]

I was pleased after picking this up at how many of these "essential" stories are already familiar to me.

[Jen Knox · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delight to cozy up with this book on a cold winter weekend and be transported across time, countryside and communities. Appreciated the authors short intro before each story. Excellent curation.

[Bernadette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a delightfully varied bunch of stories! Short stories are packed with meaning!

[tiddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more like a collection of lesser known short stories by the essential American authors, rather than the 21 essential American short stories. Some of it, like "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (Ambrose Bierce) are captivating; others like "The Purloined Letter" (Edgar Allan Poe) feel rather verbose. Still, it's enjoyable read from the bygone era.

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of the short stories you probably read in high school. Nothing newer than Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery'.

[Dana Bledsoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

eh

[Bruce Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice collection of short stories

[LeAnn]

need to check it out again

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this because I got to talking with my high schooler about short stories that traumatized me when I was in high school and suddenly desperately wanted to re-read A Rose for Emily.

I rated this 4 stars only because there were definitely some stories I loved and a few that I didn't care for/ weren't for me.

Stories -

Rip Van Winkle
Bartleby the Scrivener
The Purloined Letter
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
The Yellow Wallpaper
Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby
The Blue Hotel
The Lady or the Tiger
Pigs is Pigs
To Build a Fire
The Bar Sinister
The Gift of the Magi
A Diamond as Big as the Ritz
The Killers
Leningen Versus the Ants
The Pomegranate
The Call of Cthulhu
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
The Lottery

I'm missing a story, I think.

Random thoughts:

There sure is a lot of casual racism in classic American literature. That this was not the first time I had read some of these stories and I don't remember being shocked by it as a teenager is very telling.

I suspect I am not the only person who could make a connection between the Frog of Calaveras County and an Abe Simpson style rambling story. I was reading it out loud to my husband and laughing my ass off.

I'd like to read more by Edith Wharton.

The Blue Hotel - men are boring and violent

I could have finished the book a few days earlier had the Cthulhu story not tripped me up. I'm glad I read it because now I get the reference, but woof.

Was I meant to relate to Bartleby so much? Because I also would prefer not to.

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most interesting thing the editor did with the book was including "The Yellow Wallpaper". Otherwise the introductions aren't very interesting, most of the stories are either overly familiar or not interesting enough to be oddities, and it is shocking that a collection assembled in 2011 would contain so many stories featuring the N-word without any advance warning. There is a warning on the Br'er Rabbit story, but Hemingway's "The Killers" needed it more, and wasn't even a particularly good Hemingway story.

Disappointing, a misuse of the word "essential", but also it feels like it would have made more sense if it were compiled in the 70s or 80s, like Pockell has not absorbed any of the progress of the last few decades.

It was somewhat interesting re-reading so many of these stories from junior high and high school English classes with older eyes.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection. Reading rich and refined literature is like yoga for the mind. It takes some stretching and bending to get warmed up, and sinking into the pose is a delight. I found this collection varied and unique, spanning multiple genres and topics. My fancies were tickled by Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener", and I was disturbed and strangely affected by Edith Wharton's "Pomegranate Seed", Perkins' "The Yellow Wallpaper" and Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". Each story brushed up against me and touched one aspect or another of my psyche. I want to read them all over again.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I sought out this collection after reading a discussion thread not long ago about the most memorable/traumatizing short stories assigned by high school English teachers. Only 21 stories are included here, and they are limited to those of only American origin, but I thought it was a reasonably well-rounded collection. They range from the humorous and the delightfully disturbing to the incomprehensible ("The Call of Cthulhu") and the weirdly twisted, and I limited my reading to no more than a single story each day to allow more time to ruminate.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great stuff I'd never seen, like Yellow Wallpaper, Blue Hotel, and Bar Sinister. I get it's important, but I never need to read Bartleby again. Also, I noticed a few typos in this copy for stories that are generations old. Good stuff overall!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with any anthology, some stories were better than others. My favorite was “Pigs is Pigs” by Ellis Parker Butler. And any time you look at works that span American history, you will be reminded of how racist our country is.

[Deb O rah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An over all enjoyable collection.

[Carolyn Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ha! Love! These truly are essentials. Why wasn't this on a reading list at school?

[Scott Potter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic short stories. A fun read

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

dnf

[Sarahj33 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well put together collection of short stories, and makes for an intriguing read. That being said, it perhaps falls short of the mark of presenting the 21 "Essential" American short stories. Many "Essential" American authors are featured, such as Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, Ernest Hemingway...the list goes on. But some of the selected stories are surprising. "The Purloined Letter", by Edgar Allan Poe, is one odd choice. With all of Poe's work to choose from, why this tale? With little suspense and a rather vain detective for the main character, this story does not compare well to Poe's other classics like "The Tell-Tale Heart." This strange selection made me start to question other editorial choices as well, although I am not well versed enough in American Literature to really say if he chose the best examples from the wide pool of options presented by these authors.

But overall I was happy with the book. "The Yellow Wallpaper", by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, made a memorable impression on me in high school, and I'm happy to say still has a perfect eeriness to it many years later. In contrast, I absolutely despised "To Build a Fire" in middle school, only because the main character is big jerk-face who wants to kill a defenseless dog. But now re-reading the story years later, I have to concede that it is a classic part of American literature.

One asset to this book is how the editor will draw connections between the stories. In this way he compares "To Build a Fire" and "Leiningen Versus the Ants" as stories where man confronts nature, but with very different results. He also more questionably compares "The Yellow Wallpaper" with "The Pomegranate Seed" by Edith Wharton as both having an "ambiguous" storytelling approach. I find that to be a weak comparison, as an "ambiguity" in "The Yellow Wallpaper" derives from the narrator's confused mental state, whereas the "ambiguity" in "The Pomegranate Seed" is the product of a possible brush with the supernatural. Perhaps Mr. Pockell really wants us to compare the two stories because they were both written by women, making up two of the three stories by female writers. I am disappointed that only three out of 21 stories are written by women, especially considering that a quick Google turns up a plethora of short stories by Kate Chopin, Susan Glaspell, Louisa May Alcott, any many others that are certainly worthy of the title "Essential."

But, all quibbles about the title aside, this is a useful collection of short stories. There is a good chance you've read about five of them in school, which means there is a lot of new material to discover, as well as old favorites to revisit. After you've read this, go to your library and check out other short stories by these authors, and decide for yourself if these are truly the "essential" American short stories.

[Empress5150]

Could only make it through a few of these stories. I think this is more of an "I will pick it up from time to time and read a story or two" rather than read it cover to cover.

I agree with someone else's observations. Many of these stories cannot really be "essential" as they are some of the respective author's more obscure works.

[Katie Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually read a collection of short stories! Wow for me as they are never a favorite.

I kind of want to be Bartleby the scrivener...
I wish I had someone to argue with regarding the lady or the tiger...
Remarkably, I laughed out loud to 'pigs is pigs'...
and it all began due to Walter Mitty because the movie was great.

[Lauren G · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories.

My favorites were:

"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
"The Pomegranate Seed" by Edith Wharton
"A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner
"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

I had only read 3 of the 21 stories before so it was nice to get introduced to some authors I had heard of but wasn't really sure if I liked their writing style.

[Suzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book essentially to read The Yellow Wallpaper (Charlotte Perkins Gilman) which I'd heard so much about. That story did nothing for me. But I did enjoy many of the others, such as Rip Van Winkle (Washington Irving), Bartleby the Scrivener (Herman Melville), To Build a Fire (Jack London), A Rose for Emily (William Faulkner), and The Lottery (Shirley Jackson)

[Joseph Arida · Rating 3 out of 5]

8/10
Pigs is Pigs
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
The Blue Hotel
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
The Yellow Wallpaper
Leningen Versus. the Ants
9/10
Bartleby the Scrivener
To Build a Fire

[Penny McGill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can see the appeal of the story after all. Have to talk to my mum about it when she is back in town.

[Justin Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection. I enjoy the structure of short stories, the have the added bonus of an insight into their times.

[Javier Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved all the stories that range from fantasy to comedy to human isolation. Interested in reading more from these authors and their books.

[Jaxon Richmund · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars