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Masterpieces of Short Fiction
This enlightening experience awaits you in Masterpieces of Short Fiction, a 24-lecture course that samples two centuries' worth of great short stories written by some of the acknowledged masters of the genre, including Anton Chekhov, D. H. Lawrence, Flannery O'Connor, Franz Kafka, and Ernest Hemingway.
Dr. Michael Krasny, Professor of English at San Francisco State University and the host of KQED's award-winning news and public affairs radio program, Forum, guides you deep into 23 renowned works, illuminating the remarkable variety, breathtaking artistry, and profound themes to be found in these miniature masterpieces.
The Art of the Present Moment
Although short stories have been around throughout history in the form of myths, fables, and legends, the short story as a distinct art form arose only during the 19th century, just in time for the busy age we all live in.
More than simply a shorter version of the novel, the short story is a unique and rewarding literary form in itself. Great short fiction offers something you can find nowhere else: a world in miniature faithfully captured by the author's mastery of character, plot, setting, image, and theme. The time it takes to read a short story may be brief, but its impact lasts much longer.
"Short story writers see by the light of the flash," says author and Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer. "Theirs is the art of the only thing that one can be sure of—the present moment."
Encounter the Ordinary and the Extraordinary
As Masterpieces of Short Fiction demonstrates, however, that flash can reveal many different kinds of truths. For example, in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," an embittered nobleman entombs his rival in a dank crypt, while in Grace Paley's "An Interest in Life," a deserted housewife maintains her good humor and hope while trying to raise her children.
Throughout the course, you encounter both of these extremes—the extraordinary and the ordinary moments of life—while you examine the craft of short fiction.
On one end of the spectrum, you see how great authors use the short story to capture the experience of the common man and woman. From Gogol's 19th-century underdog, the Russian scribe Akaky in "The Overcoat," to Raymond Carver's sympathetic portrait of a "plain man" in "Cathedral," short story writers use their remarkable powers of observation to record and often celebrate the unsung lives of ordinary people.
But you also sample the exotic and unusual as well, whether in Franz Kafka's satirical tale of an artist who turns starvation into a work of performance art ("A Hunger Artist") or in Gabriel García Márquez's Magical Realist allegory about a winged man who falls to Earth in a Latin American village ("A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings").
Each story, whether drawn from the closely observed details of everyday life or a richly imagined land of fantasy, offers you an exquisite and unique portrait of humanity.
How to Recognize a Masterpiece
How can stories that are so brief have such a strong emotional impact? What makes each of the works in this course a masterpiece? In Masterpieces of Short Fiction, you not only enjoy great literature, but you also develop an appreciation for how these great authors elevate the craft of storytelling into an art form.
In each lecture, Professor Krasny, who holds an Award of Excellence from the National Association of Humanities Educators, focuses on a single story written by a master of the genre. Using examples from the stories themselves, he illuminates each author's virtuosic development of character, plot, setting, imagery, theme, and language. As you progress through the course, you hone your ability to recognize and assess these elements.
You also learn fascinating facts about the author's lives and the artistic and historical contexts that helped shape these great works:
"Young Goodman Brown" reflects Nathaniel Hawthorne's stern Puritan upbringing and his guilt about his ancestors' participation in the Salem witch trials.
Like the main character of "My First Goose," Isaac Babel was a Jew who nevertheless rode with the notoriously anti-Semitic Cossacks as they undertook violent pogroms in Jewish neighborhoods and villages.
The terse literary style in Ernest Hemingway's "The Killers" (later dubbed "cablese" because it imitated the conciseness of telegram writing) was developed during the writer's early stint as a war correspondent.
Shirley Jackson's depiction of the village in "The Lottery" reflects her own feeling of isolation living as a progressive intellectual in a close-minded New England town.
Traces of James Baldwin's evangelical background remain in the poetic and biblical language of stories like "Sonny's Blues."
Discover the "Literary Form of Our Age"
Since 1970, Professor Krasny has taught courses on a wealth of subjects, including the short story, modern and contemporary American literature, ethnic American literature, transat...
Dr. Michael Krasny, Professor of English at San Francisco State University and the host of KQED's award-winning news and public affairs radio program, Forum, guides you deep into 23 renowned works, illuminating the remarkable variety, breathtaking artistry, and profound themes to be found in these miniature masterpieces.
The Art of the Present Moment
Although short stories have been around throughout history in the form of myths, fables, and legends, the short story as a distinct art form arose only during the 19th century, just in time for the busy age we all live in.
More than simply a shorter version of the novel, the short story is a unique and rewarding literary form in itself. Great short fiction offers something you can find nowhere else: a world in miniature faithfully captured by the author's mastery of character, plot, setting, image, and theme. The time it takes to read a short story may be brief, but its impact lasts much longer.
"Short story writers see by the light of the flash," says author and Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer. "Theirs is the art of the only thing that one can be sure of—the present moment."
Encounter the Ordinary and the Extraordinary
As Masterpieces of Short Fiction demonstrates, however, that flash can reveal many different kinds of truths. For example, in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," an embittered nobleman entombs his rival in a dank crypt, while in Grace Paley's "An Interest in Life," a deserted housewife maintains her good humor and hope while trying to raise her children.
Throughout the course, you encounter both of these extremes—the extraordinary and the ordinary moments of life—while you examine the craft of short fiction.
On one end of the spectrum, you see how great authors use the short story to capture the experience of the common man and woman. From Gogol's 19th-century underdog, the Russian scribe Akaky in "The Overcoat," to Raymond Carver's sympathetic portrait of a "plain man" in "Cathedral," short story writers use their remarkable powers of observation to record and often celebrate the unsung lives of ordinary people.
But you also sample the exotic and unusual as well, whether in Franz Kafka's satirical tale of an artist who turns starvation into a work of performance art ("A Hunger Artist") or in Gabriel García Márquez's Magical Realist allegory about a winged man who falls to Earth in a Latin American village ("A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings").
Each story, whether drawn from the closely observed details of everyday life or a richly imagined land of fantasy, offers you an exquisite and unique portrait of humanity.
How to Recognize a Masterpiece
How can stories that are so brief have such a strong emotional impact? What makes each of the works in this course a masterpiece? In Masterpieces of Short Fiction, you not only enjoy great literature, but you also develop an appreciation for how these great authors elevate the craft of storytelling into an art form.
In each lecture, Professor Krasny, who holds an Award of Excellence from the National Association of Humanities Educators, focuses on a single story written by a master of the genre. Using examples from the stories themselves, he illuminates each author's virtuosic development of character, plot, setting, imagery, theme, and language. As you progress through the course, you hone your ability to recognize and assess these elements.
You also learn fascinating facts about the author's lives and the artistic and historical contexts that helped shape these great works:
"Young Goodman Brown" reflects Nathaniel Hawthorne's stern Puritan upbringing and his guilt about his ancestors' participation in the Salem witch trials.
Like the main character of "My First Goose," Isaac Babel was a Jew who nevertheless rode with the notoriously anti-Semitic Cossacks as they undertook violent pogroms in Jewish neighborhoods and villages.
The terse literary style in Ernest Hemingway's "The Killers" (later dubbed "cablese" because it imitated the conciseness of telegram writing) was developed during the writer's early stint as a war correspondent.
Shirley Jackson's depiction of the village in "The Lottery" reflects her own feeling of isolation living as a progressive intellectual in a close-minded New England town.
Traces of James Baldwin's evangelical background remain in the poetic and biblical language of stories like "Sonny's Blues."
Discover the "Literary Form of Our Age"
Since 1970, Professor Krasny has taught courses on a wealth of subjects, including the short story, modern and contemporary American literature, ethnic American literature, transat...
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First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 16, 2018
Writing short fiction is a special talent. Poe was masterful; Faulkner's strengths were elsewhere. Krasny has been a well-appreciated professor, lecturer and radio personality from the Bay Area of California.
This series of lectures includes 23 of (arguably) the best short stories, ever. Krasny takes us through the form of the genre, "as well as the various ways in which it has evolved."
Whether you agree with his choices or not, he is very good in discussing all the essentials: plot, character, setting, style, point of view, and theme. He also gives frequent references to others' critical thoughts.
Most of the lectures explore "meaning" at length. Most also take time to place the story in its historical context. He also provides some interesting ways in which to evaluate short fiction. What I liked best was his emphasis on the art of storytelling and his ability to delineate relationships between the stories of various authors.
Having spent some significant time with these lectures, I feel ready to explore more of this form of fiction (and to re-read some of these now that I know more of what to look for).
So if you want to skip the lectures, you can treat the following as simply a list of "must read" short stories. ;-)
Lecture One
Excavations—Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”
Lecture Two
Hawthorne’s “Goodman Brown” and Lost Faith
Lecture Three
Under Gogol’s “Overcoat”
Lecture Four
Maupassant’s “The Necklace”— Real and Paste
Lecture Five
Chekhov, Love, and “The Lady with the Dog”
Lecture Six
James in the Art Studio— “The Real Thing”
Lecture Seven
Epiphany and the Modern in Joyce’s “Araby”
Lecture Eight
Babel’s “My First Goose”— Violent Concision
Lecture Nine
Male Initiation— Hemingway’s “The Killers”
Lecture Ten
Kafka’s Parable—“A Hunger Artist”
Lecture Eleven
Lawrence’s Blue-eyed “Rocking-Horse Winner”
Lecture Twelve
Female Initiation— Mansfield’s “Party”
Lecture Thirteen
Jackson’s Shocking Vision in “The Lottery”
Lecture Fourteen
O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”
Lecture Fifteen
Paley on Survival and “An Interest in Life”
Lecture Sixteen
The “Enormous Wings” of García Márquez
Lecture Seventeen
A New World Fable— Malamud’s “The Jewbird”
Lecture Eighteen
Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”—A Harlem Song
Lecture Nineteen
Updike’s “A & P”— The Choice of Gallantry
Lecture Twenty
Kingston’s Warrior Myth— “No Name Woman”
Lecture Twenty-One
Atwood’s “Happy Endings” as Metafiction
Lecture Twenty-Two
Gordimer’s “Moment Before Apartheid Fell"
Lecture Twenty-Three
Carver’s “Cathedral”— A Story that Levitates
This series of lectures includes 23 of (arguably) the best short stories, ever. Krasny takes us through the form of the genre, "as well as the various ways in which it has evolved."
Whether you agree with his choices or not, he is very good in discussing all the essentials: plot, character, setting, style, point of view, and theme. He also gives frequent references to others' critical thoughts.
Most of the lectures explore "meaning" at length. Most also take time to place the story in its historical context. He also provides some interesting ways in which to evaluate short fiction. What I liked best was his emphasis on the art of storytelling and his ability to delineate relationships between the stories of various authors.
Having spent some significant time with these lectures, I feel ready to explore more of this form of fiction (and to re-read some of these now that I know more of what to look for).
So if you want to skip the lectures, you can treat the following as simply a list of "must read" short stories. ;-)
Lecture One
Excavations—Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”
Lecture Two
Hawthorne’s “Goodman Brown” and Lost Faith
Lecture Three
Under Gogol’s “Overcoat”
Lecture Four
Maupassant’s “The Necklace”— Real and Paste
Lecture Five
Chekhov, Love, and “The Lady with the Dog”
Lecture Six
James in the Art Studio— “The Real Thing”
Lecture Seven
Epiphany and the Modern in Joyce’s “Araby”
Lecture Eight
Babel’s “My First Goose”— Violent Concision
Lecture Nine
Male Initiation— Hemingway’s “The Killers”
Lecture Ten
Kafka’s Parable—“A Hunger Artist”
Lecture Eleven
Lawrence’s Blue-eyed “Rocking-Horse Winner”
Lecture Twelve
Female Initiation— Mansfield’s “Party”
Lecture Thirteen
Jackson’s Shocking Vision in “The Lottery”
Lecture Fourteen
O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”
Lecture Fifteen
Paley on Survival and “An Interest in Life”
Lecture Sixteen
The “Enormous Wings” of García Márquez
Lecture Seventeen
A New World Fable— Malamud’s “The Jewbird”
Lecture Eighteen
Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”—A Harlem Song
Lecture Nineteen
Updike’s “A & P”— The Choice of Gallantry
Lecture Twenty
Kingston’s Warrior Myth— “No Name Woman”
Lecture Twenty-One
Atwood’s “Happy Endings” as Metafiction
Lecture Twenty-Two
Gordimer’s “Moment Before Apartheid Fell"
Lecture Twenty-Three
Carver’s “Cathedral”— A Story that Levitates
February 25, 2020
This was a slow train that took 4 months to finish. I read all the short stories before listening to the lectures. I was introduced to many authors whose names were completely new. I savored the Russian shorts (Gogol, Chekhov and Babel) and Kafka's parable, but didn't care for the begrimed stories of the moderns.
The genre intrigues me. Everything is compressed; great skill is required. I have several collections on my TBR list, even on my night stand, including one from the father of the short story, Anton Chekhov. I will keep on learning.
From listening to the stories of others, we learn to tell our own. ~ Margaret Atwood
The genre intrigues me. Everything is compressed; great skill is required. I have several collections on my TBR list, even on my night stand, including one from the father of the short story, Anton Chekhov. I will keep on learning.
From listening to the stories of others, we learn to tell our own. ~ Margaret Atwood
June 5, 2016
It is Greatly satisfying to read the twenty-three stories and then to hear a knowledgeable, interesting professor discuss them, which combination interests, delights, and enlightens the reader. Michael Krasny goes into each story in depth, explores the contextual information of the authors' lives and times, and also develops the recent history of the short story from Realism to Modernism to current Magic Realism, alternate worlds, political activism. I highly recommend this fine series of lectures.
June 11, 2016
This is a Great Course and has helped me understand a lot about writing and reading short stories. I can't say if I'll be able to mimic this in my own writing or recognize the perfectly placed details when I read, but I feel much more educated.
Will definitely listen to more Great Courses in the future. Even though Great Courses are now going to be online/downloadable only soon.
Will definitely listen to more Great Courses in the future. Even though Great Courses are now going to be online/downloadable only soon.
September 5, 2015
Thoroughly enjoyable, like all the Great Courses. Helps me expand my knowledge of literature.
Merged review:
Love the short story as a literary genre. Now I've been introduced to some new works I can explore.
Merged review:
Love the short story as a literary genre. Now I've been introduced to some new works I can explore.
January 16, 2021
The act of selecting a couple of dozen short story masterpieces is naturally subjective, but this collection is particulary strange. There are several undisputed classics - short stories that would probably appear on most lists, but some are present due to socio-political expediancy, or even a gimmick.
Also mixed, is the quality of the analyses within the lectures themselves. Sometimes clear and concise, other times meandering and rambling. For instance, the lecture on one of the particularly well-known and thoroughly analysed short stories, 'The Lottery', omitted many key points, replacing them with nebulous ponderings.
If you're looking for thorough analysis on what makes a short story masterpiece, stay for the first half only; the second half is the lecturer demonstarating how correct his political leanings are.
Also mixed, is the quality of the analyses within the lectures themselves. Sometimes clear and concise, other times meandering and rambling. For instance, the lecture on one of the particularly well-known and thoroughly analysed short stories, 'The Lottery', omitted many key points, replacing them with nebulous ponderings.
If you're looking for thorough analysis on what makes a short story masterpiece, stay for the first half only; the second half is the lecturer demonstarating how correct his political leanings are.
August 13, 2020
Lectures on 23 varied short-stories by Professor Michael Krasny. This Great Courses series was a good introduction to many of the great short story authors and their best work. For the most part I found the professor knowledgeable and entertaining.
I would recommend that you read the lesson's short story first; then review the course, and finally re-read the short story. This process will increase your understanding of the work and give you additional insight into great short story design and techniques.
I would recommend that you read the lesson's short story first; then review the course, and finally re-read the short story. This process will increase your understanding of the work and give you additional insight into great short story design and techniques.
December 31, 2024
An interesting an insightful series of lectures looking at masterpieces of short fiction from Poe to Carver. Krasny is a knowledgeable and articulate guide, but my only criticism would be that he often doesn’t have enough time to give each story its due. You are just getting into one story when he moves onto the next.
January 14, 2021
It was ok. The last few lectures he started being weird. Called a fairly typical 60s boy a mysognist for thinking typical teenage boy in the 60s thoughts. Said weird things about feminists. Made a weird joke about Jews.
August 26, 2023
An amiable hike through 100+ years of revered short stories and authors. Lots of nuggets to graze upon whether you know the stories in question or not. Added a few to my reading list. I particularly enjoyed Krasny’s sweetly verbose round-ups at the end of each lecture.
February 15, 2023
Good overview. Worth the listen.
April 6, 2023
This is a great collection of essays about short fiction. It reviews several pieces of short fiction and gives the reader excellent insight in what can be read.
May 11, 2023
Great series of lectures of short stories
February 7, 2013
Inspired me to read or reread a number of the works discussed.
August 30, 2016
Very canonical. But always great to have fresh insight on these chestnuts. Terrific delivery.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews