The New Short Story Theories

by Charles E. May (Editor)

The first edition of May’s Short Story Theories (1976) opened with an essay entitled “The Short An Underrated Art.” Almost two decades later, the short story suffers no such slight. Publishers and critics have become increasingly interested in the form, which has enjoyed a renaissance led by such writers as Raymond Carver, Tobias Wolff, Ann Beattie, Bobbie Ann Mason, and Mary Robison. An important part of this revival of interest, Short Story Theories has continued to attract a strong and loyal audience among students and teachers.

The New Short Story Theories includes a few basic pieces from the earlier volume—Poe’s Hawthorne review, Brander Matthew’s extension and formalization of Poe’s theories, and essays by Randall Jarrell, Elizabeth Bowen, and Nadine Gordimer—but most of the essays are new to the collection.

Addressing problems of definition, historical considerations, issues of technique, and cognitive approaches, essays
“The Tale as Genre in Short Story Fiction,” by W. S. Penn
“O. Henry and the Theory of the Short Story,” by Suzanne C. Ferguson
“On Writing,” by Raymond Carver
“From Tale to Short Story,” by Robert F. Marler
“A Cognitive Approach to Storyness,” by Susan Lohafer

May’s new collection will continue to highlight the short story, to provoke debate, and to enrich our experience of a demanding and rewarding literary form.

Genres: Writing, Short Stories, Reference, Nonfiction

363 pages, Paperback

First published July 15, 1994

Reviews

[Avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, this was part of my creative writing reading list and I'm actually amazed at the depth in which it explains the theories of short stories and they came to be.

If you are looking for a quick read this is not it. You do have to really think when you read it since concepts are weighted down by the language and style. So if you ever find yourself with a lot of time and you have an interest in writing, read this. It's very insightful.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this is referred to as a second edition to his Short Story Theories (1976), the New of the title is literal: this 1994 edition is a completely different book. May retains some essential essays from the 1976 version (Poe, Jarrell, Bowen, Gordimer), but as he states in his preface, 80% of the material is new to the 1994 version. To get the complete read, you need both books. These essays reap the benefits of the explosion in the short story form—hence the attendant explosion in critical analysis—that occurred in the years between these two editions (1976-1994). The depth of analysis is striking compared to the earlier essays. We see here short story theory coming into its own. I think the two essays (along with his introductory essay) that May contributes—one on Chekov and the modern story, the other on the nature of knowledge in the short story—are highlights because we get May's own theories, and he's clearly thought (and written) extensively on the topic. The annotated bibliography has also been updated.

[Earline · Rating 2 out of 5]

to be fair I did not finish the entire book. I did enjoy a few of the articles but there were too many lame ones to really balance that out.

The articles I enjoyed the most would have to be The Short Story: The Long and Short of It by Mary Louise Pratt and Poe on Short Fiction, a collection of expects from Poe's reviews and writings. I also contacted Allan Pasco about his article On Defining Short Stories and he was a pretty nice guy, so that was definitely a plus.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, if (obviously) fairly academic.

[Sayauwok]

theory

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

good discussion, but lacking in conclusions