The history of the American short story provides a faithful record of the nation's literary and cultural development from the beginning of the nineteenth century. Every important author of American fiction has worked in the short story, so that it has some claim to be called an American art form. Combining classic favourites with many unexpected gems, this superb collection of fifty-six short stories celebrates the richness and diversity of the American literary imagination from Nathaniel Hawthorne to John Updike. In addition to many rarely anthologized tales, this sweeping survey of over 170 years of American short fiction includes numerous important works by women and minority writers. Joyce Carol Oates provides fascinating notes on each writer, blending biographical information with her own trenchant observations on their work, as well as a perceptive Introduction in which she offers the fruit of many years of reflection on a genre of which she herself is a master.