Best of
Short-Stories

1920

The Short Stories


F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1920
    Scott Fitzgerald is known for his novels, but in his lifetime, his fame stemmed from his prolific achievement as one of America's most gifted (and best-paid) writers of stories and novellas. In 'The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald', Matthew J. Bruccoli, the country's premier Fitzgerald scholar and biographer, assembles a sparkling collection that encompasses the full scope of Fitzgerald's short fiction. The forty-three masterpieces range from early stories that capture the fashion of the times to later ones written after the author's fabled crack-up, which are sober reflections on his own youthful excesses. Included are classic novellas, such as "The Rich Boy," "May Day," and "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz," as well as a remarkable body of work he wrote for the Saturday Evening Post and its sister "slicks." These stories can be read as an autobiographical journal of a great writer's career, an experience deepened by the illuminating introductory headnotes that Matthew Bruccoli has written for each story, placing it in its literary and biographical context.Together, these forty-three stories compose a vivid picture of a lost era, but their brilliance is timeless. This essential collection is a monument to the genius of one of the great voices in the history of American literature.

The Doom That Came to Sarnath and Other Stories


H.P. Lovecraft - 1920
    Wild ravings from an insane man turn to prophecy when the Truth is revealed.Cover illustration: Michael WhelanContents:"Introduction" (Lin Carter) "The Other Gods" (1921) "The Tree" (1920) "The Doom That Came to Sarnath" (1919) "The Tomb" (1917) "Polaris" (1918) "Beyond the Wall of Sleep" (1919) "Memory" (1919) "What the Moon Brings" (1923) "Nyarlathotep" (1920) "Ex Oblivione" (1921) "The Cats of Ulthar" (1920) "Hypnos" (1922) "Nathicana" (1927) "From Beyond" (1920) "The Festival" (1923) "The Nameless City" (1921) "The Quest of Iranon" (1921) "The Crawling Chaos" (1920) "In the Walls of Eryx" (1935) "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs" (1924)

Stories


Katherine Mansfield - 1920
    Lawrence and something of a rival of Virginia Woolf, her stories suggest someone writing in a different era and in a vastly different English. Her language is as transparent as clean glass, yet hovers on the edge of poetry. Her characters are passionate men and women swaddled in English reserve -- and sometimes briefly breaking through. And her genius is to pinpoint those unacknowledged and almost imperceptible moments in which those people's relationships -- with one another and themselves -- change forever. This collection [of 28 stories] includes such masterpieces as "Prelude," "At the Bay" "Bliss," "The Man Without a Temperament" and "The Garden Party" and has a new introduction by Jeffrey Meyers.Introduction / Jeffrey Meyers --Tiredness of Rosabell (written 1908; published 1924) --Baron (1910) --Modern (1911) --Woman at the store (1912) --Ole underwood (1913) --Little governess (1915) --Prelude (1918) --At the bay (1922) --Psychology (1920) --Bliss (1918) --Je ne Parle Pas Francais (1920) --Sun and moon (1920) --This flower (1924) --Man with a temperament (1920) --Revelations (1920) --Young girl (1920) --Stranger (1921) --Daughters of the late Colonel (1921) --Life of Ma parker 91921) --Singing lesson (1921) --Voyage(1921) --Garden-party (1922) --Miss Brill(1920) --Marriage a la mode (1921) --Doll's house (1922) --Doves' nest t(1923) --Six years after (1923) --Fly (1923).

Flappers and Philosophers


F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1920
    He was the self-styled spokesman of the "Lost Generation" and author of The Great Gatsby (1925). His debut novel, This Side of Paradise (1920) examines the lives and morality of post-World War I youth. Flappers and Philosophers (1920) was his first collection of short stories. His second novel, The Beautiful and Damned (1922), demonstrates an evolution and maturity in his writing, and provides an excellent portrait of America during the Jazz Age, as does Tales of the Jazz Age (1922).

The Offshore Pirate


F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1920
    Round them flowed the smell of the night sea, bringing with it an infinite languor.

Bernice Bobs Her Hair


F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1920
    She added that she wanted to ask his advice, because she had heard he was so critical about girls.

Put Alije Đerzeleza


Ivo Andrić - 1920
    i 1922. godine u Beogradu, ali delovi ove pripovetke su izlazili u zagrebačkom Književnom jugu. Iako je osnova za sadržinu i značenje Puta Alije Đerzeleza, Mustafe Madžara, Mosta na Žepi i Trupa pronađena u istoriji, legendi i sudbini pojedinca u njima, Andrić istoriju ne posmatra kao zbir poznatih i poverljivih događaja medju njenim učesnicima, niti legendu doživljava kao gotovu i nepromenljivu sižejnu činjenicu priče, nego kao adekvatnu početnu osnovu za dublje i postojanije shvatanje smisla i značenja istorije, legende u životu pojedinca i trajanju sveta. Vidi ih kao simboličan doživljaj istorije, kao pozornicu na kojoj se odvija čovekov susret sa neminovnostima svoje prolaznosti, nesavršenstva, straha i nemoći. Andrić’s first short story, published in 1920. Its protagonist is the hero of a large number of Moslem heroic ballads. Bearing in mind the special place accorded to “legend” and “fairy-tale” in Andrić’s statements about art, we should consider exactly what form “the grain of truth contained in legend” takes in this tale. The traditional ballads concerned with Alija deal exclusively with his prowess on the battlefield. Andrić refers to his fame in just one sentence: "He was renowed for many battles and his fearful strength... " and immediatelly takes him off his horse, setting him down in a context where he appears awkward because he is not used to being on the ground, or to normal social interaction. His stature is a t once diminished: “In a few days the magic circle around Đerzelez had quite disappeared. “There is no clear reason why the label “hero“ should have attached itself to this particular person. He is small, unprepossessing and ungainly as soon as he dismounts, awkward and uninteresting in conversation. He is slow-witted and chronically lacking in imagination. But he is also obsessive. Once he sees a beautiful woman he can think of nothing else but possessing her. Or he abandons himself wholeheartedly to the singing of a particularly fine traditional singer: “Đerzelez felt that the singer tugging at his soul and that any moment now, he would expire, from excessive strength, or excessive weakness. “ Đerzelez can flourish only in circumstances where his simple-minded strength energy can be expressed in the immediate violent ways he understands. He is quite baffled by more intricate social relationships and by the whole deeply disturbing question of women. Andrić here exploits the comic possibilities exposing a renowned hero to the demands made on men by their ballads about Marko Kraljević.

The Eternal Smile: Three Stories


Pär Lagerkvist - 1920
    

Youth and the Bright Medusa


Willa Cather - 1920
    It was to be worse than jail, even; the tepid waters of Cordelia Street were to close over him finally and forever. The grey monotony stretched before him in hopeless, unrelieved years; Sabbath-school, Young People's Meeting, the yellow-papered room, the damp dish-towels; it all rushed back upon him with sickening vividness. Excerpt fr "Paul's Case," one of eight poetic stories in this memorable collection.

Bliss & Other Stories


Katherine Mansfield - 1920
    Reginald Peacock's day --Sun and moon --Feuille d'album --A dill pickle --The little governess --Revelations --The escape.

Bernice Bobs Her Hair: And Other Stories


F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1920
    This original collection includes the complete 1920 volume Flappers and Philosophers, as well as other early stories.May day --The jelly-bean --Myra meets his family --Babes in the woods --The camel's back --The lees of happiness --The smilers --The offshore pirate --The ice palace --Head and shoulders --The cut-glass bowl --Bernice bobs her hair --Benediction --Dalyrimple goes wrong --The four fists.

Smith and the Pharaohs


H. Rider Haggard - 1920
    Rider Haggard. The title tale concerns a budding Egyptologist who is accidentally locked up one night in the Cairo Museum. Falling asleep, he dreams that he is put on trial by the ghosts of Egypt's pharaohs and queens. His crime? Robbing their graves. But is it just a dream? Four of the tales are fantasies: the title novella, "Little Flower," "Only a Dream," and "Barbara Who Came Back." The other stories are "Magepa the Buck" and "The Blue Curtain." In all, this is a sterling collection of stories of adventure and the supernatural from the author of King Solomon's Mines.

Katsuno's Revenge and Other Tales of the Samurai


Asataro Miyamori - 1920
    Recounted by a distinguished scholar, they feature scenes from samurai life that embody the concept of Bushido, the "way of the warrior." Their portrayals of loyalty, romance, passion, and heroism offer a true reflection of the values of the Japanese knighthood.Largely fact-based, these fables originated among the traditional storytellers of Japan and were later adapted into romances and historical dramas. Asataro Miyamori, a professor of English at the Oriental University in Tokyo, drew upon authentic sources in compiling this volume, which first appeared in 1920. In the preface, Miyamori observed, "It is true the samurai class has gone forever along with feudalism; but fortunately or unfortunately the Japanese at large are samurai in a sense. . . . European civilization has revolutionized Japanese society, both for better and for worse. . . . yet it may safely be said that the sentiments, motives and moral principles of the samurai in some measure remain in the bedrock of their character, in their subconsciousness, so to speak. The Japanese of today are intellectually cosmopolitan, but emotionally they are still samurai to no small degree."

From Out of the Silence: Seven Strange Stories


Bessie Kyffin-Taylor - 1920
    a woman is haunted by the ghost of a child... two twins share a terrible destiny... a brother and sister find their holiday disturbed when they engage rooms at a haunted inn... These are just some of the dark delights awaiting readers of this classic collection of spine-chillers, originally published in 1920.

Tales of the Tepee


Edward Everett Dale - 1920
    During territorial days young Dale rode, hunted, and visited with the Kiowas, Comanches, and Wichitas. Later he taught many Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws, Sac and Fox, and Delawares at the state university. Near the beginning of his long and distinguished career as a historian, he gathered and recorded these stories.Originally published in 1920, Tales of the Tepee takes the reader to the lodge bonfires of the Cherokees, Wichitas, and Pawnees, where children stayed awake to hear about giant cannibals, magical transformations, mortal unions with celestial bodies, and journeys to the Spirit Land. Dale preserved these popular tales of danger and revenge, renewal and romance, and family life. They are populated with an ogress named Spearfinger, the monster Flint, the tragic Wynema, and the cyclic heroes Wild Boy, Stone Man, and Found-in-the-Grass. Here are animal people like the courageous Rabbit and the great bird Tlan-u-wa. And here are lovely explanations for matters mundane and cosmic: how strawberries came to be, and how the moon got its spots.