V. S. Pritchett | Author

About the Author

Born in Ipswich and educated at Alleyn's School, Dulwich, and Dulwich College, novelist and critic V. S. Pritchett worked in the leather trade and later as a commercial traveler and shop assistant. After World War II, he was literary editor of the New Statesman and Nation and has frequently show more contributed to American periodicals and the N.Y. Times Book Review. He is a distinguished short story writer who has often appeared in the New Yorker. Pritchett has also collaborated with the photographer Evelyn Hofer on three charming and excellent portraits of London, New York, and Dublin. Pritchett, who has been lauded for his fine literary criticism, has also written about many other writers. He received numerous awards including the 1969 Heinemann Award, the 1974 PEN Award, the 1990 W. H. Smith Literary Award, and the 1993 Golden Pen Award. He died from a stroke on March 20, 1997. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: VS Prichett, V.S. Pritchett, Pritchett V. S., V S Pritchett Ed, V.S. ed. Pritchett, Victor S. Pritchett, Victor Sawdon Pritchett, V.S. Pritjchett (editor), selector V. S. Pritchett, Pritchett.V.S. (selected by)., , compiler V S (Victor Sawdon) Pritchett

Works by V. S. Pritchett

Popular Recent

The Oxford Book of Short Stories (1981) — Editor — 514 copies

London Perceived (1962) 171 copies

A Cab at the Door (1968) 148 copies

Collected Stories (1968) 147 copies

Complete Collected Stories (1990) 146 copies

Chekhov: a spirit set free (1988) 109 copies

The Pritchett Century (1997) 106 copies

Complete Collected Essays (1991) 104 copies

A Cab at the Door / Midnight Oil (1979) 86 copies

The Gentle Barbarian: The Life and Work of Turgenev (1977) 80 copies

Essential Stories (2005) 72 copies

The Camberwell Beauty and Other Stories (1974) 71 copies

The Myth Makers (1979) 63 copies

Balzac (1973) 61 copies

The Spanish Temper (1928) 61 copies

Mr. Beluncle (1951) 57 copies

Associated Works

Pride and Prejudice (1813) — Introduction, some editions — 80,632 copies

Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) (1889) — Introduction, some editions — 7,697 copies

Memento Mori (1959) — Introduction, some editions — 1,729 copies

First Love (1860) — Introduction, some editions — 1,469 copies

In a Glass Darkly (1872) — Introduction, some editions — 1,419 copies

50 Great Short Stories (1952) — Contributor — 1,253 copies

The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction (1983) — Contributor — 1,133 copies

The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories (1986) — Contributor — 545 copies

Secret Ingredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink (2007) — Contributor — 536 copies

The World of the Short Story: A 20th Century Collection (1986) — Contributor — 463 copies

Mister Johnson (1949) — Introduction, some editions — 451 copies

The Penguin Book of English Short Stories (1967) — Contributor — 431 copies

The Penguin Book of Modern British Short Stories (1989) — Contributor — 431 copies

The Sea and the Jungle (1912) — Introduction, some editions — 417 copies

The 40s: The Story of a Decade (2014) — Contributor — 277 copies

A Book of English Essays (1942) — Contributor — 242 copies

Granta 87: Jubilee! The 25th Anniversary Issue (2004) — Contributor — 201 copies

The Oxford Book of English Short Stories (1998) — Contributor — 193 copies

Nothing But You: Love Stories From The New Yorker (1997) — Contributor — 186 copies

First Love and Other Stories (2001) — Introduction — 137 copies

The Second Penguin Book of English Short Stories (1972) — Contributor, some editions — 119 copies

Great English Short Stories (1957) — Contributor — 108 copies

The Norton Book of Friendship (1991) — Contributor — 96 copies

The Treasury of English Short Stories (1985) — Contributor — 85 copies

Stories from The New Yorker, 1950 to 1960 (1958) — Contributor — 80 copies

The Literary Ghost: Great Contemporary Ghost Stories (1991) — Contributor — 75 copies

The Oxford Book of Travel Stories (1996) — Contributor — 74 copies

Modern English Short Stories: Second Series (1911) — Contributor — 62 copies

65 Great Tales of the Supernatural (1979) — Contributor — 60 copies

Reading for Pleasure (1957) — Contributor — 51 copies

The Norton Book Of Ghost Stories (1994) — Contributor — 50 copies

Modern Short Stories (1939) — Contributor — 49 copies

The Second Ghost Book (1952) — Contributor — 48 copies

A Walk in My World: International Short Stories About Youth (1998) — Contributor — 36 copies

The Oxford Book of English Love Stories (1996) — Contributor — 35 copies

Great Tours and Detours: The Sophisticated Traveler Series (1985) — Contributor — 34 copies

Korter dan kort de beste kortste verhalen uit de wereldliteratuur (1993) — Contributor — 28 copies

Twentieth Century Interpretations of 1984 (1971) — Contributor — 19 copies

The Penguin New Writing No. 30 (1947) — Contributor — 15 copies

31 Stories (1960) — Contributor — 12 copies

The Bedside Lilliput (1950) — Contributor — 12 copies

In the Dead of Night (1961) — Contributor — 11 copies

Selected Shorts: Food Fictions (Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story) (2007) — Contributor — 11 copies

Growing Up Stories (1995) — Contributor — 10 copies

England forteller : britiske og irske noveller (1970) — Contributor — 9 copies

Ten Years of Holiday: Selected by the Editors of Holiday Magazine (1956) — Contributor — 8 copies

The Penguin New Writing No. 23 (1942) — Contributor — 6 copies

Top Teen Stories (2004) — Contributor — 6 copies

The Penguin New Writing No. 18 (1943) — Contributor — 5 copies

Short Fiction: Shape and Substance (1971) — Contributor — 3 copies

Tredive mesterfortællinger — Author, some editions — 3 copies

Penguin Modern Stories 9 (1971) — Contributor — 3 copies

Personal Choice (1977) — Contributor — 2 copies

The Penguin New Writing No. 21 (1944) — Contributor — 2 copies

Carmen & Colomba (1949) — Introduction — 1 copy

Modern books and writers : the catalogue of an exhibition held at Seven Albemarle Street, April to September 1951 (1951) — Contributor — 1 copy

[Anthologie de nouvelles anglaises] (2001) — Contributor — 1 copy

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Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Pritchett, V. S.
Legal name: Pritchett, Sir Victor Sawdon
Other names: VSP
Birthdate: 1900-12-16
Date of death: 1997-03-20
Gender: male
Nationality: UK
Birthplace: Ipswich, Suffolk, England, UK
Place of death: London, England, UK
Cause of death: stroke
Places of residence: Ipswich, Suffolk, England, UK
USA
London, England, UK
Woodford, Essex, England, UK
Derby, Derbyshire, England, UK
Sedbergh, England, UK
Education: St John's School, Ipswich, Suffolk, England, UK
Alleyn’s School
Dulwich College, London, England, UK
Occupations: novelist
short-story writer
critic
Relationships: Pritchett, Oliver (son)
Pritchett, Matt (grandson)
Pritchett, Georgia (granddaughter)
Organizations: PEN International
The New Statesman
UK Ministry of Information (WWII)
BBC
Awards and honors: Royal Society of Literature Companion of Literature (1987)
Commander, Order of the British Empire (1968)
Knight Bachelor (1975)
Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (1993)
Fellow, Royal Society of Literature (1958)
Foreign Honorary member, American Academy of Arts and Letters (1971) (show all 10)
PEN Award (1974)
Heinemann Award for Literature (1969)
Golden PEN Award (1994)
W. H. Smith Literary Award (1990)

Members

Reviews

The Oxford Book Of Short Stories (Oxford Books Of… by V. S. Pritchett

41 stories from Sor Walter Scott to John Updike

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betty_s | 3 other reviews | Sep 15, 2023 |

The Turn of the Years Reynolds Stone V.S. Pritchett… by V.S. (Text) Stone Pritchett, Reynolds. (Engravings) Theroux, Paul. (Introduction)

Reynolds Stone was born in 1909 and died in 1979. Perhaps best known for his wood engravings, he was also a painter, designer (with public commissions for stamps and bank notes), and letterer in stone (Sir Winston Churchill's memorial in Westminster Abbey). Pritchett and Stone were close personal friends.

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zadkine | Sep 4, 2023 |

A Man of Letters : Selected Essays by Victor Sawdon Pritchett

Critique of 46 fiction writers including Americans Edith Wharton, Mark Twain, William Faulkner, Henry James,
Nathanial West, and S. J. Perelman.

½

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iwb | Jul 30, 2022 |

The Oxford Book of Short Stories (Oxford Books of… by V. S. Pritchett

Currently reading, will update with individual story reviews as I complete them. I was going to do this in the private notes field, but I didn't realize it was character limited until I hit a wall, lol.

THE TWO DROVERS (Sir Walter Scott)
3 stars - I did end up liking it somewhat, but it was very hard to get into at the start.

THE BIRTHMARK (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
2 stars - Look, I get what he's doing in this story and the Message Behind It, but I just couldn't find either character likable, though I did feel very sorry for Georgiana. Also I just kind of don't like Hawthorne that much so maybe I'm biased.

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (Edgar Allan Poe)
5 stars - Love Poe, love this story. Definitely did not pick up the implications about the Usher family when I last read this probably more than a decade ago so that was certainly a shocker.… (more)

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spacekittycat | 3 other reviews | Jan 8, 2021 |

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