An Anthology of Famous American Stories (1953)

by John Angus Burrell (Editor), Bennett Cerf (Editor)

Other authors: George Ade (Contributor), Conrad Aiken (Contributor), Thomas Bailey Aldrich (Contributor), Sherwood Anderson (Contributor), Gertrude Atherton (Contributor) — 56 more, Thomas Beer (Contributor), Ambrose Bierce (Contributor), Katharine Brush (Contributor), James Branch Cabell (Contributor), Erskine Caldwell (Contributor), Willa Cather (Contributor), Walter Van Tilburg Clark (Contributor), Stephen Crane (Contributor), Richard Harding Davis (Contributor), John Dos Passos (Contributor), Theodore Dreiser (Contributor), William Faulkner (Contributor), Edna Ferber (Contributor), F. Scott Fitzgerald (Contributor), Hamlin Garland (Contributor), Susan Glaspell (Contributor), Edward Everett Hale (Contributor), Joel Chandler Harris (Contributor), Francis Bret Harte (Contributor), Nathaniel Hawthorne (Contributor), Lafcadio Hearn (Contributor), Ernest Hemingway (Contributor), O. Henry (Contributor), Joseph Hergesheimer (Contributor), William Dean Howells (Contributor), Washington Irving (Contributor), Henry James (Contributor), Sarah Orne Jewett (Contributor), Owen Johnson (Contributor), Ring Lardner (Contributor), Jack London (Contributor), Herman Melville (Contributor), Christopher Morley (Contributor), Frank Norris (Contributor), Fitz-James O’Brien (Contributor), John O’Hara (Contributor), Harvey O’Higgins (Contributor), Dorothy Parker (Contributor), Edgar Allen Poe (Contributor), Katherine Anne Porter (Contributor), J.D. Salinger (Contributor), William Saroyan (Contributor), Budd Schulberg (Contributor), Irwin Shaw (Contributor), Wilbur Daniel Steele (Contributor), Gertrude Stein (Contributor), John Steinbeck (Contributor), Frank R. Stockton (Contributor), Booth Tarkington (Contributor), James Thurber (Contributor), Mark Twain (Contributor), Eudora Welty (Contributor), Edith Wharton (Contributor), Mary E. Wilkins (Contributor), Thyra Samter Winslow (Contributor), Thomas Wolfe (Contributor)

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Strangely disappointing collection. It is difficult to discern the principle of selection. If "famous" is truly the key, that at least explains the inclusion of some old chestnuts that are really not very good. But then there are quite a few that just aren't well known. There is a great skew toward very dark stories. It is tempting to see the collection as a good representation of mid-twentieth century malaise and worse. There's also a skew toward the clever, and clever doesn't work well on the second and subsequent readings.

cstebbins | Sep 14, 2022 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Burrell, John Angus	Editor	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Cerf, Bennett	Editor	main author	all editions	confirmed
Ade, George	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Aiken, Conrad	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Aldrich, Thomas Bailey	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Anderson, Sherwood	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Atherton, Gertrude	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Beer, Thomas	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Bierce, Ambrose	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Brush, Katharine	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Cabell, James Branch	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Caldwell, Erskine	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Cather, Willa	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Clark, Walter Van Tilburg	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Crane, Stephen	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Davis, Richard Harding	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Dos Passos, John	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Dreiser, Theodore	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Faulkner, William	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Ferber, Edna	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Fitzgerald, F. Scott	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Garland, Hamlin	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Glaspell, Susan	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Hale, Edward Everett	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Harris, Joel Chandler	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Harte, Francis Bret	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Hawthorne, Nathaniel	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Hearn, Lafcadio	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Hemingway, Ernest	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Henry, O.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Hergesheimer, Joseph	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Howells, William Dean	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Irving, Washington	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
James, Henry	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Jewett, Sarah Orne	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Johnson, Owen	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Lardner, Ring	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
London, Jack	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Melville, Herman	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Morley, Christopher	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Norris, Frank	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
O’Brien, Fitz-James	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
O’Hara, John	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
O’Higgins, Harvey	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Parker, Dorothy	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Poe, Edgar Allen	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Porter, Katherine Anne	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Salinger, J.D.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Saroyan, William	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Schulberg, Budd	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Shaw, Irwin	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Steele, Wilbur Daniel	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Stein, Gertrude	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Steinbeck, John	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Stockton, Frank R.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Tarkington, Booth	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Thurber, James	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Twain, Mark	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Welty, Eudora	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Wharton, Edith	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Wilkins, Mary E.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Winslow, Thyra Samter	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Wolfe, Thomas	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Contains

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

Rip van Winkle by Washington Irving

The Great Stone Face by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Rappaccini's Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Murders in the Rue Morgue [short story] by Edgar Allan Poe

The Pit and the Pendulum [short story] by Edgar Allan Poe

(show 64 more)

The Purloined Letter [short story] by Edgar Allan Poe

Billy Budd, Foretopman by Herman Melville

The Man Without a Country by Edward Everett Hale

The Diamond Lens by Fitz James O'Brien

The Lady, or the Tiger? [short story] by Frank Richard Stockton

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County [short story] by Mark Twain

The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg [short story] by Mark Twain

Marjorie Daw by Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Editha by William Dean Howells

The Outcasts of Poker Flat [short story] by Bret Harte

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (short story) by Ambrose Bierce

The Boarded Window [short story] by Ambrose Bierce

The Real Thing by Henry James

The Author of Beltraffio by Henry James

Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and the Tar Baby by Joel Chandler Harris

The Courting of Sister Wisby by Sarah Orne Jewett

The Boy Who Drew Cats by Lafcadio Hearn

The Pearls of Loreto by Gertrude Atherton

The Return of a Private [short story] by Hamlin Garland

The Mission of Jane by Edith Wharton

The Furnished Room [short story] by O. Henry

A Blackjack Bargainer by O. Henry

A Municipal Report by O. Henry

The Bar Sinister by Richard Harding Davis

Effie Whittlesy by George Ade

Little Gentleman by Booth Tarkington

A Deal in Wheat by Frank Norris

The Open Boat {story} by Stephen Crane

The Lost Phoebe by Theodore Dreiser

Big Dan Reilly by Harvey O'Higgins

The Good Anna {from Three Lives} by Gertrude Stein

Paul's Case {story} by Willa Cather

To Build a Fire [short story] by Jack London

I'm a Fool by Sherwood Anderson

I Want to Know Why by Sherwood Anderson

The Great Pancake Record by Owen Johnson

Porcelain Cups by James Branch Cabell

Wild Oranges by Joseph Hergesheimer

A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell

The Afternoon of a Faun by Edna Ferber

Some Like Them Cold by Ring Lardner

The Golden Honeymoon by Ring Lardner

The Man Who Saw Through Heaven by Wilbur Daniel Steele

Tact by Thomas Beer

Silent Snow, Secret Snow {story} by Conrad Aiken

Big Blonde {story} by Dorothy Parker

The Arrow by Christopher Morley

A Cycle of Manhattan by Thyra Samter Winslow

María Concepción by Katherine Anne Porter

The Rich Boy by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Body of an American by John Dos Passos

A Rose for Emily {story} by William Faulkner

The Killers by Ernest Hemingway

The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio by Ernest Hemingway

The Red Pony by John Steinbeck

A Portrait of Bascom Hawke by Thomas Wolfe

Night Club by Katharine Brush

Do You Like It Here? by John O'Hara

The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze by William Saroyan

The Portable Phonograph by Walter Van Tilburg Clark

Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes by J. D. Salinger

Act of Faith {short story} by Irwin Shaw

A New England Nun [short story] by Mary E. Wilkins

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty [short fiction] by James Thurber

Is an expanded version of

Bedside Book of Famous American Stories by Angus Burrell

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1953

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Revised and enlarged from Angus Burrell and Bennett Cerf's earlier anthology, The Bedside Book of Famous American Stories (1936). Please distinguish between the two anthologies.

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