The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction
Worth buying if: You teach short fiction and need Ann Charters' teaching notes and story pairings.
Skip it if: You seek a slim paperback of a single contemporary author's short stories.
Exact edition: Edition shown · ISBN-13 9780312171643. The Amazon link uses this ISBN, so the product page should open to the edition shown here.
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Summary
Ann Charters' The Story and Its Writer (Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999) compiles classic and contemporary short stories across genres with contextual notes, author bios, and teaching questions across a roughly 1,000-page anthology intended for study and course use.
Why this book now
For instructors and students revisiting core short fiction curricula, this 1999 Bedford/St. Martin's anthology remains a durable gateway to stories, authors, and writerly craft com.
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Best for readers who...
Good fit if you want...
- You teach short fiction and need Ann Charters' teaching notes and story pairings.
- You want a comprehensive short-story anthology with author bios and discussion prompts.
- If you respond to slow-burn tension, short, intense scenes concentrate emotional weight, giving the novel a taut, cinematic feel.
- You seek a slim paperback of a single contemporary author's short stories.
- You prefer a light leisure read rather than a 1,000-page classroom anthology.
- If you dislike unreliable narrators, political maneuvering and power dynamics are central, not just background color.
Decided it fits?
Exact edition: Edition shown · ISBN-13 9780312171643
Worth buying if: You teach short fiction and need Ann Charters' teaching notes and story pairings.
Skip it if: You seek a slim paperback of a single contemporary author's short stories.
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.
Reader guide
Cues to help you decide faster.
Reading commitment
Substantial Longer sessions help
This ~1,000-page Bedford/St. Martin's anthology demands semester-level commitment: expect selective reading for course assignments or sustained study rather than start-to-finish leisure reading.
What stands out here
The 1999 edition emphasizes Ann Charters' editorial choices: curated story selections, contextual essays, author biographies, and pedagogical notes tailored to classroom use.
Best way to approach it
Approach it modularly—assign or read individual stories with Charters' notes and recommended questions, using the anthology as a reference for close readings and composition exercises.
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Exact edition: ISBN-13 9780312171643
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.