Table of Contents

Introduction 1

WASHINGTON IRVING (1783-1859)
Rip Van Winkle
WILLIAM AUSTIN (1778-1841)
Peter Rugg, the Missing Man
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE (1804-1864)
The Wives of the Dead
EDGAR ALLAN POE (1809-1849)
The Tell-Tale Heart
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE (1811-1896)
The Ghost in the Mill
HERMAN MELVILLE (1819-1891)
The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids
SAMUEL CLEMENS (1835-1910)
Cannibalism in the Cars
HENRY JAMES (1843-1916)
The Middle Years
SARA H ORNE JEWETT (1849-1909)
A White Heron
KA TE CHOPIN (1851-1904)
The Storm
MARY E. WILKINS FREEMAN (1852-1930)
Old Woman Magoun
CHARLES CHESNUTT (1858-1932)
The Sheriff's Children
CHARLOTT E PERKINS GILMAN (1860-1935)
The Yellow Wallpaper
EDITH WHARTON (1862-1937)
A Journey
STEPHEN CRA NE (1871-1900)
The Little Regiment
WILLA CATHER (1873-1947)
A Death in the Desert
SHERWOOD ANDERSON (1876-1941)
The Strength of God
JACK LONDON (1876-1916)
In a Far Country
WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS (1883-1963)
The Girl with a Pimply Face
H. P. LOVECRA FT (1890-1937)
The Rats in the Walls
JEAN TOOMER (1894-1967)
Blood-Burning Moon
F. SCOTT FITZGERA LD (1896-1940)
An Alcoholic Case
WILLIAM FAULKNER (1897-1962)
That Evening Sun
ERNEST HEMINGWAY (1899-1961)
Hills Like White Elephants
LANGSTON HUGHES (1902-1967)
Red-Headed Baby
RICHARD WRIGHT (1908-1960)
The Man Who Was Almost a Man
NELSON ALGREN (1909-1981)
A Bottle of Milk for Mother
EUDORA WELTY (1909-2001)
Where Is the Voice Coming From?
PAUL BOWLES (1910-1999)
A Distant Episode
JOHN CHEEVER (1912-1982)
The Country Husband
RA LPH ELLISON (1914-1994)
Battle Royal
BERNARD MALAMUD (1914-1986)
My Son the Murderer
SHIRLEY JACKSON (1916-1965)
The Lottery
RA Y BRA DBURY (b. 1920)
There Will Come Soft Rains
JAMES BALDWIN (1924-1987)
Sonny's Blues
FLANNERY O'CONNOR (1925-1964)
A Late Encounter with the Enemy
CYNTHIA OZICK (b. 1928)
The Shawl
DONALD BARTHELME (1931-1989)
The School
JOHN UPDIKE (1932-2009)
The Persistence of Desire
PHILIP ROTH (b. 1933)
Defender of the Faith
ANNIE PROULX (b. 1935)
The Mud Below
RA YMOND CARVER (1938-1988)
Are These Actual Miles?
JOYCE CAROL OATES (b. 1938)
Heat
RUSSELL BANKS (b. 1940)
The Child Screams and Looks Back at You
EDMUND WHITE (b. 1940)
Give It Up for Billy
RICHARD FORD (b. 1944)
Under the Radar
TOBIAS WOLFF (b. 1945)
Hunters in the Snow
TIM O'BRIEN (b. 1946)
The Things They Carried
STEPHEN KING (b. 1947)
The Reach
T. C. BOYLE (b. 1948)
Filthy with Things
AMY HEMPEL (b. 1951)
Today Will Be a Quiet Day
LOUISE ERDRICH (b. 1954)
Fleur
JEFFREY FORD (b. 1955)
The Drowned Life
HA JIN (b. 1956)
Children as Enemies
LORRIE MOORE (b. 1957)
How to Become a Writer
DAVID FOSTER WALLACE (1962-2008)
Good People
PINCKNEY BENEDICT (b. 1964)
Mercy
JHUMPA LAHIRI (b. 1967)
Hell-Heaven
JUNOT DÍAZ (b. 1968)
Edison, New Jersey

Author Index