Skip to content
Home/ Art of the Tale: An International Anthology of Short Stories, 1945-1985
Art of the Tale: An International Anthology of Short Stories, 1945-1985

Art of the Tale: An International Anthology of Short Stories, 1945-1985

No customer reviews yet ISBN 9780140079494

The years since World War II have seen an exciting resurgence of the short story. From Albert Camus to William Maxwell, from Amos Oz to R.K. Narayan, from Ann Beattie to Yukio Mishima - this incomparably rich and diverse collection attests to the vigor and excellence of the modern short story throughout the world. Daniel Halpern's marvelous anthology offers not only European and American but also "Third World" literature of the first rank (fully a third of the works are translated); and of the English-language stories, a considerable number are by Australian, African, and Asian writers. The eighty-one masterpieces Halpern has chosen include traditional forms, both of classical realism and of the extended fairy tale or fable, as well as the gossipy village banter of the traditional folktale and the outer bounds of surrealist fiction. Many of the stories are cast against an exotic setting; others are humorous and matter-of-fact; some are political, others entirely absorbed with private themes of the heart.

About the author

Product details

Pub dateNov 3, 1987
ISBN-100140079491
ISBN-139780140079494
LanguageEnglish
Last updated 2026-08-29 02:22
$18.32 $26.00 29% off
You save $7.68 · list price $26.00
In stock soon — order now to reserve your copy
Delivery by Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Qty
Sign in to Add to Saved list
Free delivery on orders over $35.
15-day returns. Any reason.
Secure checkout. We never store card details.

Readers who bought this also bought

More from Anthologies (multiple authors)
See all
I Am Heathcliff: Stories Inspired by Wuthering Heights
16 modern fiction superstars shine a startling light on the romance and pain of the infamous literary pair Heathcliff and Cathy.Short stories to stir the heart and awaken vital conversation about love.<p> <strong>Sixteen stories inspired by Wuthering Heights.</strong> </p><p>In 'Terminus' a young woman hides in an empty Brighton hotel&#x3b; in 'Thicker Than Blood' a man sits in a hot tub stalking his newly-married love on social media&#x3b; and in 'A bird half-eaten' an amateur boxer prepares for a match.</p><p>A woman recalls the 'Heathcliffs I Have Known' and the physical danger she has borne at their hands&#x3b; in 'Anima' a child and a fox are unified in one startling moment of violence&#x3b; and in 'One Letter Different' two teenagers walk the moors and face up to their respective buried secrets.</p><p>Curated by Kate Mosse and commissioned for Emily Brontë's bicentenary year in 2018, these fresh, modern stories pulse with the raw beauty and pain of love and are as timely as they are illuminating.</p><p>The full list of contributors is: <br />Leila Aboulela, Hanan Al-Shaykh, Joanna Cannon, Alison Case, Juno Dawson, Louise Doughty, Sophie Hannah, Anna James, Erin Kelly, Dorothy Koomson, Grace McCleen, Lisa McInerney, Laurie Penny, Nikesh Shukla, Michael Stewart and Louisa Young.</p>
$12.12
Bodies from the Library: Lost Tales of Mystery and Suspense from the Golden Age of Detection
<p>This anthology of rare stories of crime and suspense brings together 16 tales by masters of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction for the first time in book form, including a newly discovered Agatha Christie crime story that has not been seen since 1922.</p><p>At a time when crime and thriller writing has once again overtaken the sales of general and literary fiction, <em>Bodies from the Library</em> unearths lost stories from the Golden Age, that period between the World Wars when detective fiction captured the public's imagination and saw the emergence of some of the world's cleverest and most popular storytellers.</p><p>This anthology brings together 16 forgotten tales that have either been published only once before - perhaps in a newspaper or rare magazine - or have never before appeared in print. From a previously unpublished 1917 script featuring Ernest Bramah's blind detective Max Carrados, to early 1950s crime stories written for London's Evening Standard by Cyril Hare, Freeman Wills Crofts and A.A. Milne, it spans five decades of writing by masters of the Golden Age.</p><p>Most anticipated of all are the contributions by women writers: the first detective story by Georgette Heyer, unseen since 1923&#x3b; an unpublished story by Christianna Brand, creator of Nanny McPhee&#x3b; and a dark tale by Agatha Christie published only in an Australian journal in 1922 during her 'Grand Tour' of the British Empire.</p><p>With other stories by Detection Club stalwarts Anthony Berkeley, H.C. Bailey, J.J. Connington, John Rhode and Nicholas Blake, plus Vincent Cornier, Leo Bruce, Roy Vickers and Arthur Upfield, this essential collection harks back to a time before forensic science - when murder was a complex business.</p>
$10.69