A Chronological History - Complete in 7 volumes

Read by Darrell Joe, Christopher Ragland, Eric Meyers(Unabridged: 50hrs 8mins)

Featuring stories by Uriah Derrick D'Arcy, Herman Melville, Robert E Howard & many more

The American literary tradition has, in a far shorter span of time than others throughout history, achieved a glowing and glittering reputation.

From its transatlantic roots it has absorbed the sons and daughters of other cultures, other lands and made them part of her own.

America prides itself on liberty, on justice for all and, if you are a wealthy white man, that is essentially true. Sadly, many other segments of society find it difficult to feel or become part of this endeavour.

Within this chronological history of the American short story, that prejudice has helped shape the borders of those two endless questions about any anthology. Why that story? Why that Author?

We made some hard choices. We start with Uriah Derrick Dárcy, an unlikely American name and, to all intents, it appears to be a pseudonym, about whom little is known or can be verified. He leads our literary parade. From here leviathans appear on a regular basis; Hawthorne, Poe, Melville, Twain but also note how many women are here and not just Stowe, Alcott and Chopin. Women’s status as writers is often neglected or undervalued, predominantly due to their second-class social status throughout much of history but their stories, their angles of approach to writing are both expertly crafted and refreshing.

Another stain on the social and cultural fabric of American has been that of Race. Black people were harshly and unfairly treated as a matter of course. The Civil War may have opened the door but in reality little changed. The majority of the stories included here written by black authors are disturbing in the wrongs they were accused of, and the burdens they were forced to carry. This eye-opening literature enables us to once more take stock and applaud and bring some glimmers of recognition to their struggles and their art.

There are some authors, liberally sprinkled throughout, both male and female who may previously have escaped your attention. Enjoy them. Adore them. Make them part of your everyday reading and listening. These forgotten voices are fine examples both of their craft, their art, and their take on society as it was then.

In the period we cover from the late 18th Century, around the time of the American Revolution, up until the catastrophe of World War 2, the printing press was creating a market to share words. With industrialization and a large swathe of people eager to be distracted from hard working lives, a plethora of magazines and periodicals shot up, all clamoring for works to publish, to share those words, to introduce new ideas and explain how some of us view ourselves and each other. Some of these authors were only published that way, one story wonders—hitched to the fading star of a disposable periodical.

And, of course, the elephant in the room was the English. In its early days US copyright law was non-existent and didn’t recognise anyone else’s. Publishers were free to take the talents of Dickens or Trollope and freely print it without permission or coin. Competing against that, gave you a decided disadvantage.

Within these stories you will also find very occasional examples of historical prejudice. A few words here and there which in today’s world some may find inappropriate or even offensive. It is not our intention to make anyone uncomfortable but to show that the world in order to change must reconcile itself to the actual truth rather than put it out of sight. Context is everything, both to understand and to illuminate the path forward. The author’s words are set, our reaction to them encourages our change.

Within this melting pot of styles, genres and wordplay one fact stands out: The American short story Literary tradition has a strong, vibrant and almost inclusive history, if you know where to look. Which is here.

 

01 - The American Short Story - A Chronological History - A Complete History - An Introduction

02 - The Black Vampyre by Uriah Derick D'Arcy

03 - The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving

04 - Peter Rugg, The Missing Man - Part 1 by William Austin

05 - Peter Rugg, The Missing Man - Part 2 by William Austin

06 - The Eclipse by James Fenimore Cooper

07 - The Quadroons by Lydia Maria Child

08 - Rappaccini's Daughter - Part 1 by Nathaniel Hawthorne

09 - Rappaccini's Daughter - Part 2 by Nathaniel Hawthorne

10 - Miss Albina McLush by Nathaniel Parker Willis

11 - The Fall of the House of Usher Part 1 by Edgar Allan Poe

12 - The Fall of the House of Usher Part 2 by Edgar Allan Poe

13 - An Angel in Disguise by T S Arthur

14 - Conversation on Conversation by Harriet Beecher Stowe

15 - Aunt Hetty on Matrimony by Fanny Fern, the writing pseudonym for Sarah Payton Parton

16 - Bartleby the Scrivener - Part 1 by Herman Melville

17 - Bartleby the Scrivener - Part 2 by Herman Melville

18 - The Peterkins Decide to Learn the Languages by Lucretia Peabody Hale

19 - The Man Without a Country by Edward Everett Hale

20 - Two Offers by Frances Watkins Harper

21 - How I Killed a Bear by Charles Dudley Warner

22 - The Shipwrecked Crew by Rebecca Harding Davies

23 - The Brothers by Louisa May Alcott

24 - The Lady, or the Tiger by Frank Stockton

25 - Carnivorine by Lucy Hamilton Hooper

26 - The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime In Connecticut by Mark Twain

27 - The Luck of Roaring Camp by Bret Harte

28 - Christmas Eve in War Times by Edward Payson Roe

29 - An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce

30 - The Great Good Place by Henry James

31 - Rollo Learning to Read by Robert J Burdette

32 - Since I Died by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

33 - The Little Room by Madeline Yale Wynne

34 - A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett

35 - Desiree's Baby by Kate Chopin

36 - The Tachypomp by Edward Page Mitchell

37 - A New England Nun by Mary E Wilkins Freeman

38 - The Screaming Skull by F Marion Crawford

39 - When the Devil Was Well by Gertrude Atherton.wav

40 - The Wife of His Youth by Charles W Chesnutt

41 - How the Widow Won the Deacon by William James Lampton

42 - Talma Gordon by Pauline E Hopkins

43 - The Perfect Ttribute by Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews

44 - The Yellow Wall Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

45 - A Responsibility by Henry Harland

46 - Aunt Lindy. A Story Founded on Real Life by Victoria Earle Matthews

47 - The Shape of Fear by Elia W Peattie

48 - Souls Belated by Edith Wharton

49 - The Idiot's Journalism Scheme by John Kendrick Bangs

50 - The Last Leaf by O Henry

51 - The Mysterious Card by Cleveland Moffet

52 - The Repairer of Reputations Part 1 by Robert W Chambers

53 - The Repairer of Reputations Part 2 by Robert W Chambers

54 - The Readjustment by Mary Austin

55 - The Strange Looking Man by Fanny Kemble Johnson

56 - Ariel's Triumph by Booth Tarkington

57 - The Preacher at Hill Station by Katherine Davis Chapman Tillman

58 - The Great Slave by Zane Grey

59 - The Open Boat by Stephen Crane

60 - The Spirit of the Range by B M Bower

61 - The Wooing of Pastor Cummings by Georgia F Stewart

62 - The Scapegoat by Paul Laurence Dunbar

63 - The Difference by Ellen Glasgow

64 - Paul's Case by Willa Cather

65 - Rooms by Gertrude Stein

66 - White Bread by Zona Gale

67 - The Stones of the Village by Alice Dunbar Nelson

68 - The Avenger by Edgar Rice Burroughs

69 - To Build a Fire by Jack London

70 - A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell

71 - Brothers by Sherwood Anderson

72 - Devereux's Last Smoke by Izola Forrester

73 - The Octoroon's Revenge by Ruth D Todd

74 - Guests Unexpected. A Thanksgiving Story by Maude K Griffin

75 - The Defense of Strikerville by Damon Runyon

76 - Breaking the Color Line by Annie McCary

77 - Speed by Sinclair Lewis

78 - The Golden Honeymoon by Ring Lardner

79 - The Hoodoo by Martha Gruening

80 - The Tattooed Leg by John Chilton

81 - The Rats in the Walls by H P Lovecraft

82 - In No Strange Land by Katharine Butler

83 - Here We Are by Dorothy Parker

84 - The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell

85 - Bernice Bobs Her Hair by F Scott Fitzgerald

86 - The City of Refuge by Rudolph Fisher

87 - A Cullenden of Virginia by Thomas Wolfe

88 - The Grist in the Mill by Wallace Thurman

89 - The Moaning Lily by Emma Vane

90 - Skulls in the Stars by Robert E Howard

91 - Why I Live At The PO - Eudora Welty