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Great American Short Stories: A Guide for Writers and Readers
- Narrated by: Jennifer Cognard-Black
- Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins
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Publisher's summary
While short stories exist in traditions all over the world, American short stories are a genre all their own. Emerging from the clash of cultures - and the collision of oral and print traditions - that began during the arrival of European settlers in the 16th and 17th centuries, the short works that emerged have served many functions. They have entertained, certainly, but they have also helped foster identity, shape morality, and build the foundations of the American mythos for nearly four centuries.
Whether you want to write short stories, simply want better insight as a reader, or even if you are looking for a new lens through which to view American history, the 24 rich and informative lectures of Great American Short Stories: A Guide for Writers and Readers will show you the ins and outs of this infinitely adaptable - and intrinsically American - literary form. Professor Jennifer Cognard-Black of St. Mary’s College of Maryland guides you through the technical aspects of the short story, while also digging deep into the history of the form in the United States. Along the way, you will discover why the short story became so deeply connected to American identity and how it continues to evolve alongside the nation itself.
The “great American novel” is often the lofty goal of writers who want to achieve literary immortality. But from the opening sentence to the lingering denouement, American short stories can both capture the world as it is and help envision what could be. Each is unique, and yet each is a part of a larger chronicle: the story of America.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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A Disappointingly Distorted, Myopic View Of Jazz
- By Parallax View on 08-18-13
By: Bill Messenger, and others
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Athenian Democracy: An Experiment for the Ages
- By: The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Professor Robert Garland PhD University College London
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Roughly 2,500 years ago, the Athenian people established a radical democracy in which power derived from the votes of everyday citizens. At a time when local governments ranged from oligarchy to tyranny, the elite classes of Athens gradually ceded power to the inexperienced masses, whose votes served as referendums for everything from taxation to war to welfare. The sequence of events that led to this development is astonishing, and the society that flourished under Athenian democracy is one of the greatest - even if greatly flawed - achievements in world history.
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A vote for Prof. Garland
- By Mark on 05-26-18
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The Foundations of Western Civilization
- By: Thomas F. X. Noble, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Thomas F. X. Noble
- Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins
- Original Recording
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What is Western Civilization? According to Professor Noble, it is "much more than human and political geography," encompassing myriad forms of political and institutional structures - from monarchies to participatory republics - and its own traditions of political discourse. It involves choices about who gets to participate in any given society and the ways in which societies have resolved the tension between individual self-interest and the common good.
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Not Engaging or Very Interesting
- By Tommy D'Angelo on 03-05-17
By: Thomas F. X. Noble, and others
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Great Classic Stories II
- By: Edgar Allan Poe, James Joyce, Mark Twain, and others
- Narrated by: Simon Vance, Kate Fenton, Stephen R. Thorne, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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This wonderful collection of 18 short stories includes work by some of literature's most treasured names, including Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Oscar Wilde, and many more. This superlative treasury includes "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe; "A Piece of String" by Guy Le Maupassant; "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin; "The Mark on the Wall" by Virginia Woolf; "Nuns at Lunch" by Aldous Huxley, and many more!
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Another great selection of stories
- By Adeliese Baumann on 02-04-13
By: Edgar Allan Poe, and others
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Great American Stories
- By: Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, Ambrose Bierce
- Narrated by: Patrick Fraley, Patrick Hagan
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Here are 10 unabridged stories by the greatest American authors. These treasured stories from the most influential authors of the 19th and early 20th centuries were selected for their literary importance as well as their dramatic oral qualities.
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Great Classic Stories
- By kutzkai on 03-13-21
By: Mark Twain, and others
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The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story
- By: John Freeman - editor
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett, Scott Brick, Cassandra Campbell, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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In the past 50 years, the American short story has changed dramatically. New voices, forms, and mixtures of genres have brought this unique US genre a thrilling burst of energy. This rich anthology celebrates this avalanche of talent. Beginning in 1970, it culls together a half century of powerful American short stories from all genres, including - for the first time in a literary anthology - science fiction, horror, and fantasy.
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Too dark for my taste
- By Lazy Chicken on 10-03-22
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1066: The Year That Changed Everything
- By: Jennifer Paxton, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Jennifer Paxton
- Length: 3 hrs
- Original Recording
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With this exciting and historically rich six-lecture course, experience for yourself the drama of this dynamic year in medieval history, centered on the landmark Norman Conquest. Taking you from the shores of Scandinavia and France to the battlefields of the English countryside, these lectures will plunge you into a world of fierce Viking warriors, powerful noble families, politically charged marriages, tense succession crises, epic military invasions, and much more.
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History brought to life
- By Joshua on 07-10-13
By: Jennifer Paxton, and others
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The Iliad of Homer
- By: Elizabeth Vandiver, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Vandiver
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Original Recording
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For thousands of years, Homer's ancient epic poem the
Iliad has enchanted readers from around the world. When you join Professor Vandiver for this lecture series on the Iliad, you'll come to understand what has enthralled and gripped so many people. Her compelling 12-lecture look at this literary masterpiece -whether it's the work of many authors or the "vision" of a single blind poet - makes it vividly clear why, after almost 3,000 years, the
Iliad remains not only among the greatest adventure stories ever told but also one of the most compelling meditations on the human condition ever written.
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Vandiver never disappoints
- By Machteacher on 07-23-13
By: Elizabeth Vandiver, and others
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A Day's Read
- By: The Great Courses, Emily Allen, Grant L. Voth, and others
- Narrated by: Arnold Weinstein, Emily Allen, Grant L. Voth
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Original Recording
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Join three literary scholars and award-winning professors as they introduce you to dozens of short masterpieces that you can finish - and engage with - in a day or less. Perfect for people with busy lives who still want to discover-or rediscover-just how transformative an act of reading can be, these 36 lectures range from short stories of fewer than 10 pages to novellas and novels of around 200 pages. Despite their short length, these works are powerful examinations of the same subjects and themes that longer "great books" discuss.
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Stories not included, only discussed
- By Julie Jester on 01-15-16
By: The Great Courses, and others
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Great American Stories II
- Ten Unabridged Classics
- By: Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Willa Cather, and others
- Narrated by: David Drummond, Norman Dietz, Laural Merlington, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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These treasured stories from the most influential authors of the 19th and early 20th centuries are selected for their literary importance as well as their dramatic, oral qualities. Listen to these 10 unabridged classics by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, O. Henry, and Willa Cather.
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some great, some good, some soso.
- By Kaiyaque on 03-22-21
By: Herman Melville, and others
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About Love and Other Stories
- By: Anton Chekhov
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper, T. Ryder Smith, Henry Strozier
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Raymond Carver called Anton Chekhov "the greatest short story writer who has ever lived". This unequivocal verdict on Chekhov's genius has been echoed many times by writers as diverse as Katherine Mansfield, Somerset Maugham, John Cheever, and Tobias Wolf. While his popularity as a playwright has sometimes overshadowed his achievements in prose, the importance of Chekhov's stories is now recognized by readers as well as by fellow authors. Their themes - alienation, the absurdity and tragedy of human existence - have as much relevance today as when they were written.
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Well acted renditions of excellent stories
- By A. M. Welsh on 04-18-20
By: Anton Chekhov
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The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World
- By: Robert Garland, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert Garland
- Length: 24 hrs and 28 mins
- Original Recording
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Look beyond the abstract dates and figures, kings and queens, and battles and wars that make up so many historical accounts. Over the course of 48 richly detailed lectures, Professor Garland covers the breadth and depth of human history from the perspective of the so-called ordinary people, from its earliest beginnings through the Middle Ages.
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Tantalizing time trip
- By Mark on 08-21-13
By: Robert Garland, and others
What listeners say about Great American Short Stories: A Guide for Writers and Readers
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Frank Rizzo
- 02-19-22
Pleasantly surprised!
This is a great review of the American short stories. It is also chuck full of advice on how to write them. Two thumbs up!
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2 people found this helpful
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- Kathy Heckathorn
- 03-31-22
A+
This class is a comprehensive look at how to understand, enjoy, and create short stories, with an emphasis on what makes an American short story. The exercises are relevant and illuminate the curriculum. As usual, The Great Courses are great. Get this one today.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Karl Anderson
- 10-19-22
I wanted to learn, but...
Lectures are weighed down by the non-stop brow beating with cartoonish social justice pandering and guilt ridden virtue trumpeting. It made me feel pity for this seemingly sincere professor and her obsequious cult behavior. A tough slog for the uninfected.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Kat Cat
- 07-25-23
Mostly for writers. Solid advice. Not 'woke.'
I am perplexed by the reviews dismissing this lecture set as "woke." Frankly, I have no idea what they're talking about. When "woke" is used to criticize, it generally refers to a heavy-handed and often misguided brand of social commentary based on identity politics, where various groups of people are thought to be locked in an irreconcilable conflict of privilege and victimhood. Nothing like that is found in these lectures. Seriously -- nothing! The lecturer does not use the jargon of identity politics, and at no point does she posit that conflict between groups of people is irreconcilable or inevitable. She does, however, discuss a few literary works that address discrimination, injustice, and other tragic situations at various points in US history. Is this what has offended the anti-woke reviewers? If so, I struggle to imagine what they would consider acceptable, because these are topics that have been addressed by all serious literature in all modern cultures. If that is "woke," then so are Dostoyevsky, Dickens, George Eliot, Charlotte Bronte, Chekhov, Victor Hugo, and William Blake. What on Earth do these people read?! If anything, the lectures are decidedly unwoke in at least once way: the lecturer actively encourages us to write from the point of view of other people about situations and experiences that we have not ourselves gone through and can only have an outsider's perspective on. Critics from the social justice school tend to frown on this, believing that people really only have the right to write from their own point of view about their own experiences. Maybe that view is unhelpfully restrictive, but if we do set out to tell other people's stories, surely we have an obligation to at least be respectful and accurate. Inhabiting someone else's point of view is a delicate matter that needs careful consideration, especially if we hope to publish our work. The lecturer never brought this up, and she probably should have.
As for the lectures themselves -- I enjoyed them, but they are much more about writing than about the history of literature. A more apt title would be "How to Write Short Stories, with Examples from American Literature." When the lecturer was discussing various authors and stories, I felt like she was doing so more to illustrate her points about writing than for the works' own sake. The lectures are also heavily coloured by her subjective tastes and opinions, but that's always going to be the case in a creative writing course (or any art technique course, for that matter). If you are a creative writer, though, these lectures are well worth a listen. There are a lot of inspiring and thought-provoking points. Her way of telling stories is not the only way, but it's definitely a way that's worth exploring.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Michael C.
- 06-03-21
-sigh-
Polite applause for the craft, torn by obnoxious claps of wokeism. Very trite and nacissistic.
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15 people found this helpful