''55 Short Stories from the New Yorker'' is a literary

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

of short fiction first published in '' The New Yorker'' magazine from the years 1940 through 1949.

Front Cover

Although the magazine debuted in February 1925 (so that its 25th anniversary was in 1950), this 1949 book's subtitle reads, "A twenty-fifth anniversary volume of stories that have appeared in the magazine during the last decade." As with the annual anniversary issue of the eponymous magazine, the cover depicts

Eustace Tilley ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

with his monocle, in the classic iconograph. The cover subtitles also include "1940 to 1950," but the copyright date of 1949 suggests that material from 1950, and possibly the latter part of 1949, was not included; individual years listed after "copyright" also recite each of the years in the 1940s, but not 1950.

Authors

One story from each of 55 different authors is included. The authors (and some selected story titles) are * Roger Angell *

S. N. Behrman Samuel Nathaniel Behrman (; June 9, 1893 – September 9, 1973) was an American playwright, screenwriter, biographer, and longtime writer for ''The New Yorker''. His son is the composer David Behrman. Biography Early years Behrman's parents, Z ...

* Ludwig Bemelmans * Sally Benson *

Isabel Bolton Mary Britton Miller (6 August 1883 – 3 April 1975), best known as Isabel Bolton, was an American poet and novelist. Born in New London, Connecticut, to Charles P. Miller, a lawyer, and Grace Rumrill, she had an identical twin sister, Grace, as ...

* Kay Boyle *

Bessie Breuer Bessie Breuer (October 19, 1893 – September 26, 1975) was an American journalist, novelist, and playwright. She was an O. Henry Award winner. Biography Breuer was born with the name Elizabeth Freedman in Cleveland, Ohio to Samuel Aaron Freedma ...

* Hortense Calisher *

John Cheever John William Cheever (May 27, 1912 – June 18, 1982) was an American short story writer and novelist. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs". His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan; the Westchester suburbs; ...

The Enormous Radio "The Enormous Radio" is a short story by American author John Cheever. It first appeared in the May 17, 1947, issue of The New Yorker, and was subsequently collected in The Enormous Radio and Other Stories., 55 Short Stories from the New Yorke ...

") * Robert M. Coates *

John Collier John Collier may refer to: Arts and entertainment *John Collier (caricaturist) (1708–1786), English caricaturist and satirical poet *John Payne Collier (1789–1883), English Shakespearian critic and forger *John Collier (painter) (1850–1934), ...

* Rhys Davies *

Robert Gorham Davis The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

* Daniel Fuchs * Wolcott Gibbs * Brendan Gill * Emily Hahn * Nancy Hale * Shirley Jackson (" The Lottery") *

Christopher La Farge Christopher Grant La Farge Jr. (December 10, 1897 – January 5, 1956) was an American novelist and poet known for writing verse novels that chronicled life in Rhode Island. Early life and education Christopher Grant La Farge was born in New Y ...

Oliver La Farge Oliver Hazard Perry La Farge II (December 19, 1901 – August 2, 1963) was an American writer and anthropologist. In 1925 he explored early Olmec sites in Mexico, and later studied additional sites in Central America and the American Southw ...

A. J. Liebling Abbott Joseph Liebling (October 18, 1904 – December 28, 1963) was an American journalist who was closely associated with ''The New Yorker'' from 1935 until his death. He was known for, among other things, the aphorism "Freedom of the press bel ...

Victoria Lincoln Victoria Endicott Lincoln Lowe, who wrote under the name Victoria Lincoln, ( – ) was an American novelist, biographer, and true crime writer. Her best known novel, ''February Hill'' (1934), was adapted for stage and screen. She won the Edgar ...

Russell Maloney Russell may refer to: People * Russell (given name) * Russell (surname) * Lady Russell (disambiguation) * Lord Russell (disambiguation) Places Australia *Russell, Australian Capital Territory *Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation) **Ru ...

* James A. Maxwell * William Maxwell * Mary McCarthy * Carson McCullers * Robert McLaughlin * John McNulty * Vladimir Nabokov (" Colette") *

Edward Newhouse Edward Newhouse (November 10, 1911 – November 11, 2002) was a short story author and staff writer for ''The New Yorker''. He was born Ede Ujhazi in Hungary and was married to Dorothy DeLay. Edward wrote proletarian novels in the 1930s, and ma ...

Frank O'Connor Frank O'Connor (born Michael Francis O'Donovan; 17 September 1903 – 10 March 1966) was an Irish author and translator. He wrote poetry (original and translations from Irish), dramatic works, memoirs, journalistic columns and features on a ...

John O'Hara John Henry O'Hara (January 31, 1905 – April 11, 1970) was one of America's most prolific writers of short stories, credited with helping to invent ''The New Yorker'' magazine short story style.John O'Hara: Stories, Charles McGrath, ed., The L ...

Mollie Panter-Downes Mary Patricia "Mollie" Panter-Downes (25 August 1906 – 22 January 1997) was a British novelist and columnist for ''The New Yorker''. Aged sixteen, she wrote ''The Shoreless Sea'' which became a bestseller and was serialised in ''The Daily Mirror ...

* James Reid Parker * Elizabeth Parsons *

Frances Gray Patton Mrs. Frances Gray Patton (March 19, 1906 – March 28, 2000) was an American short story writer and novelist. She is best known for her 1954 novel '' Good Morning Miss Dove.'' Biography She was born in Raleigh, North Carolina to Mr. Robert Lily ...

* Astrid Peters * John Powell * Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings * John Andrews Rice * J. D. Salinger ("

A Perfect Day for Bananafish "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is a short story by J. D. Salinger, originally published in the January 31, 1948, issue of ''The New Yorker''. It was anthologized in 1949's ''55 Short Stories from the New Yorker'', as well as in Salinger's 1953 coll ...

") * Mark Schorer * Irwin Shaw * Jean Stafford * Peter Taylor * James Thurber ("

The Catbird Seat "The Catbird Seat" is a 1942 short story by James Thurber. The story first appeared in ''The New Yorker'' on November 14, 1942. The story was also published in the 1945 anthology ''The Thurber Carnival''. Synopsis The protagonist is Mr. Martin, ...

") *

Niccolò Tucci Niccolò Tucci (May 1, 1908 – December 10, 1999) was a short story writer and novelist who wrote in English and Italian. Early life and family Tucci was born in Lugano, Switzerland, on 1 May 1908, to a Russian mother and an Italian father who be ...

Sylvia Townsend Warner Sylvia Nora Townsend Warner (6 December 1893 – 1 May 1978) was an English novelist, poet and musicologist, known for works such as ''Lolly Willowes'', '' The Corner That Held Them'', and ''Kingdoms of Elfin''. Life Sylvia Townsend Warner wa ...

Jerome Weidman Jerome Weidman (April 4, 1913, New York City – October 6, 1998, New York City) was an American playwright and novelist. He collaborated with George Abbott on the book for the musical ''Fiorello!'' with music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldo ...

* Jessamyn West *

Christine Weston Christine de Marquetiere Goutiere Weston (31 August 1903 – 4 May 1989) was an India-born American fiction writer. Life She was born in Unnao, now in Uttar Pradesh, British India, the daughter of George Henry Goutière, a British indigo pl ...

* E. B. White * Wendell Wilcox

Editorial comment

In the short

Foreword A foreword is a (usually short) piece of writing, sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Typically written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between the ...

, the editors state that " me notable stories are missing" for purposes of balance, and also that " parody, nonsense, and casual essays" have been excluded as "outside the scope of this book." There is a conventional table of contents and an index lists each story alphabetically by its author's last name. There is no other content, except the stories themselves.

Binding

The third paperback printing is bound in matte paper, and is in size, approximately the size of a

trade paperback Trade paperback may refer to: * Trade paperback, a higher-quality softcover version of a book * Trade paperback (comics) In comics in the United States, a trade paperback (shortened: TPB or trade) is a collection of stories originally published ...

in 2006. 1949 anthologies Fiction anthologies Works originally published in The New Yorker Simon & Schuster books American anthologies {{1940s-story-collection-stub