A short story collection is a book of
short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
and/or
novella
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...
s by a single author. A short story collection is distinguished from an
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 fiction, which would contain work by several authors (e.g., ''
Les Soirées de Médan
''Les Soirées de Médan'' ("Evenings at Médan") is a collection of six short stories by six different writers associated with Naturalism, first published in 1880. All the stories concern the Franco-Prussian War. The contents of the book are as ...
''). The stories in a collection may or may not share a
tone,
theme
Theme or themes may refer to:
* Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work
* Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos
* Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...
,
setting
Setting may refer to:
* A location (geography) where something is set
* Set construction in theatrical scenery
* Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction
* Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to eng ...
, or
characters
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
with one another.
Composition of a collection
Short story collections are made up of smaller texts—the individual short stories—in order to form a superior whole.
[Santi, Mara (2014). "Performative Perspectives on Short Story Collections". ''Interférences littéraires/Literaire interferenties'' (12): 143–154. ]ISSN
An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication, such as a magazine. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title. ISSNs ...
2031-2970. In spite of this, each short story does not lose any of its meaning or narrative independence by being included in a collection.
This does not mean that short stories do not gain any new meaning from being included in a collection, though. Because each story's context has changed, surrounded by other stories with their own meanings and tones, the meaning and tone of any individual story might also be affected.
In addition to the individual stories, short story collections may also include notes by the author.
The act of writing short stories is different from the act of gathering short stories into a collection.
For instance, the short story author may or may not be the one who compiles the short story collection, even though the author penned the individual stories. This is especially obvious in the case of posthumous publications.
Note that short story collections should be considered different from traditional novels and other narratives because collections do not forward a cohesive storyline in the same way novels do.
Instead, short story collections group individual pieces, each with their own narratives. If a short story collection as a whole has its own narrative, it is considered a
short story cycle A short story cycle (sometimes referred to as a story sequence or composite novel) is a collection of short stories in which the narratives are specifically composed and arranged with the goal of creating an enhanced or different experience when rea ...
.
History of short story collections
Short story collections have their roots in medieval
frame tale
A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent.
Frame and FRAME may also refer to:
Physical objects
In building construction
* Framing (c ...
collections, growing into the
postmodern narratives of the 1900s.
Short story collections either can be authored traditionally by one person or evolve from oral, anonymous traditions that are finally penned by someone.
An example of the latter would be ''Grimm's Fairy Tales''.
Short story collections can be published when the author is alive or they can be collected and published after the author is dead using the author's existing works.
Early Western short story collections include Marie of France's ''Lais'' and Giovanni Boccaccio's ''Decameron.''
Uses for short story collections
From the producer side, short story collections are helpful economically to authors looking to publish. Because short stories are often less than fifty pages, putting them together can provide something that is more like the size of a novel. While short story collections are less popular than novels for consumers, they are purchased consistently.
Short story collections have experienced a gradual increase in sales over the last decade, although most collections are not reprinted and do not sell more than 3,000 copies.
Aside from their entertainment value, short story collections can also be used for teaching. There are several potential applications for collections in the classroom. The first is the ability for students to quickly experience other cultures and traditions through a literary lens.
[Lesesne, Teri S. (1994). "Forming Connections and Awakening Visions: Using Short Story Collections in the Classroom". ''The ALAN Review''. 21 (3). ]ISSN
An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication, such as a magazine. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title. ISSNs ...
1547-741X. Secondly, providing short story collections centered around a specific time creates an opportunity to encourage interest in historical studies.
Teachers can also use short story collections as introduction or further exploration to a genre.
By providing several works from that genre, students can get a feel of its conventions. Another potential use is to challenge students to evaluate and criticize literature by using short story collections as a jumping off point.
The last idea is to use short story collections as a model for student writing since classical greats can be daunting or impossible for a student to replicate.
However, newer, more bite-sized short story collections might be a good way for students to get the depth of exposure they need while not overwhelming them.
Notable short story collections
![Grimm's Fairy Tales - Cover](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Grimm%27s_Fairy_Tales_-_Cover.jpg)
Short story collections can be divided into two general groups. The first is themed collections, which might share a character, setting, theme, or tone. This is different from a short story cycle in that the collection does not advance a cohesive narrative. The second is non-themed collections, a grouping in which each story has little literary similarity to the others. Following are notable collections from each group.
Themed collections
* ''
Grimms' Fairy Tales
''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', originally known as the ''Children's and Household Tales'' (german: Kinder- und Hausmärchen, lead=yes, ), is a German collection of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, Grimm brothers or "Brothers Grimm", Jacob Grimm, Ja ...
''
by
Jakob and
Wilhelm Grimm
Wilhelm Carl Grimm (also Karl; 24 February 178616 December 1859) was a German author and anthropologist, and the younger brother of Jacob Grimm, of the literary duo the Brothers Grimm.
Life and work
Wilhelm was born in February 1786 in Hanau, in ...
*''
Dubliners
''Dubliners'' is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. It presents a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century.
The stories were writt ...
'' by
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
*''
Her Body and Other Parties
Her is the objective and possessive form of the English-language feminine pronoun she.
Her, HER or H.E.R. may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Music
* H.E.R. (born 1997), American singer
** ''H.E.R.'' (album), 2017
* HIM (Finnish ...
'' by
Carmen Maria Machado
*''
The Moons of Jupiter''
by
Alice Munro
Alice Ann Munro (; ; born 10 July 1931) is a Canadian short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013. Munro's work has been described as revolutionizing the architecture of short stories, especially in its tendency to move f ...
*''
Nine Stories''
by
J.D. Salinger
Jerome David Salinger (; January 1, 1919 January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel ''The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger got his start in 1940, before serving in World War II, by publishing several short stories in ''S ...
*''
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
''What We Talk About When We Talk About Love'' is a 1981 collection of short stories by American writer Raymond Carver, as well as the title of one of the stories in the collection.
Content
"Why Don't You Dance?"
In 1977, Carver submitted a stor ...
''
by
Raymond Carver
Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He contributed to the revitalization of the American short story during the 1980s.
Early life
Carver was born in Clatskanie, Oregon, a mi ...
*''
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
''Brief Interviews with Hideous Men'' is a short story collection by the late American writer David Foster Wallace, first published in 1999 by Little, Brown. According to the papers in the David Foster Wallace Archive at the Harry Ransom Center, ...
''
by
David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and university professor of English and creative writing. Wallace is widely known for his 1996 novel '' Infinite Jest'', whi ...
Non-themed collections
*
''The Garden Party and Other Stories''[Day, Elizabeth (2014-10-17). "The 10 best short story collections". ''The Guardian''. ]ISSN
An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication, such as a magazine. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title. ISSNs ...
0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-03-09 by
Katherine Mansfield
Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer, essayist and journalist, widely considered one of the most influential and important authors of the modernist movement. Her works are celebra ...
* ''
Ficciones
' (in English: "Fictions") is a collection of short stories by Argentine writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges, originally written and published in Spanish between 1941 and 1956. Thirteen stories from ''Ficciones'' were first published by New Dire ...
'' and ''
El Aleph'' by
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known bo ...
* ''
The Collected Stories''
by
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...
* ''
Nightfall and Other Stories
''Nightfall and Other Stories'' (1969) is a collection of 20 previously published science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov. Asimov added a brief introduction to each story, explaining some aspect of the story's history and/or how it came t ...
''
by
Isaac Asimov
yi, יצחק אזימאװ
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References
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collection
Collection or Collections may refer to:
* Cash collection, the function of an accounts receivable department
* Collection (church), money donated by the congregation during a church service
* Collection agency, agency to collect cash
* Collectio ...
Literary terminology