"The Blue Hotel" is a short story by American author

Stephen Crane Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 – June 5, 1900) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism an ...

(1871–1900). It first appeared in 1898 in two installments in ''

Collier's Weekly ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...

'', on November 26 and on December 3, 1898. It subsequently was republished in the collection '' The Monster and Other Stories''.

Background

It is one of the most well known of the short stories in the collection ''The Monsters and Other Stories''. Although it appears to be a reasonably simple tale about a man who encounters trouble following a stay at the Palace Hotel, several complex themes underpin the story and define many of the overarching themes in novels like '' Maggie: A Girl of the Streets'' and more generally, Crane’s corpus. Stylistically, the story breaks free from the norms of the period, often entering the realms of Expressionism, an unusual style to encounter in American literature.

Adaptations

* 1999: ''The Coxcomb'' (1999 album), a musical adaptation by

David Grubbs David Grubbs (born September 21, 1967) is an American composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. He was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet and The Wingd ...

References

External links

"The Blue Hotel"
full text on the

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Hotel, The Short stories by Stephen Crane 1899 short stories Works originally published in Collier's