- Hardcover
- Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Pr (October 1991)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0871134748
- ISBN-13: 978-0871134745
- Product Dimensions: 24.1 x 19.6 x 3.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 703 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,403,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
"It takes a certain amount of daring for a literary writer to employ a device as powerful and obvious as a ghost, and a great deal of talent and self-assurance to pull it off. The fact that these stories are so different from one another and that no two ghosts in them are alike is a testament to the power of the individual imagination to appropriate established myths without assuming the associated clichés." So writes Larry Dark in the introduction to this anthology of expertly crafted ghost stories by such luminaries as Donald Barthelme, Paul Bowles, A. S. Byatt, Robertson Davies, M. F. K. Fisher, John Gardner, Nadine Gordimer, Graham Greene, Patrick McGrath, R. K. Narayan, Tim O'Brien, V. S. Pritchett, Anne Sexton, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Fay Weldon.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Relying little on conventions of the genre, these 28 subtly disturbing, enigmatic modern tales are distinguished by global settings, some memorable ghostly narrators and the depiction of various religious beliefs about the spirit world. In general, they derive their chilling effect from their authors' skillful use of nuance. Setting the collection's almost-rational tone, the first story, M.F.K. Fisher's "The Lost, Strayed, Stolen," follows an American in Britain as he visits an old friend and his wife--and the spirits who live with them. Among her closest living friends, the wraithly protagonist of Muriel Spark's "The Portobello Road" includes her murderer. The late Isaac Bashevis Singer delves into a young woman's confusion when her Jewish grandfather and Christian grandmother give her conflicting advice from the grave in "A Crown of Feathers." Stories by John Gardner, Donald Barthelme, Joyce Carol Oates, Steven Milhauser, Fay Weldon, Graham Greene and Nadine Gordimer, among others, are equally rewarding.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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First Sentence
The few people who did not like Mr. and Mrs. Beddoes laughed, perhaps jealously, at their ambience of golden wedding, their greeting-card happiness. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
The few people who did not like Mr. and Mrs. Beddoes laughed, perhaps jealously, at their ambience of golden wedding, their greeting-card happiness. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent introduction to the literary ghost story genre,
By
This review is from: The Literary Ghost: Great Contemporary Ghost Stories (Paperback)
By "literary" I mean stories that are original instead of anecdotal. These stories are not campfire tales--not that there's anything wrong with that!--but readers who are used to "told-for-true" stories ought to explore the literary ghost story as a complement to the other type, not because it's good for you like oatmeal, but because it takes you to a whole new level of fun. And ghost stories ought always to be--in one way or another--fun. Think of the stories of Sheridan Le Fanu and M.R. James, those of the Victorian women writers like Cynthia Asquith, Amelia Edwards. THE GHOST STORIES OF EDITH WHARTON are among my personal favorites. Novella and novel-length stories such as Henry James' THE TURN OF THE SCREW, Shirley Jackson's THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, and Peter Straub's GHOST STORY, fall into the category, "literary," although nothing beats the short ghost story for a quick trip into the Twilight Zone, which may be why collections of short ghost stories are becoming collectors items. Beyond being just plain fun to read, literary ghost stories are often character driven, and contain some psychological depth. They might make powerful feminist statements, as Kay Weldon does in "Angel, All Innocence," in this collection. Literary ghost stories can explore spiritual issues as does Isaac B. Singer's "A Crown of Feathers." Other great stories in THE LITERARY GHOST are Joyce Carol Oates' "The Others," Muriel Spark's classic and often-anthologized "The Portobello Road," and Graham Greene's creepy "A Little Place Off the Edgware Road." In the introduction to THE LITERARY GHOST, editor Larry Dark concludes that this kind of story, "at its best, ...can be immensely satisfying to our mortal souls and their yearning for completion."
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent introduction to the literary ghost story genre,
By Sherry Austin "sherryaustin.com" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Literary Ghost: Great Contemporary Ghost Stories (Paperback)
By "literary" I mean stories that are original instead of anecdotal. These stories are not campfire tales--not that there's anything wrong with that!--but readers who are used to "told-for-true" stories ought to explore the literary ghost story as a complement to the other type, not because it's good for you like oatmeal, but because it takes you to a whole new level of fun. And ghost stories ought always to be--in one way or another--fun. Think of the stories of Sheridan Le Fanu and M.R. James, those of the Victorian women writers like Cynthia Asquith, Amelia Edwards. THE GHOST STORIES OF EDITH WHARTON are among my personal favorites. Novella and novel-length stories such as Henry James' THE TURN OF THE SCREW, Shirley Jackson's THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, and Peter Straub's GHOST STORY, fall into the category, "literary," although nothing beats the short ghost story for a quick trip into the Twilight Zone, which may be why collections of short ghost stories are becoming collectors items. Beyond being just plain fun to read, literary ghost stories are often character driven, and contain some psychological depth. They might make powerful feminist statements, as Kay Weldon does in "Angel, All Innocence," in this collection. Literary ghost stories can explore spiritual issues as does Isaac B. Singer's "A Crown of Feathers." Other great stories in THE LITERARY GHOST are Joyce Carol Oates' "The Others," Muriel Spark's classic and often-anthologized "The Portobello Road," and Graham Greene's creepy "A Little Place Off the Edgware Road." In the introduction to THE LITERARY GHOST, editor Larry Dark concludes that this kind of story, "at its best, ...can be immensely satisfying to our mortal souls and their yearning for completion."
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Read,
By Melody C. Orr - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Literary Ghost: Great Contemporary Ghost Stories (Paperback)
This book is full of old ghost legends. Some of them are really great, old interesting yarns, others are sort of flat and bland. That's the reason this didn't get a five-star rating. Otherwise, I'm happy with this anthology and I do recommend it.
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