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Cover of The Harbrace Anthology of Short Fiction
Book details

The Harbrace Anthology of Short Fiction

Fourth Edition

by Rick Bowers, Raymond E. Jones, Jon C. Stott

Published 2008397 pagesISBN 978-0-1764-1542-6

[Young Goodman Brown](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL455569W) / Nathaniel Hawthorne -- [Fall of the House of Usher](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL41078W) / Edgar Allan Poe -- [Bartleby, the scrivener](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL102732W) / Herman Melville -- A whisper in the dark / Lousia May Alcott -- [The story of an hour](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20078864W) / Kate Chopin -- An outpost of progress / Joseph Conrad -- The yellow wallpaper / Charlotte Perkins Gilman -- [Araby](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20570121W) / James Joyce -- Bliss / Katherine Mansfield -- [A rose for Emily](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL82884W) / William Faulkner -- A clean, well-lighted place / Ernest Hemingway -- The lamp at noon / Sinclair Ross -- Why I live at the P.O. / Eudora Welty -- My heart is broken / Mavis Gallant -- At the rendezous of victory / Nadine Gordimer -- The loons / Margaret Laurence -- Wild swans / Alice Munro -- Foghound in Avalon / Elizabeth McGrath -- The conversation of the Jews / Philip Roth -- The motor car / Austin C. Clarke -- Hazel / Carol Shields -- The boat / Alistair MacLeod -- The resplendent quetzal / Margaret Atwood -- Joseph's justice, interview with Maria Campbell / Maria Campbell -- Borders / Thomas King -- Everyday use / Alice Walker -- The naked man / Greg Hollingshead -- The prophet's hair / Salman Rushdie -- Summit with Sedna, the mother of sea beasts / Aloootook Ipellie -- Cages / Guy Vanderhaeghe -- Two kinds / Amy Tan -- Squatter / Rohinton Mistry.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction, Romance, Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.

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Full BookenDeX details

What the reading experience may hold

A fuller profile for choosing with more confidence—not just another copy of the preview.

Themes to notice

Fiction · Romance · Nonfiction

Use these as starting points rather than limits; the most memorable books often stretch beyond their catalog labels.

Content notes

No specific content concerns can be confirmed from the available English catalog information. Consult a publisher or reader-supplied guide when detailed warnings matter.

These notes are inferred from available catalog information and may not be complete. Check a publisher or reader-supplied guide if you need comprehensive warnings.

Reading experience

Dark tone · Steady pace

A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.

Who it may suit

A good fit if…

Readers who want a thoughtful experience and enjoy noticing the connections beneath a book’s surface story.

At a glance

This book's DNA

A visual estimate based on this edition's categories, description, and length. Select a star to explore the signals.

ToneDark
LuminousDark

This signal is descriptive, not a rating. It helps compare the kind of reading experience this edition may offer.

No plot details

Spoiler-Free Emotional Arc

A broad estimate of the book’s emotional rhythm, shown without story events or outcomes.

Spoiler-free
12345
PeakRelative emotional intensity
The Harbrace Anthology of Short FictionRick Bowers, Raymond E. Jones, Jon C. Stott
Heightened4.1/5

This visualization is an interpretive estimate based on catalog description, categories, tone, pace, and content signals. It does not describe specific scenes.

Before you choose

A quick reading snapshot

Edition facts and catalog signals to help you decide whether this book fits what you want to read next.

Reading lengthA standard-length read397 pages in this edition
Publication eraModernFirst published or edition dated 2008
Primary categoryFictionAlso cataloged under Romance and Nonfiction
ISBN-13
978-0-1764-1542-6
Language
English
Edition record
OL32104016M
BookenDeX editorial lens

A more thoughtful way into this book

This guide uses the edition details and category signals above to help you choose deliberately. It does not replace the author's work or a full review.

Good to know

A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.

Begin with its place in Fiction, then notice where the book resists that label.

Try this reading approach

Read for connection, not completion.

Mark one passage that sharpens the book's central concern and one that complicates it. That tension often reveals more than a quick summary.

Three questions to carry with you

  1. What does the central character want, and what do they misunderstand about that desire?
  2. Which detail or relationship changes how you interpret the story?
  3. What feeling or question does the book leave with you after the plot moves on?

Editorial framework by Wesley Bryan, BookenDeX Founder and Editor.