MASTERPIECES OF SHORT FICTION

In these 24 lectures, Professor Michael Krasny shares his deep love and understanding of the short story tradition in Western culture. He starts with Poe and moves through time to Raymond Carver and Margaret Atwood. The last lecture provides an overview, but each early lecture focuses on a single short story. Krasny often reads portions of the stories, sometimes delivering single lines more than once to emphasize the rhythm or poetry of these select bits. The lectures are exceptionally well structured—clearly, honed through years of classroom teaching—and delivered in a friendly voice at a leisurely pace. Krasny provides snippets of biographical data to supplement his close readings of the stories, often delivering them as casual-sounding asides. G.T.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2008]