A lovingly annotated sampling of stories by the prolific Howells 1837 1920now best known for his many novels and for his unstinting efforts to championrealism ... » 

A lovingly annotated sampling of stories by the prolific Howells 1837 1920now best known for his many novels and for his unstinting efforts to championrealism in American literature in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Bardon provides both a lengthy general introduction setting the storieswritten between 1861 and 1917 within the context of Howellss careerironically as she points out Howells was best known in his own time for hisshort fiction and essays only later did he become identified primarily as anovelist as well as prefaces to each of the 13 tales. They range from theelegantly slight A Dream to the lyrical Christmas Every Day and fromclosely observed tales of psychological and intellectual complexity ADifficult Case to work with frank supernatural overtones The Angel of theLord. A varied and impressive gathering surprisingly fresh and intriguingand a necessary volume for any Howells collection. Kirkus Reviews «