Milton Crane (1917–1985)

What a wonderful collection of short stories!

While all the stories might be considered classics, there was quite a range. Stories to make you think about life and stories to make you laugh. There are tales of horror (Poe), alternate history, and speculative fiction (not sci-fi really, think along the lines of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery").

Among the classics I had previously read, I was delighted to find both unfamiliar stories by familiar authors and unfamiliar stories by unfamiliar authors that I intend to read more of.

While I enjoyed every story, my favorites were "The Other Side of the Hedge" by E.M Forster, "Putois" by Anatole France, "The Schartz-Metterklume Method" by "Saki" (H.H. Munro), and "The Chaser" by John Collier (the final story and a great way to end a book).… (meer)

An eclectic collection of short stories. Some of them are great, others I didn't enjoy as much. Is that because they weren't great? Maybe, or maybe they were just from a different time. Some stories are timeless, others very much live in the moment they were written. In the unique idioms and idiosyncrasies of that time. Still, it's a great read and most of the stories hit their mark. I particularly liked:

The Garden Party
The Standard of Living
The Other Side of the Hedge
Brooksmith
The Shot
Putois (Truly fantastic)
The Lottery
The Apostate
A Girl From Red Lion, P.A. (Wow, this one really surprised me)
The Minister's Black Veil - A Parable (My favorite in the collection)
The Man Who Could Work Miracles… (meer)

These are in no way the 50 greatest short stories. Many of them aren't even the best story by that writer. The editor does say, however, that he passed over some more frequently anthologized stories. As a result, much of what is here is not so familiar to me. It is a curious mid-20th Century snapshot of the tastes of the editor and the 500 professors of English at American colleges and universities he asked to make nominations. Some of the choices are indeed classics, such as Shirley Jackson's The Lottery. Others are perfection, such as Salinger's For Esme--With Love and Squalor, Sylvia Townsend Warner's The Phoenix, or John Collier's The Chaser. There are lots of lesser known authors as well--at least from 21st Century perspective, although I had heard of most of them. Other pleasures include V.S. Pritchett's The Saint, Max Beerbohm's A.V. Laider (anything by Beerbohm seems to deliver pleasure), and Edith Wharton's The Other Two. And there are others. In addition, there are a few stories that don't seem to meet the definition of "Great" under any circumstance--but I'll leave those for you to discover. Chances are they won't be the same ones on my list. That's a great thing about a book like this; there is something for just about everyone.… (meer)