The Best American Humorous Short Stories (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781547279821)

This volume might well have started with something by Washington Irving, I suppose many critics would say. It does not seem to me, however, that Irving's best short stories, such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle, are essentially humorous stories, although they are o'erspread with the genial light of reminiscence. It is the armchair geniality of the eighteenth century essayists, a constituent of the author rather than of his material and product. Irving's best humorous creations, indeed, are scarcely short stories at all, but rather essaylike sketches, or sketchlike essays. James Lawson (1799-1880) in his Tales and Sketches: by a Cosmopolite (1830), notably in The Dapper Gentleman's Story, is also plainly a follower of Irving.

Author: Anonymous
ISBN-10: 1547279826
ISBN-13: 9781547279821
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Language: English
Published: 08/11/2017
Pages: 286
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.60d