The Best Short Stories of 1919 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Best Short Stories of 1919: And the Yearbook of the American Short Story There is nothing more horrible than a physically ma ture body moved by a childish mind. And if the average American production repels the sensitive American reader the reason is that he is witnessing just this condition. The American is aware of the individual and social prob lems which inspire the current literatures Of Europe. He is conscious Of the conflicts Of family and sex, Of the contrasts Of poverty and wealth. Of such stuff, also, are his books. Their body is mature: but their mental and spiritual motivation remains infantile. At once, it is reduced to an abortive simplification whereby the real ity is maimed, the reader's wish fulfilled as it could only be in fairyland. But the fairyland is missing: the sweet moods Of fairyland have withered in the arid sophistica tions Of American life. And yet the authors Of this sortrof book are hailed as realists, their work is acclaimed as social criticism and American interpretation. And when at times a solitary voice emerges with the truth, its message is attacked as morbid and a lie'. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.