R. V. Cassill Livres

Introductory matter includes a chronological list of the stories and a section on the elements of fiction. Then follow examples of short fiction arranged in alphabetical order by authors that include Welty, William Carlos Williams, Melville, de Maupassant, David Leavitt, Louise Erdrich, and Thom Jones. The last section, "Writers on Writing," features 15 valuable commentaries on the way writers read particular works of fiction: Andrea Barrett reads Willa Cather's "Paul's Case"; Gina Berriault, Ivan Bunin's "The Gentleman from San Francisco"; and Richard Ford, Bharati Mukherjee's "The Management of Grief," to name just three. In all, there are 44 stories written after 1980, 26 new to the 6th edition. A glossary is included and an instructor's handbook is available. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR

Beautiful, intelligent, and charming, Leslie Daniels is the wife of a successful Illinois physician. To her friends and family, she is happily living the American dream. But there is a hidden side to Leslie, a side propelled by lust and unsettling impulses that run completely counter to her comfortable Midwestern routine."Here is the substance of great tragedy...Pretty Leslie is one of the most outstanding novels of the year." - Atlanta Journal-Constitution"In many ways an American Madame Bovary, Pretty Leslie is a novel of unusual power. Mr Cassill establishes himself as an observer of rare trenchancy. His intelligence is tough; his grasp of character is breathtaking and his prose is always a delight. Pretty Leslie is a jolting, disturbing book -- its revelation of the darkness within will make some readers cringe, but it stamps Mr. Cassill as a writer of the first rank."- New York Times Book Review