12 h 49 minAudiobook5 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
An ordinary memory, a small observation, a simple plot: how does a writer turn these into something worth reading?
Modern Essays and Stories brings personal essays and short fiction together in a collection chosen for close reading. Editor Frederick Houk Law places examples of clear prose side by side, inviting you to notice how they work. The book serves as both a reader and a writing guide, with short pieces you can explore one at a time.
The personal essays begin with experience, tastes and thoughts, showing that a friendly voice needs no grand subject. The short fiction draws a small world around a choice, a meeting or a moment of change. Law's aim is to awaken literary appreciation, then encourage original writing: you read carefully, notice more and find models for your own work.
What you’ll discover
- Everyday life as material Discover how an ordinary memory or small observation can become a piece worth reading.
- The personal essay Explore a friendly form that makes room for a writer's own experience, tastes and thoughts.
- A world in miniature See how short fiction gathers its force around a few characters and a focused moment.
- Lessons through comparison Read different approaches side by side and notice the choices that give prose its shape.
- From reading to writing Train your ear and eye through close attention, then turn toward original work.
Who will love it
This book suits readers who love to browse, teachers and students of composition, and anyone who enjoys a dog, a ghost story, a country walk or an old city street told by a writer with a distinct voice.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- An essay shows the writer, not the subject
- Essays have types and a long history
- A short story aims at one strong effect
- How the short story grew, and Poe's five principles
- Familiar essays: small subjects and warm voices
- Stories of the strange: a wolf, a legend and a rescue
- Lives and voices: biography, letters and memory
- Didactic and critical essays that argue and advise
- How the anthology teaches you to write
Formats and delivery
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- Audiobook
- 12 h 49 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 5 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Modern Essays and Stories in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Modern Essays and Stories
by Frederick Houk Law (editor)
Thirty pieces, from a puppy's pranks to a haunted lake, each paired with a chance to write your own.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Imagine a plowman whistling in a furrowed field, happy and busy, with no wish to teach anyone anything. That whistle is where Frederick Houk Law begins.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
An essay shows the writer, not the subject
Law says an essay is a short, informal and personal piece. Like the whistling plowman, many fine essayists wrote for the joy of self-expression. Charles Lamb wrote about memories, friends and places he loved.
The essayist is like a good talker. He has no rules to follow and may drift into a joke or an anecdote. A textbook covers a subject in order, while an essay reveals its writer.
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What is Modern Essays and Stories about?
It is a school anthology of essays, short stories and other prose from the early twentieth century. Frederick Houk Law introduces the essay and the short story, then offers selections with study questions and directions for writing.
Who are the authors in Modern Essays and Stories?
They include Chesterton, Theodore Roosevelt, H. G. Wells, Algernon Blackwood, Anzia Yezierska, Henry Van Dyke, Agnes Repplier, Brander Matthews and William Rose Benét, among many others.
What is the difference between an essay and a short story in this book?
Law says an essay is short, informal and personal, and reveals its writer more than its subject. A short story is brief, complete in itself, true to life, and aims at one strong effect on the reader.
More by Frederick Houk Law (editor)
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