The Lonely Voice: A Study of the Short Story (Harper colophon books) (0060911301) - Reviews and Prices

Editorial Review:

This take on the short story offers a virtual master class by one of the art's most distinguished craftsmen. By special arrangement with Frank O'Connor's widow and in honor of his centenary, this popular but long out-of-print treatise not only discusses the techniques and challenges of the short story but also delves into passionate consideration of some of O'Connor's favorite writers and their greatest works, including Anton Chekhov, Ernest Hemingway, and James Joyce. Written with O'Connor's characteristically sharp wit and prose, this collection of writings illuminates the insights of a man universally regarded as one of the most celebrated practitioners of the short story.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

Essential reading for students of the short story genre:

O'Connor's in-depth analysis goes to the heart of what the short story genre is about. It is written with unstinting commitment and erudition, and never strays into shallowness of any kind. For those who love his stories, it is perhaps surprising to find the beguiling storyteller in this academic vein. What is convincing is not so much his arguments as his evident passion and long reflection on the topics he chooses. To grapple with the theories he propounds, such as that of the short story representing... more info

An influential but grotesquely dated work:

There have been few fulllength studies of the short story, and Frank O'Connor's was one of the first and remains among the most influential. But it has held up miserably over the years. Even granted that he published the work in 1962, was it really necessary for O'Connor to refer so patronizingly to Katherine Mansfield as "the brassy little shopgirl of literature"? Or to treat Joyce's DUBLINERS as if it had been written in lightning on the summit of Mt. Sinai? (Of a sentence from "The Sisters," O'Connor... more info

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