Short Fiction

Guy de Maupassant is considered one of the preeminent writers in the realm of the short story. In a little over a decade he produced almost three hundred stories, many of which (e.g. "Boule de Suif," "The Little Soldier") are judged to be classics of the genre. As a protégé of Flaubert and contemporary of Zola, Maupassant was an early practitioner of naturalism, and his stories often reflect the stark, harsh outlook that marked that movement. Brutality-towards women, as a result of war, or just representing the baseness of humankind-is a common thread. Yet stories like "Beside the Bed" and "Country Courts" show that he had a sense of humor as well. But no matter the subject, what sets Maupassant's stories apart is his unerring ability to paint the details of the story's setting and participants in such a way that the reader feels as if they are part of the action. This edition includes all Maupassant stories that are known to have been translated into English, including five that have not appeared in any other English collection. It does not include the sixty-six so-called "fake" Maupassants, stories that were attributed to Maupassant but not written by him that appeared in several English collections at the turn of the twentieth century. Perfect for readers who appreciate masterful storytelling and unflinching realism, this collection showcases why Maupassant remains the undisputed master of the short story form. His razor-sharp prose and penetrating insights into human nature create unforgettable tales that will linger in your mind long after the final page. The source for this public-domain ebook is Standard Ebooks (standardebooks.org). Ebooks from other sources often have typos, inconsistent spelling, missing accent marks, and missing punctuation. Ebooks from Standard Ebooks are proofread line by line against a scan of the original printed pages, then proofread again from cover to cover. They are also formatted and typeset following a professional-grade style manual, resulting in new editions supporting state-of-the-art ereader technology: automatic hyphenation, popup footnotes, complete and consistent metadata, high-resolution and scalable vector graphics, and ereader-compatible tables of contents. All of this makes the finished ebooks accurate, functional, and beautiful, a pleasure to read. (Waking Lion Press is not affiliated with or endorsed by Standard Ebooks.)