Selected Stories of Eudora Welty: A Curtain of Green and Other Stories

At the time of her death, Eudora Welty was considered the single greatest living American author, a writer who (although she actually won the Pulitzer Prize for the novel THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER) made her reputation with that most difficult of all literary forms, the short story. One of America's most frequently anthologized writers, Welty's distinctly Southern tone and the fineness of her over-all work makes her the only regional author whose reputation consistently challenges that of William Faulkner.This particular collection of Welty's short stories includes all works previously collected under the titles A CURTAIN OF GREEN and THE WIDE NET, which were her first and second published short story volumes, written in the 1930s and 1940s. The stories from the former are widely known, and include such favorites as "The Petrified Man," "Keela, the Outcast Indian Maiden," "Why I Live at the P.O.," and "The Worn Path." Although less well known, stories from the latter are equally fine, and include such titles as "First Love," "The Wide Net," and "Livvy."Welty was blessed with a talent for writing from the inside of the character, and in reading her work one consistently feels that one is not so much reading Welty as the writings of the characters she presents--writings rendered with superlative, memorable imagery. But although Welty's work generally consists of character portrait rather than plot-driven material and maintains a stylistically consistent tone, it is remarkably varied, ranging from the outrageously comic to the deeply touching to the profoundly disquieting.Of particular interest to modern readers is the way in which Welty, who wrote primarily during the era of segregation, addresses race in her work. In one sense, she does not address it at all, for her work is not issue-oriented; at the same time, however, certain aspects of her work (such as characters who occasionally use the 'n' word, which even in the South of this era carried certain implications about the mentality and social class of the person who used it) indicate her awareness of the slow-boil hidden beneath the surface of Southern society. Although it is not included in this particular collection, those interested in Welty's work would do well to read her 1960s story "Where Is The Voice Coming From?," a fearsome portrait of violent racism in action, for Welty's ultimate position on the matter.

These stories are a great read. With tons of soul, humor and guts, Eudora Welty weaves these tales of the south like a master. Mark down the ones you like because you'll want to read them again.