The Portable Henry James

I have never enjoyed a writer so much as Henry James. But I could not have enjoyed him without first Shakespeare, Homer, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Hemingway, the Brontes, George Eliot and so many more. I put off reading Henry James because I had heard he was so long-winder, so boring. Without a doubt, I am convinced that "The Beast in the Jungle" is his best, it is his most autobiographical, it is so sad, and perhaps the best romance (as in "romance") writing I have ever come across. Life experiences help immensely in one's reading, and this is particularly true for "The Beast in the Jungle." The "Turn of the Screw" is a great ghost story, but at the end of the day, it is simply a ghost story. Carrying the "Portable Henry James" on your flights will guarantee you will mind less the missed flights, the delayed flights and the canceled flights.

This collection gives an excellent overview of James' work and offers the reader a chance to engage a notoriously daunting author at many levels. There are the stories, the essays, the letters, and of course select novels. This is the best place to start.