This book offers a reappraisal of a critically underrated genre during a particularly rich period in its history. It is a book about some of the greatest postwar American writers, who consistently found in the short story a form well adapted to their most fundamental preoccupations, and about the literary cultures within which they wrote: the magazines they published in; the prizes they did or did not win; the university courses which taught them how to write, or enabled them to teach others how to write; and their (more often than not disappointing) sales figures. The book includes new readings of important stories by key writers including Flannery O'Conner, Eudora Welty, J. D. Salinger, John Cheever, Donald Barthelme, Grace Paley, Raymond Carver, Lorrie Moore, Tim O'Brien, Denis Johnson, Junot Diaz, Sherman Alexie, Jhumpa Lahiri, David Bezmozgis, Edward P. Jones, David Foster Wallace, Gish Jen, A. M. Homes and Lydia Davis.Key Features:Offers detailed readings of key works by major writers during a particularly rich period in the history of the short storyExplores the various contexts in which American short stories have been written and published, including creative writing schools, mass market and 'little' magazinesRelates the American short story since 1950 to its historical precedents