Introductory matter includes a chronological list of the stories and a section on the elements of fiction. Then follow examples of short fiction arranged in alphabetical order by authors that include Welty, William Carlos Williams, Melville, de Maupassant, David Leavitt, Louise Erdrich, and Thom Jones. The last section, "Writers on Writing," features 15 valuable commentaries on the way writers read particular works of fiction: Andrea Barrett reads Willa Cather's "Paul's Case"; Gina Berriault, Ivan Bunin's "The Gentleman from San Francisco"; and Richard Ford, Bharati Mukherjee's "The Management of Grief," to name just three. In all, there are 44 stories written after 1980, 26 new to the 6th edition. A glossary is included and an instructor's handbook is available. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR