现代短篇小说的定义远不止长度问题。尽管早期先驱埃德加·爱伦·坡（Edgar Allan Poe）做出了努力，但这一流派最初是轶事或故事的同义词，更多地被视为娱乐而非艺术。然而，它已经变得远远不止这些，这篇非常简短的介绍重新考虑了该形式在情节构建、心理洞察能力和提供高度集中感知能力方面正在进行的创新。
这本书描绘了短篇小说从最初出现在杂志和报纸上的崛起。在19世纪的大部分时间里，故事都是为媒体而写的，这种形式的历史以通俗小说为标志。从19世纪后期开始，这部短篇小说以其巧妙地运用情节设计和人物研究而闻名。第一次世界大战后，它在高水平的出版物、单作者收藏以及选集中找到了销路。
安德鲁·卡恩（Andrew Kahn）在探索形式的技巧和主题时，考虑了关键结构和技巧的连续性和变化，如开头、声音的创造、反讽转折或情节扭曲，以及作家如何管理结尾。自始至终，他都从一个国际性的、蓬勃发展的作品中选取了一些例子，并对经典和鲜为人知的故事进行了仔细分析。
The Short Story: A Very Short Introduction (Audiobook)
What defines a modern short story is much more than a question of length. Despite the efforts of early pioneers like Edgar Allan Poe, the genre was originally synonymous with the anecdote or tale and seen more as entertainment than art. However it has become far more than that, and this Very Short Introduction considers afresh the form’s ongoing innovations in plot construction, capacity for psychological insight, and ability to offer intensely concentrated perceptions.
This book charts the rise of the short story from its original appearance in magazines and newspapers. For much of the 19th century, tales were written for the press, and the form’s history is marked by engagement with popular fiction. From the later 19th century, the short story earned a reputation for its skillful use of plot design and character study. After the First World War it found outlets in high-brow publications, and single-author collections, as well as anthologies.
Exploring the form’s techniques and themes, Andrew Kahn considers the continuity and variation in key structures and techniques such as the beginning, the creation of voice, the ironic turn or plot twist, and how writers manage endings. Throughout he draws on examples from an international and flourishing corpus of work, with close analysis of classic and lesser-known stories.
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