Alexander Jessup

Although every literary tradition has its own rich vein of humor writing, there's something about American humor that sets it apart from the pack in terms of accessibility and lack of pretension. This volume includes writings from such luminaries of the genre as Mark Twain, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Edgar Allen Poe, and the brevity of most of the collected pieces makes it easy to take a short reading break whenever you could use a good laugh.

The Best American Humorous Short Stories

General Press

Alexander Jessup has collected some of the best in American humorous short stories into one volume. The truly great American storytellers are represented in this volume. Edgar Allan Poe who is known primarily for his horror stories is represented here with his story The Angel of the Odd. Edward Everett Hale has written a delightful story entitled My Double: And How He Undid Me. A Visit to the Asylum For the Aged and Decayed Punsters was written by Oliver Wendell Homes. And no collection of humorous short stories would be complete without The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain. There are twenty other stories to delight the reader.

Mark Twain

Edgar Allan Poe

Edward Everett Hale

Richard Malcolm Johnston

Eliza Leslie

George William Curtis

Frank Richard Stockton

Oliver Wendell Holmes

George Pope Morris

Harry Stillwell Edwards

O Henry

Grace MacGowan Cooke

George R. Chester

Wells Hastings

Harte Harte

H. C. Bunner

William James Lampton

Caroline M. Kirkland

This brief collection of 18 short stories is an interesting collection from the late 19th and early 20th century, featuring great authors and some of their more interesting brief works. There are familiar pieces from Henry, Bierce and others as well as some lesser know pieces from authors like Poe. Those who enjoy the tongue in cheek, ironic and observant will enjoy these playful and sometimes biting pieces. This Collection Includes: INTRODUCTION Alexander Jessup THE LITTLE FRENCHMAN AND HIS WATER LOTS (1839) George Pope Morris THE ANGEL OF THE ODD (1844) Edgar Allan Poe THE SCHOOLMASTER'S PROGRESS (1844) Caroline M.S. Kirkland THE WATKINSON EVENING (1846) Eliza Leslie TITBOTTOM'S SPECTACLES (1854) George William Curtis MY DOUBLE; AND HOW HE UNDID ME (1859) Edward Everett Hale A VISIT TO THE ASYLUM FOR AGED AND DECAYED PUNSTERS (1861) Oliver Wendell Holmes THE CELEBRATED JUMPING FROG OF CALAVERAS COUNTY (1865) Mark Twain ELDER BROWN'S BACKSLIDE (1885) Harry Stillwell Edwards THE HOTEL EXPERIENCE OF MR. PINK FLUKER (1886) Richard Malcolm Johnston THE NICE PEOPLE (1890) Henry Cuyler Bunner THE BULLER-PODINGTON COMPACT (1897) Frank Richard Stockton COLONEL STARBOTTLE FOR THE PLAINTIFF (1901) Bret Harte THE DUPLICITY OF HARGRAVES (1902) O. Henry BARGAIN DAY AT TUTT HOUSE (1905) George Randolph Chester A CALL (1906) Grace MacGowan Cooke HOW THE WIDOW WON THE DEACON (1911) William James Lampton GIDEON (1914) Wells Hastings

Representative American Short Stories

Excerpt from The Best American Humorous Short Stories The Nice People, by Henry Cuyler Bunner, is republished from his volume, Short Sixes, by permission Of its publish ers, Charles Scribner's Sons. The buller-podington Com pact, by Frank Richard Stockton, is from his volume, A field and Aﬂoat, and is republished by permission Of Gnarles Scribner's Sons. Colonel Starbottle for the Plaintifi, by Bret Harte, is from the collection of his stories entitled Openings in the Old Trail, and is republished by permission of the Houghton Mifﬂin Company, the authorized publishers of Bret Harte's complete works. The Duplicity of Hargraves, by 0. Henry, is from his volume, Sixes and Sevens, and is republished by permission Of its publishers, Doubleday, Page co. These stories are fully protected by copyrignt, and should not be republished except by permission of the pub lishers mentioned. Thanks are due Mrs. Grace macgowan Cooke for permission to use her story, A Call, republished here from Harper's Magazine; Wells Hastings, for permission to reprint his story, Gideon, from The Century Magazine; and George Randolph Chester, for permission to include Bargain Day at Tutt House, from M cclure's Magazine. I would also thank the heirs Of the late lamented Colonel William J. Lanpton for permission to use his story, How the Widow Won the Deacon, from Harper's Bazaar. These stories are all copyrighted, and cannot be republished except by authorization Of their authors or heirs. The editor regrets that their publishers have seen fit to refuse him per mission to include George W. Cable's story, Posson and Irvin S. Cobb's story, The Smart Aleck. He also regrets he was unable to Obtain a copy of Joseph C. Duport's story, The Wedding at Timber Hollow, in time for inclusion, to which its merits - as he remembers them - certainly entitle it. Mr. Duport, in addition to his literary activities, has started an interesting back to Nature experiment at Westfield, Massachusetts. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Best American Humorous Short Stories (Classic Reprint)

Alexander Jessup

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