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Edith Wharton: Collected Stories 1911–1937

Edited by Maureen Howard

“The Library of America’s collection is a splendid and satisfying publication, and a landmark in the history of Edith Wharton’s ever-shifting reputation.” — New York Review of Books

Overview
News & Views
Table of Contents

Overview

Story of the Week “Atrophy,” Edith Wharton
January 24, 2024

Story of the Week Edith Wharton, “Mrs. Manstey’s View”
April 4, 2022

News Remarks on Edith Wharton’s Collected Stories by editor Maureen Howard
April 4, 2022

Save $25.00 when you buy both volumes of Edith Wharton’s stories.

In settings familiar and exotic, Edith Wharton’s stories exhibit characteristic qualities and themes: her candid exploration of relations between the sexes; her satire, sometimes gentle, sometimes despairing, of social class and its distinctions; her keen-eyed observation of the minutiae of character; her unflinching recognition of the power of conventional morality and the limits of passion, tempered by her delightful sense of play.

In this Library of America collection, the second of two volumes, Wharton’s humor is abundantly evident in sly and subtle stories like “Xingu” (in which a ladies’ reading group is led to express its enthusiasm for an occult philosophy) and “Charm Incorporated” (about a mild-mannered Wall Street executive overwhelmed by his émigré wife’s needy but wonderful relatives). As always, Wharton’s is a provocative voice on the subject of sexuality and women’s roles. In “The Day of the Funeral,” “Joy in the House,” and “Atrophy,” love and desire confront the demands of polite society; in “Roman Fever,” a formal tour de force, two middle-aged women on holiday with their modern daughters revisit the fierce competitiveness of their own youth.

Of particular interest are Wharton’s stories of the uncanny and the supernatural, like the grisly “A Bottle of Perrier,” set in the North African desert, and the chilling “All Souls’,” written just before her death. An unacknowledged master of American horror fiction, Wharton’s lucid prose makes all the more powerful her exploration of the irrational forces underlying ordinary life.

Also included in this edition are a chronology of Wharton’s life, explanatory notes, and an essay on the texts.

Maureen Howard, editor of this volume, is the author of seven novels, including Grace Abounding, Expensive Habits, Natural History, and A Lover’s Almanac, and has taught at Columbia, Princeton, and Yale.

This Library of America series edition is printed on acid-free paper and features Smyth-sewn binding, a full cloth cover, and a ribbon marker.

Project support for this volume was provided: In Memory of Charles Ryskamp: Prince Amyn Aga Khan; Gillian Attfield; Katharine Baetjer; Laura S. Bennett; Rosamond Bernier; John Bidwell & Andres L. Immel; Cynthia R. Boardman; W. Mark Brady; William & Stuart Buice; Vivian Ranschburg Clark; Gifford Combs; Joel Conarroe; D. Ronald Daniel & Lise Scott; Annette & Oscar de la Renta; Nancy R. Druckman; Elizabeth Easton; Barrett & Peter Freylinghuysen; Susan Grace Galassi; Patrick & Elizabeth Gerschel; Anne, Alain, Theo, & Noah Goldrach; Joseph & Deborah Goldyne; Louise Grunwald; Mr. & Mrs. James B. Gubelmann; Members of Guernsey Hill Condominium Association; Eileen Guggenheim & Russell Wilkinson; Drue Heinz; Maisie & Jamie Houghton; Alexandra Hughes; Lawrence & Rose Hughes; Cheryl & Kevin Hurley; David Lachenmann; Priscilla & Donald K. Miller; Jeffrey Munger & Robert Whitman; Diane A. Nixon; Benjamin Ordover; Mary Carr Patton; Howard Phipps, Jr.; A. Alex Porter; Anne & François Poulet; Emily Rafferty; William S. Reese

Edith Wharton: Collected Stories 1911–1937 is kept in print by multiple gifts to the Guardians of American Letters Fund, made in memory of Charles Ryskamp.
News & Views

Story of the Week “Atrophy,” Edith Wharton
January 24, 2024

Story of the Week Edith Wharton, “Mrs. Manstey’s View”
April 4, 2022

News Remarks on Edith Wharton’s Collected Stories by editor Maureen Howard
April 4, 2022

Story of the Week Edith Wharton, “Miss Mary Pask”
October 29, 2021

Story of the Week Edith Wharton, “Kerfol”
October 26, 2020
Table of Contents

Xingu
Coming Home
Autres Temps…
Kerfol
The Long Run
The Triumph of Night
Bunner Sisters
Writing a War Story
The Marne
Miss Mary Pask
The Young Gentlemen
Bewitched
The Seed of the Faith
Velvet Ear-Pads
Atrophy
A Bottle of Perrier
After Holbein
Mr. Jones
Her Son
The Day of the Funeral
A Glimpse
Joy in the House
Charm Incorporated
Pomegranate Seed
Confession
Roman Fever
The Looking-Glass
Duration
All Souls’

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ISBN: 978-1-88301194-9 848 pages

LOA books are distributed worldwide by Penguin Random House

N° 122 Library of America Series

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