The Devil and Daniel Webster (Penguin Classics)
This allegorical short story centers on New Hampshire farmer Jabez Stone, who makes a pact with the devil, and the famous orator Daniel Webster, who comes to his rescue. Folk tale, courtroom drama, and American history all overlap in its telling.
Work Information
A bargain over a soul is overturned by Daniel Webster's famous eloquence.
One of Stephen Vincent Benét's best-known short works, this story uses a folk-tale voice to stage a reversal in which a devil's bargain is challenged in court. It turns justice and patriotism into part of the story's allegorical texture.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Penguin Classics
- Published
- 1999-12-01
- Pages
- 528 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 12.5 x 2.41 x 19.76 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780140437409
- ISBN-10
- 0140437401
- Category
- 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Essays & Correspondence/Essays
A spirited selection from one of the most highly prized American writers of the twentieth century Before his premature death in 1943, Stephen Vincent Benet was one of America's most prolific poets, novelists, and short-story writers. He is also, along with Robert Frost, Robert Lowell, and Robert Penn Warren, the only author to receive two Pulitzer prizes for his poetry. Featured in this anthology of his writings is a generous selection of his verse, anchored by his two Pulitzer Prize- winning poems, John Brown's Body and Western Star . Hailed by the New York Times as "an American Iliad ," John Brown's Body (1929) is an epic chronicle of the Civil War, from the raid on Harper's Ferry to General Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Through a versatile array of masterly short stories, Benet explored such subjects as American society, history, politics, and the supernatural. Among the two dozen stories selected for this volume are the haunting title story and the wrenching "A Death in the Country." A final section representing Bent's nonfiction collects several of his penetrating essays on writing and education, including "Most Unforgettable Character I've Known." Sensitively selected and thoughtfully arranged, this vibrant anthology will reintroduce readers to an American master.
Stephen Vincent Benet (1898-1943), poet, novelist, and short-story writer, was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. His Pulitzer Prize-winning poem John Brown's Body is still considered the quintessential American war poem. He was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in 1943. Townsend Ludington is the Boshamer Distinguished Professor of English and American Literature at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and is the editor of the Penguin Classics edition of Dos Passos' Three Soldiers .
Reviews
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Excellent anthology by an American genius (Benet). Shipper was fast and item well packaged. It is heartbreakingly difficult to find works by this most acclaimed Pulitzer prize-winning author today. Why, I wonder? Especially noteworthy in this edition is the short story, "Cue," which is about a runaway slave......fascinating genius in every sentence.
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Poor heading and description led to wrong purchase. Not able to secure number of copies at misstated price
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Good read
Related Literary Awards
- O. Henry Award Edition 19 (1937) ・Winner