Fifty-seven short stories drawn from past collections celebrate the lifelong significance of this major American writer's essential contribution to a form--illuminating the ways that he has made it his own. When John Edgar Wideman won the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story, he joined a list of esteemed writers-from Eudora Welty to George Saunders-who are acknowleged masters of the short story. Here he gathers a representative selection...

"In The Louis Till File, John Edgar Wideman searches for Louis Till, a silent victim of American injustice. Wideman's personal interaction with the story began when he learned of Emmett's murder in 1955; Wideman was also fourteen years old. After reading decades later about Louis's execution, he couldn't escape the twin tragedies of father and son, and tells their stories together for the first time. Author of the award-winning Brothers and Keepers,...

Collection of short stories by the author covering the past ten years of his writing.