Short story collection

Short story collections are made up of smaller texts—the individual short stories—in order to form a superior whole. In spite of this, each short story does not lose any of its meaning or narrative independence by being included in a collection. The act of writing short stories is different from the act of gathering short stories into a collection. == History of short story collections ==

'' Short story collections have their roots in medieval frame tale collections, growing into the postmodern narratives of the 1900s. Short story collections can be published when the author is alive or they can be collected and published after the author is dead using the author's existing works. Early Western short story collections include Marie of France's Lais and Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron. == Uses for short story collections ==

From the producer side, short story collections are helpful economically to authors looking to publish. Because short stories are often less than fifty pages, putting them together can provide something that is more like the size of a novel. While short story collections are less popular than novels for consumers, they are purchased consistently. Short story collections have experienced a gradual increase in sales over the last decade, although most collections are not reprinted and do not sell more than 3,000 copies. Secondly, providing short story collections centered around a specific time creates an opportunity to encourage interest in historical studies. Teachers can also use short story collections as introduction or further exploration to a genre. By providing several works from that genre, students can get a feel of its conventions. Another potential use is to challenge students to evaluate and criticize literature by using short story collections as a jumping off point. The last idea is to use short story collections as a model for student writing since classical greats can be daunting or impossible for a student to replicate. However, newer, more bite-sized short story collections might be a good way for students to get the depth of exposure they need while not overwhelming them. == Notable short story collections ==

'' (1978), the first published short story collection by Stephen King Short story collections can be divided into two general groups. The first is themed collections, which might share a character, setting, theme, or tone. This is different from a short story cycle in that the collection does not advance a cohesive narrative. The second is non-themed collections, a grouping in which each story has little literary similarity to the others. Following are notable collections from each group. Themed collections • ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' by James Joyce • Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado • The Moons of Jupiter by Alice Munro • Nine Stories by David Foster Wallace • Les Mille et un jours by François Pétis de la Croix • Cambridge Songs by Goliards • Carmina Burana • Lisa & Co by Jilly Cooper • The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Non-themed collections • The Garden Party and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield • Ficciones and El Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges • The Collected Stories by Ernest Hemingway • Nightfall and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov == References ==