20th-century Stories (Published by Macmillan)

Macmillan’s series of advanced level readers gives teachers a classy collection of stories written by the very best in literature.
Unabridged short stories by D H Lawrence, F Scott Fitzgerald, William Trevor, Roald Dahl, Tobias Wolff and Annie Proulx showcase the genre at its best.
Good support materials for study include an introduction to the precise language study (for example the difference between American English and English, as well as questions around character, plot and text).
As a student, I used to fill my study books with copious notes in pencil, a practice criticised by knowing teachers because it would make the book unreadable.
How right they were. And this brings me to the one niggle – the bolding up of unfamiliar words in the text and this can be rather distracting especially as there is a useful glossary, and a guide on how to deal with tricky words (‘decide if the word is important to the overall message’).
I particularly enjoyed the Annie Proulx and Dahl, mistress and master of the genre, and inspiration no doubt to the many current authors contributing to the resurgence of the genre.
This is a handy book to have around and includes many ideas to inspire.
Take a look at the others in the series – there will be something to suit.

Part of the Literature Collections reader series