The difference between a short story and a novel is more than one of length, Matthews argues in this influential 1901 work. The short story carries a “unity of impression, ” a totality, that the novel cannot, and requires more precise language. Matthews peppers the volume with examples from Boacaccio, Poe, Hawthorne, de Maupassant, Stevenson, Henry James, and others.
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James Brander Matthews (1852–1929) was a professor of literature and dramatic literature at Columbia, as well as one of the founders of the Authors’ and Players’ Clubs in New York. A prolific writer of essays, novels, plays, and books on drama, among his works are Vignettes of Manhattan (1894), Introduction to the Study of American Literature (1896), and The Development of the Drama (1903).