I enjoyed dipping into one of these short tales from time to time, finding unique characters, settings, and moralities of those in early 20th century America.

I am enjoying reading one short story a night. My favorite so far is Xingu, truly the best, followed by The Marne.

Fair to middling stories by the author who just can't quite manage to live up to the title of grande dame of American literature...

Similar to the first volume, in that most of the stories range from decent to pretty good. There are more stories I'd rate as excellent this time, but they're offset by the unfortunate number of consistently awful ghost stories (sigh).

The second volume in the Library of America's collection of Edith Wharton's short stories. This is a terrific set of her short stories written between 1911 and 1937, and at something over 800 pages it becomes very easy to simply become immersed in her storytelling craft and find that you've just passed three or four hours reading two or three truly excellent stories. In all honesty I can say that I really didn't encounter a bad one in the lot, and most of them are sparkling gems. As I've said, time and again, as much as I like Edith Wharton's novels, I really do love her short stories. They are, in many respects, timeless, insightful, some even a bit spooky, but all are ever so entertaining.

A good mix of subjects with some stories that feel pretty progressive for their time. Some excellent stories, a few pretty dull, overall an enjoyable read.

If you like "Roman Fever" you will love this collection of Edith Wharton's short stories. My favorites are: Xingu, The Long Run, The Triumph of Night, Atrophy, A Bottle of Perrier, After Holdbein, Pomegranate Seed, Confession, Roman Fever (of course), The Looking Glass, and All Souls'. They all end with an ironic twist. Although these are my favorites, I finished all but two and found that, by the end, I enjoyed every one of them.

“Bunner Sisters” really stands out in this volume. But there are many more treasures to be found: for example “A Bottle of Perrier,” “Roman Fever,” and Wharton’s wonderful last story, “All Souls’.” These stories, along with those in Volume I, have comforted me through the pandemic—particularly on days of maximum gloom. I will miss them, going forward.

On a chilly mid-October night, reach for Edith Wharton. Oui, her skill with ghost stories will shock you. The stories are brief and economical in prose and twists, yet mystifying in their irresolution: the presence of the ghosts is never clear-cut, and attempts at their annihilation are never satisfyingly final. In "Bewitched," seductive female ghosts emerge as a standard social problem in a New England farming community. (The story was originally published in the Pictorial Review in February 1926. If only we could see the fashion mag's illustration of the sexy ghost slumped in the corner of a cabin!)
The other Wharton horrors I'm reading are not in this particular volume, but are easily found at public domain e-text databases online: "The Lady's Maid's Bell" and "Afterward," chosen after I saw the excellent 1983 UK television adaptations on a DVD set called "Shades of Darkness," which I highly recommend to anyone seeking subtle, creep-under-your-skin spooky movies.

Mrs. Wharton was a genius. Unlike many single-author story collections, this one presents her skills in a surprising range of genres: social satire ("Xingu"), supernatural ("All Souls'" and many others), broken romance, war, self-reflection. Thoughtfully selected by Maureen Howard and, of course, handsomely published by LOA. I love the author chronologies at the back of these editions; they have not infrequently tempted me into full biographies.

This is a delightful collection. When I connect with her writing, I like Wharton as well as anyone. And here it is no different. I really loved several of the stories here, especially Bunner Sisters, Roman Fever, Charm Incorporated, Xingu, and Confession. Bunner Sisters I found especially moving, and a bit off of Wharton's normal milieu.

There are quite a few ghost stories, or stories that veer in that direction, and I found these less satisfying. At times, especially in these stories, it feels like she is under the spell of Henry James. I know I'm not the first one to say so. And in general, I find her quite distinct from James -- both original and masterful in her own right. But I always had a nagging feeling that with the strict adherence to point of view, the themes, and the insistence on ambiguity in these ghost stories; Wharton seemed to be leaning too much on her friend.

Even so, I liked this very much, and sometime I'm sure I will get around to reading the earlier volume.

Read Bunner Sisters