Novels & Short Stories, AWK-CAN
Whether it's "Don Quixote," "Pride and Prejudice," "The Great Gatsby," or "The Fall of the House of Usher," novels and short stories have been enchanting and transporting readers for a great many years. There's a little something for everyone: within these two genres of literature, a wealth of types and styles can be found, including historical, epistolary, romantic, Gothic, and realist works, along with many more.
Novels & Short Stories Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Awkward Age, The
The Awkward Age, novel by Henry James, published in 1899. Written mostly in dialogue with limited narrative explanation,......
AáčŁáčachÄp
AáčŁáčachÄp, group of 16th-century Hindi poets, four of whom are claimed to have been disciples of Vallabha, and four......
Babar
Babar, fictional character, a sartorially splendid elephant who is the hero of illustrated storybooks for young......
Babbitt
Babbitt, novel by Sinclair Lewis, published in 1922. The novelâs scathing indictment of middle-class American values......
Babetteâs Feast
Babetteâs Feast, short story by Isak Dinesen, published serially in the Ladiesâ Home Journal (1950) and later collected......
Balkan Trilogy, The
The Balkan Trilogy, series of three novels by Olivia Manning, first published together posthumously in 1981. Consisting......
Ballad of the Sad Café, The
The Ballad of the Sad Café, long novella by Carson McCullers, the title work in a collection of short stories,......
Bambi
Bambi, novel by Felix Salten, published in 1923 as Bambi: Eine Lebensgeschichte aus dem Walde. The story is an......
Barchester Towers
Barchester Towers, novel by Anthony Trollope, published in three volumes in 1857. A satirical comedy, it is the......
Barnaby Rudge
Barnaby Rudge, historical novel by Charles Dickens, published serially and as a book in 1841. Barnaby Rudge was......
Barry Lyndon
Barry Lyndon, historical novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in Fraserâs Magazine in 1844 as......
Barsetshire novels
Barsetshire novels, a series of six connected novels by Anthony Trollope set in the fictional west England county......
Bartleby the Scrivener
Bartleby the Scrivener, short story by Herman Melville, published anonymously in 1853 in Putnamâs Monthly Magazine.......
Barzaz Breiz
Barzaz Breiz, collection of folk songs and ballads purported to be survivals from ancient Breton folklore. The......
Beach of FalesĂĄ, The
The Beach of FalesĂĄ, long story by Robert Louis Stevenson, first published as âUmaâ in 1892 in Illustrated London......
Bear, The
The Bear, novelette by William Faulkner, early versions of which first appeared as âLionâ in Harperâs Magazine......
Beast in the Jungle, The
The Beast in the Jungle, short story by Henry James that first appeared in The Better Sort (1903). Despite its......
Beat movement
Beat movement, American social and literary movement originating in the 1950s and centered in the bohemian artist......
Beatrix Potter at 150
July 28, 2016, marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Beatrix Potter, celebrated English author and illustrator......
Beau Geste
Beau Geste, novel about the French Foreign Legion by Percival C. Wren, published in 1924. The title character,......
Beautiful and Damned, The
The Beautiful and Damned, novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1922. Fitzgeraldâs second novel, it concerns......
Before the Dawn
Before the Dawn, historical novel by Shimazaki TĆson, published serially as Yoake mae in the journal ChĆ«Ć koron......
Behind the Scenes: 9 Historical Inspirations for Game of Thrones
Millions of viewers have been captivated by the fictional kingdoms depicted in HBOâs fantasy series Game of Thrones,......
Bel-Ami
Bel-Ami, novel by Guy de Maupassant, his second, published in 1885. Maupassant is perhaps best known as a writer......
Bell for Adano, A
A Bell for Adano, novel by John Hersey, published in 1944 and awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1945. The novelâs action......
Bell Jar, The
The Bell Jar, novel by Sylvia Plath, first published in January 1963 under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas and later......
Beloved
Beloved, novel by Toni Morrison, published in 1987 and winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The work......
Ben-Hur
Ben-Hur, historical novel by Lewis Wallace, published in 1880 and widely translated. It depicts the oppressive......
Bend in the River, A
A Bend in the River, novel by V.S. Naipaul, published in 1979. Reminiscent of Joseph Conradâs Heart of Darkness,......
Bend Sinister
Bend Sinister, novel by Vladimir Nabokov, published in 1947. It is the second novel that the Russian-born author......
Benito Cereno
Benito Cereno, short story by Herman Melville, published in Putnamâs Monthly Magazine in 1855 and later included......
Berlin Alexanderplatz
Berlin Alexanderplatz, novel by Alfred Döblin, published in 1929. It appeared in English under the original title......
Berlin Stories, The
The Berlin Stories, combination of two previously published novels by the British American writer Christopher Isherwood,......
Betrayed by Rita Hayworth
Betrayed by Rita Hayworth, first novel by Manuel Puig, published as La traiciĂłn de Rita Hayworth in 1968. This......
Big Sleep, The
The Big Sleep, classic hardboiled crime novel by Raymond Chandler, published in 1939. It was the first of seven......
bildungsroman
bildungsroman, class of novel that depicts and explores the manner in which the protagonist develops morally and......
Billiards at Half-Past Nine
Billiards at Half-Past Nine, novel by Heinrich Böll, first published in German as Billard um halbzehn in 1959.......
Billy Budd, Foretopman
Billy Budd, Foretopman, novel by Herman Melville, written in 1891 and left unfinished at his death. It was first......
biography
biography, form of literature, commonly considered nonfictional, the subject of which is the life of an individual.......
Birds, The
The Birds, novel by Tarjei Vesaas, published in 1957. Not to be confused with Daphne du Maurierâs short story and......
Birdsong
Birdsong, novel by Sebastian Faulks, published in 1993. Birdsong is a story of love and war. A mixture of fact......
Black Arts movement
Black Arts movement, period of artistic and literary development among Black Americans in the 1960s and early â70s.......
Black Beauty
Black Beauty, the only novel by Anna Sewell and the first major animal story in childrenâs literature. The author......
Black Cat, The
The Black Cat, short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in The Saturday Evening Post in August 1843 and......
Black Eyed Peas
Black Eyed Peas, American musical group with an eclectic range of styles encompassing hip-hop, dance, and pop.......
Black Mischief
Black Mischief, satiric novel by Evelyn Waugh, published in 1932. The book skewers attempts to impose European......
Black Monk, The
The Black Monk, short story by Anton Chekhov, first published in Russian as âChorny monakhâ in 1894. âThe Black......
Black Mountain poets
Black Mountain poets, a loosely associated group of poets that formed an important part of the avant-garde of American......
Black Thunder
Black Thunder, historical novel by Arna Bontemps, published in 1936. One of Bontempsâs most popular works, this......
Bleak House
Bleak House, novel by British author Charles Dickens, published serially in 1852â53 and in book form in 1853 and......
Blithedale Romance, The
The Blithedale Romance, minor novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1852. The novel, about a group of people......
blood
blood, a literary term of British origin referring to a lurid work of fiction, especially a cheap and ill-written......
Blood Meridian
Blood Meridian, western novel by Cormac McCarthy, published in 1985. Bleak, violent, and uncompromisingly unsentimental,......
Bloomsbury group
Bloomsbury group, name given to a coterie of English writers, philosophers, and artists who frequently met between......
Blue Bird, The
The Blue Bird, play for children by Maurice Maeterlinck, published as LâOiseau bleu in 1908. In a fairy-tale-like......
Blue Hotel, The
The Blue Hotel, short story by Stephen Crane, published serially in Collierâs Weekly (Nov. 26âDec. 3, 1898) and......
Blue-Stockings, The
The Blue-Stockings, comedy in five acts by MoliĂšre, produced and published in 1672 as Les Femmes savantes. The......
Bluest Eye, The
The Bluest Eye, debut novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison, published in 1970. Set in Morrisonâs hometown......
Bobbsey Twins
Bobbsey Twins, fictional characters, two sets of fraternal twinsâthe older pair named Bert and Nan, the younger......
Bond, James
The nameâs Bond. James Bond. In film and literature, he is a British secret agent with a âlicence to kill.â A peerless......
Bonjour tristesse
Bonjour tristesse, novel by Françoise Sagan, published in French in 1954. Bonjour tristesse (which means âHello,......
Book of Negroes, The
The Book of Negroes, novel by Lawrence Hill, published in 2007 (under the title Someone Knows My Name in the United......
Booker Prize
Booker Prize, prestigious British award given annually to a full-length novel in English. Booker McConnell, a multinational......
Borrowers, The
The Borrowers, a race of tiny people in the Borrowers series of novels for children by British author Mary Norton.......
Bostonians, The
The Bostonians, satirical novel by Henry James, published serially in Century Illustrated Magazine in 1885â86 and......
Boule de Suif
Boule de Suif, short story by Guy de Maupassant, originally published in Les Soirées de Médan (1880), an anthology......
Bourgeois Gentleman, The
The Bourgeois Gentleman, comedy in five acts by MoliĂšre, gently satirizing the pretensions of the social climber......
Box Man, The
The Box Man, avant-garde satiric novel by Abe KĆbĆ, published in Japanese in 1973 as Hako otoko. A bizarre commentary......
Brahmin
Brahmin, member of any of several old, socially exclusive New England families of aristocratic and cultural pretensions,......
Brave New World
Brave New World, novel by Aldous Huxley, published in 1932. The book presents a nightmarish vision of a future......
Bremer BeitrÀger
Bremer BeitrÀger, group of mid-18th-century German writers, among them Johann Elias Schlegel, who objected to the......
Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, The
The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, short story by Stephen Crane, published in The Open Boat and Other Stories in London......
Bride of the Innisfallen, The
The Bride of the Innisfallen, collection of short stories by Eudora Welty, published in 1955. Welty broke from......
Bridge of San Luis Rey, The
The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Thornton Wilder, published in 1927. Wilderâs career......
Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, The
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a novel by Dominican-born author Junot DĂaz, published in 2007. The long-awaited......
Brighton Rock
Brighton Rock, novel of sin and redemption by Graham Greene, published in 1938 and filmed in 1947 and 2010. The......
British Surrealism
British Surrealism, manifestation in Great Britain of Surrealism, a European movement in visual art and literature......
Brothers Karamazov, The
The Brothers Karamazov, the final novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, first published as Bratya Karamazovy in 1879â80......
Brown Girl, Brownstones
Brown Girl, Brownstones, first novel by Paule Marshall, originally published in 1959. Somewhat autobiographical,......
Buddenbrooks
Buddenbrooks, novel by Thomas Mann, published in 1901 in two volumes in German as Buddenbrooks, Verfall einer Familie......
Bunter
Bunter, fictional character, the perfect valet in the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries of Dorothy L. Sayers. Bunter......
Bunter, Billy
Billy Bunter, fictional character, a fat English schoolboy at Greyfriars School who, though an antihero, is the......
burlesque
burlesque, in literature, comic imitation of a serious literary or artistic form that relies on an extravagant......
Burning Plain, The
The Burning Plain, a collection of short stories, including the title story, by the Mexican author Juan Rulfo (1917â1986),......
Burnt-Out Case, A
A Burnt-Out Case, novel by Graham Greene, published in 1961, that examines the possibility of redemption. The story......
Cain
Cain, novel by José Saramago, published in 2009. This final work of Portuguese Nobel laureate José Saramago, an......
Caine Mutiny, The
The Caine Mutiny, novel by Herman Wouk, published in 1951. The novel was awarded the 1952 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.......
Cakes and Ale
Cakes and Ale, comic novel by W. Somerset Maugham, published in 1930. The story is told by Willie Ashenden, a character......
Caldecott Medal
Caldecott Medal, annual prize awarded âto the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.â......
Call It Sleep
Call It Sleep, novel by Henry Roth, published in 1934. It centres on the character and perceptions of a young boy,......
Camerata
Camerata, Florentine society of intellectuals, poets, and musicians, the first of several such groups that formed......
Camillo, Don
Don Camillo, fictional character, a pugnacious Italian village priest whose confrontations with his equally belligerent......
Campion, Albert
Albert Campion, fictional English detective, the upper-class protagonist of a series of mystery novels beginning......
Can You Forgive Her?
Can You Forgive Her?, novel by Anthony Trollope, published serially in 1864â65 and in two volumes in 1864â65. The......
Cancer Ward
Cancer Ward, novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Though banned in the Soviet Union, the work was published in 1968......
Candide
Candide, satirical novel published in 1759 that is the best-known work by Voltaire. It is a savage denunciation......
Cane
Cane, experimental novel by Jean Toomer, published in 1923 and reprinted in 1967, about the African American experience.......
Cannery Row
Cannery Row, novel by John Steinbeck, published in 1945. Like most of Steinbeckâs postwar work, Cannery Row is......