Greatness in Short cover art

Greatness in Short

Greatness in Short

Written by: Timothy Burrows and Nicholas Reitter
Listen for free

About this listen

Readings and discussions of classic short stories and essays.

All rights reserved. Art Social Sciences World
Episodes
  • 6. O. Henry - "The Role of the Artist"

    6. O. Henry - "The Role of the Artist"
    Jul 24 2024

    Tim and Nicholas read a final grouping of three O.Henry stories - "Confessions of a Humorist," "The Duplicity of Hargraves," and "The Last Leaf." These stories all concern the role of the artist in relation to other people, in very different settings and ways.

    We discuss the works, using these as a springboard to consider O. Henry's notion of the artist, which is arguably central to the personality of the author.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 10 mins
  • 5. O. Henry - "Literary Stories (part 2)"

    5. O. Henry - "Literary Stories (part 2)"
    Jul 24 2024

    Nicholas reads one of O. Henry's longest (and most unusual) stories, which happened to be a favorite of the author himself. "Roads of Destiny" is a kind of romantic-modernist triptych with three alternative story-lines following (roughly) the same cast of characters in Renaissance or early modern France.

    We then discuss, considering this work as a kind of "road-not-taken" (i.e., O. Henry as an author of "serious" fiction), and also as an interesting experimental work in its own right.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 3 mins
  • 4. O. Henry - "Literary Stories (part 1)"

    4. O. Henry - "Literary Stories (part 1)"
    Jul 24 2024

    Tim and Nicholas read two longish O. Henry stories - "A Municipal Report" and "Proof of the Pudding" - which both concern struggling authors, and which we have therefore categorized as (self-consciously) "literary."

    We then discuss these works.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 6 mins
No reviews yet