Thirteen Stories (Harvest Book)

“I’ve read her Thirteen Stories many times, and I’m always awed by how much comedy, pathos, satire and lyricism she manages to squeeze into her stories.” —Sue Monk Kidd

A strong sense of place—in this case Mississippi—along with often larger-than-life characterizations of ordinary folk with all their glorious eccentricities and foibles, and above all a completely distinctive voice, come together in Eudora Welty’s fiction to offer us a world that is sometimes sad, sometimes comic, often petty, and always compassionate.

Here is a baker’s dozen of Welty’s very best, including: “The Wide Net,” in which a pregnant wife threatens to drown herself, despite fear of the water, and a communal dragging of the river turns into a celebratory fish-fry; “Petrified Man,” revealing the savagery of small-town gossip; “Powerhouse,” Welty’s prose answer to jazz improvisation and the emotional heart of the blues; and “Why I Live at the P.O.”, the hilariously one-sided testimony of a postmistress who believes herself wronged by her family. With her highly tuned ear and sharp insight into human behavior, Eudora Welty has crafted stories as vital and unpredictable as they are artful and enduring.

“Miss Welty has written some of the finest short stories of modern times.” —The New York Times

“Eudora Welty is one of our purest, finest, gentlest voices.” —Anne Tyler