Short Stories
A short story is piece of prose fiction with a fully developed theme but significantly shorter than a novel. They are often indexed in anthologies, compilations, magazines - rarely published on their own. For this reason, they can be trickier to locate. Use the resources below to learn short story access tips as well as literary criticism using print and electronic resources.
Locating Short Stories
Short stories can often be identified by the "SS" abbreviation on their spine label. At VPL locations with separate sections for short stories, such as the Central Library, you can browse collected works by the author's last name; volumes with stories by multiple authors are interfiled alphabetically by the title of the volume.
You can also browse literary short stories (and novels) at the Central Library by heading straight to the following call numbers in the non-fiction section: 823 (English), 833 (German), 843 (French), 853 (Italian), 863 (Spanish), 873 (Latin), 883 (Classical Greek). For short stories originally written in other languages or by authors hailing from other countries, it is best to search the catalogue directly.
If a specific copy of a short story is not available, remember it might be available in a collection or anthology. Here are some tips for finding short stories in a collection or anthology:
- Perform a keyword search in our catalogue and enter the title and author of the short story. For example: "Poe Tell Tale Heart".
- If you cannot find the short story in the library's catalogue, try using the Short Story Index to locate stories published in anthologies or collections.
- Try Google - some short stories are available in digitized format. Google Books is also a useful index.
- Gale Literary Index - A master index to the major literature products published by Gale. It combines and cross-references over 165,000 author names, including pseudonyms and variant names, and listings for over 215,000 titles into one source. Search by author for prime results.
Finding Literary Criticism
For major fiction writers, such as Ernest Hemingway or Anton Chekhov, the library may have books of criticism about their short stories. Search for the author's name in the library catalogue by subject and add the phrase Criticism and Interpretation.
e.g. Ernest Hemingway Criticism and Interpretation
If an entire book has been written about a short story, such as "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, you may also find it at the library. Search the author's name in the library catalogue by subject and include the title of the short story.
e.g. Charlotte Perkins Gilman Yellow Wallpaper
2. Use the literary criticism reference tools that include analysis of many different works, especially the various series published by Gale. Almost all major Gale series are available in the Reference Resources section on level 6 and online through our electronic databases below
Gale Ebooks: This subcollection of the Gale Virtual Reference Library contains resources for understanding works of literature. It includes the For Students literature criticism series, Something About the Author series, plus encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries and other authoritative reference sources. Also try browsing the criticism works in the 8XX.9 sections on Level 6 for the appropriate language and genre (poetry, drama, fiction, etc.) and look at table of contents and indexes in each item to see if it critiques the work of interest.
Gale Literary Index: This is the master index to Gale’s literary criticism reference tools.
Literature Criticism Online: Find authoritative critical essays and biographical profiles in this comprehensive full-text database, which includes the hundreds of volumes of Literature Criticism, Contemporary Literary Criticism, Literature Criticism 1400-1800, Poetry Criticism, Shakespearean Criticism, and 20th Century Literature Criticism. Modern and historical essays are included, covering all literary genres and periods.
