Presents vital information on the most-studied short stories at the high school and early-college levels. Each entry contains author biography, plot summary, characters, themes, style, historical context, critical overview, and criticism.;The blue hotel (by Stephen Crane) -- The country of the blind (by H.G. Wells) -- First confession (by Frank O'Connor) -- Good country people (by Flannery O'Connor) -- Greasy lake (by T. Coraghessan Boyle) -- An hour with Abuelo (by Judith Ortiz Cofer) -- Impulse (by Conrad Aiken) -- The lucky stone (by Lucille Clifton) -- The murders in the Rue Morgue (by Edgar Allan Poe) -- The night face up (by Julio Cortazar) -- The rain came (by Grace Ogot) -- Wasps' nest (by Agatha Christie) -- The white umbrella (by Gish Jen) -- The widow and the parrot : a true story (by Virginia Woolf).