Tag Archives: Short Story

The Devil & Daniel Webster – Criterion Collection (1941)

The Devil & Daniel Webster - Criterion Collection

Amazon.com

Stephen Vincent Benet’s timeless 1937 short story gets the red-carpet treatment on Criterion’s feature-packed DVD of The Devil & Daniel Webster. William Dieterle’s inspired film remains the classic it always was, proving that Citizen Kane wasn’t the only cinematic marvel to appear in 1941. It’s a sturdy, stylish rendition of Benet’s original narrative, beginning when a luckless farmer (James Craig) strikes a Faustian bargain with the devil incarnate Mr. Scratch (Walter Huston at his devious best), trading his soul for seven years of prosperity, during which he grows corrupted, despised, and regretful of his mistake. To Scratch’s chagrin, legendary orator Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold) intervenes with a triumphant defense, and Dieterle’s brilliant direction gives the proceedings a light, economical touch of supernatural mischief. To complement the cleverness of the film adaptation, this delightful DVD also includes a playfully expressive reading of Benet’s o (more…)

Anagrams (Paperback)

Anagrams

From Publishers Weekly

Moore, praised for her short story collection Self-Help, makes her debut as a novelist with this story about what may be the disintegration of the thoroughly modern protagonist’s personality. PW called Anagrams “original and highly inventive.” Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
–This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Who exactly is Benna, the 33-year-old poetry teacher (or singer? or aerobics instructor?) we meet in this inventive novel? It is hard to say. She hidesfrom us, from herselfbehind imaginary identities, relationships, and scenarios in which elements of character and action are transposed like the letters of those anagrams she scribbles on napkins. Her fantasies are offered as straight narrative along with a stream of wisecracks (“All the world’s a stage we’re going through”). For deep down, Benna is terrified of the contingencies of reality (“One g (more…)