Book excerpt: “Smith successfully captures Maupassant’s depiction of nineteenth-century French culture using terminology that allows these wonderful texts to reach a fresh generation of readers. A solid translation of some wonderful short stories.” —Library Journal The Norton Critical Edition includes: - Thirty of Maupassant’s best short stories centering on war, the supernatural, and French life, translated by Sandra Smith. - An introduction and explanatory footnotes by Robert Lethbridge. - Essays, letters, and newspaper articles on the subjects that influenced Maupassant’s writing, including politics, war, love, despair, and the supernatural. - Sixteen critical assessments from Maupassant’s time to our own, including those by Joseph Conrad, David Coward, Mary Donaldson-Evans, Rachel Killick, Roger L. Williams, Ruth A. Hottell, and Katherine C. Kurk. - A Chronology and a Selected Bibliography.