Introduction, Sonny's Blues, and Weekend. Summary

American Short Story Masterpieces is a collection of short stories that focus on realism as an alternative to the surreal. The thirty-six stories in the book focus on topics set in seemingly-real settings around the United States in a variety of time frames and are primary examples of narrative storytelling. The themes of the story range from drug addiction to infidelity to tragic death to love, but all tell stories nearly anyone can relate to.

In the "Introduction," Raymond Carver and Tom Jenks, editors of the book, point out the trend in recent years toward the surreal and the fantasy genre. They note that this collection gathers what they believe to be thirty-six of the best short stories based in realism written between 1953 and 1986. They note this book is different from other short story collections...