Stories in an Almost Classical Mode

"Stories in an Almost Classical Mode" is a short story collection by the American writer Harold Brodkey, published in 1988 by Alfred A. Knopf. Most of the stories were published in The New Yorker, between 1963 and 1988. It was Brodkey's first book in 30 years, and presaged his much-heralded but ultimately disappointing first novel "The Runaway Soul". In fact, much of the material that would make up "The Runaway Soul" in fact appeared in short story form in "Stories in an Almost Classical Mode".

Though literary critic Harold Bloom considered "Stories in an Almost Classical Mode" to be one of the essential works of Western literature (as he stated in his book, "The Western Canon"), Bloom's is a minority opinion. At the time of its publication, and subsequenly, the work has been dismissed as arch and precious.

tories

* "The Abundant Dreamer"
* "On the Waves"
* "Bookkeeping"
* "Hofstedt and Jean—and Others"
* "The Shooting Range"
* "Innocence"
* "Play"
* "A Story in an Almost Classical Mode"
* "His Son, in His Arms, in Light, Aloft"
* "Puberty"
* "The Pain Continuum"
* "Largely an Oral History of My Mother"
* "Verona: A Young Woman Speaks"
* "Ceil"
* "S.L."
* "The Nurse's Music"
* "The Boys on Their Bikes"
* "Angel"