10 most popular 2013 'Stories of the Week' from Library of America
The Library of America sends a Story of the Week to its e-mail subscribers. The most popular story of 2013 was Hawthorne's 'John Englefield's Thanksgiving,' a story in which an unexpected guest gives a blacksmith a surprising holiday.
The Library of America sends a Story of the Week to its e-mail subscribers. The most popular story of 2013 was Hawthorne's 'John Englefield's Thanksgiving,' a story in which an unexpected guest gives a blacksmith a surprising holiday.
Although it鈥檚 not likely to get as much attention as the Oscar race or the Golden Globes, the Library of America has just celebrated an awards event of its own that might attract a little applause from readers.
We鈥檙e talking about the LOA鈥檚 Top 10 List of the most popular 鈥淪tories of the Week鈥� from 2013, its recap of the superstars in its regular online feature for the publisher鈥檚 fan base.
Founded in 1979, the Library of America is a nonprofit publisher that produces definitive editions of the works of the nation鈥檚 classic writers. Its signature product line 鈥� elegant, hand-stitched volumes covered in distinctive, black-and-white dust jackets 鈥� has become a fixture of literary class.
In its more than three decades of operation, LOA has published landmark anthologies of literary luminaries as varied as Mark Twain, Ring Lardner, and James Baldwin 鈥� in short, the pantheon of American literature.
But in recent years, LOA has been making a special effort to broaden its audience of readers with an aggressive online outreach. That effort includes 鈥淪tory of the Week,鈥� a free feature in which e-mail subscribers sample a story or essay from an LOA author every seven days.
Recently, LOA released its most popular 鈥淪tory of the Week鈥� features from the past 12 months, and an eclectic list it is.
Among the honorees are Kate Chopin, whose short story 鈥淎thenaise鈥� chronicles a newly married woman who seeks her brother鈥檚 help in escaping her unhappy union; Eudora Welty鈥檚 鈥淧etrified Man,鈥� a darkly comic tale involving a traveling sideshow; and 鈥淩eminiscences of Abraham Lincoln,鈥� in which Frederick Douglass recalls the Great Emancipator.
The No. 1 鈥淪tory of the Week鈥� for 2013 was 鈥淛ohn Inglefield鈥檚 Thanksgiving,鈥� a curious holiday narrative by Nathaniel Hawthorne in which an unexpected guest brings a few surprises to the household of a village blacksmith.
Readers can check out a complete list of LOA鈥檚 Top 10 鈥淪tories of the Week鈥� here.
Readers can subscribe to 鈥淪tory of the Week鈥� here.
Danny Heitman, a columnist for The Advocate newspaper in Louisiana, is the author of 鈥淎 Summer of Birds: John James Audubon at Oakley House.鈥�