E. T. A. Hoffmann

A rich & varied collection of the best short fantasy fiction of the last two centuries. Escape into the fantastic worlds of Charles Dickens, J.M. Barrie, Graham Greene, Harlan Ellison, and others found in these 38 magical tales.

Eine Giftmordserie hält Paris in Atem, Angst und Misstrauen greifen um sich. Fräulein von Scuderi, Dichterin am Hofe König Ludwigs XIV., ermittelt mit Weisheit und feinem Gespür in diesem düsteren Fall. E. T. A. Hoffmanns spannende Erzählung von 1819 gilt als eine der ersten deutschsprachigen Kriminalnovellen.

"Follow along as enchanted toys spring into action, epic battles are fought, and graceful dancers glide and twirl. With the magic of Accord's AniMotion technology, simply lifting a flap will bring this beloved tale to life right before your eyes"--Back cover.

A nutcracker Christmas present comes to life.

Rip Van Winkle / Washington Irving [Young Goodman Brown]( / Nathaniel Hawthorne [Fall of the House of Usher]( / Edgar Allan Poe The lightning-rod man / Herman Melville The diamond lens / Fitzjames O'Brien The celebrated jumping frog of Calaveras County / Mark Twain The outcasts of Poker Flat / Bret Harte [Damned Thing]( / Ambrose Bierce The turn of the screw / Henry James The Hiltons' holiday / Sarah Orne Jewett The gift of the Magi / O. Henry The moving finger / Edith Wharton The open boat / Stephen Crane Lou, the prophet / Willa Cather The men of Forty Mile / Jack London Babylon revisited / F. Scott Fitzgerald [A rose for Emily]( William Faulkner Big two-hearted river / Ernest Hemingway Flight / John Steinbeck

Among the many works in the Romantic ground-swell that marked a transformation of the artistic imagination, none is more fascinating or more revealing than a remarkable collection of prose published anonymously in 1814. The sole credit of authorship rested in the subtitle, Blatter aus dem Tagebuche eines reisenden Enthusiasten - itself a manifesto-in-miniature of the new Romantic creed. The "Enthusiast" (literally, "one inspired or possessed by a god," a term previously applied in mockery) was E.T.A. Hoffmann, a struggling composer with a history of misadventure in his bureaucratic career; the description of his book as "diary pages" suggested intimate, spontaneous outpourings, unfiltered by art's traditional rules. The German title, Fantasiestucke in Callots Manier, evokes association with Lehrstucke, what the apprentice offers to prove his command of his craft; "in Callot's Manner" extends this embedded simile by indicating that the contents demonstrate mastery in a certain style - one of the tests of an apprentice. Fantasy Pieces, then, should be regarded not merely as a selection of new and fugitive writings but as a sampler - pointedly derived, moreover, from fantasy, that revolutionary quality raised to pre-eminence by the Romantic artist. Curiously, no earlier English edition of a complete Fantasy Pieces has appeared, and two of its major tales, "The Recent Adventures of the Dog Berganza" and "The Mesmerist," have never previously been available in English. Hoffmann's Anglophone readers have also been hampered by pared down, stilted, or careless renderings. Joseph Hayse's translation, painstakingly accurate in the face of syntactical difficulties, conveys the flavor of Hoffmann's language; the greater effect of his effort, however, lies in presenting Hoffmann's first volume complete. A multifaceted document of an emergent genius, it also illuminates the complex mind of a new age.