The Devil and Daniel Webster (Penguin Classics)

About this book

A spirited selection from one of the most highly prized American writers of the twentieth century Before his premature death in 1943 Stephen Vincent Benet was one of Americas most prolific poets novelists and short-story writers. He is also along with Robert Frost Robert Lowell and Robert Penn Warren the only author to receive two Pulitzer prizes for his poetry. Featured in this anthology of his writings is a generous selection of his verse anchored by his two Pulitzer Prize- winning poems John Browns Body and Western Star. Hailed by the New York Times as "an American Iliad " John Browns Body (1929) is an epic chronicle of the Civil War from the raid on Harpers Ferry to General Lees surrender at Appomattox. Through a versatile array of masterly short stories Benet explored such subjects as American society history politics and the supernatural. Among the two dozen stories selected for this volume are the haunting title story and the wrenching "A Death in the Country." A final section representing Bents nonfiction collects several of his penetrating essays on writing and education including "Most Unforgettable Character Ive Known." Sensitively selected and thoughtfully arranged this vibrant anthology will reintroduce readers to an American master.