A Manual of the Art of Fiction

Clayton Hamilton's A Manual of the Art of Fiction is a practical, classroom-minded guide to the craft of storytelling, treating fiction as a disciplined art that seeks truth through invention. It moves systematically from the purpose of fiction and the contrast between realism and romance to narrative, plot, character, setting, point of view, emphasis, and the relations among epic, drama, and the novel. The book also distinguishes the novel, novelette, and short story, giving special attention to the short story as a highly artistic form shaped by structure and style. Throughout, Hamilton argues that readers may first be drawn to subject matter, but fiction's highest achievement lies in the fusion of material, method, and personality. He illustrates this with writers ranging from Don Quixote, Scott, and Thackeray to Jane Austen, Poe, de Maupassant, Stevenson, Hawthorne, and Washington Irving, culminating in The Scarlet Letter, Dream-Children, and Dante's Divine Comedy as supreme examples. The book closes with reflections on the novel's future, review questions, suggested readings, and an extensive index of authors, works, and critical concepts. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.