{"product_id":"the-fiddler-of-the-reels-and-other-stories-isbn-9780140439007","title":"The Fiddler of the Reels and Other Stories","description":"The eleven short storiesin this collection range from those with the Wessex setting familiar from Hardy's novels, to aristocratic historical fantasies set in the 17th and 18th centuries, and tragic or ironic contemporary dramas.  Enormously readable in their own right, thestories can also be seen as a rich testing ground for ideas and themes that receive more sustained treatment in Hardy's most innovative and controversial novels.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.The Fiddler of the Reels and Other StoriesAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e  General Editor's Preface\u003cbr\u003e  Chronology: Hardy's Life and Works\u003cbr\u003e  Map: Wessex Novels Edition\u003cbr\u003e  Bibliographical Note\u003cbr\u003e  Introduction\u003cbr\u003e  Further Reading\u003cbr\u003e  A Note on the History of the Texts\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cp\u003eShort Stories\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion\u003cbr\u003e  A Tragedy of Two Ambitions\u003cbr\u003e  The First Countess of Wessex\u003cbr\u003e  Barbara of the House of Grebe\u003cbr\u003e  For Conscience's Sake\u003cbr\u003e  The Son's Veto\u003cbr\u003e  On the Western Circuit\u003cbr\u003e  The Fiddler of the Reels\u003cbr\u003e  An Imaginative Woman\u003cbr\u003e  A Changed Man\u003cbr\u003e  Enter a Dragoon\u003cbr\u003e  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003e  Appendix I: History of the Short Story Collections\u003cbr\u003e  Appendix II: Hardy's Use of History in \"The First Countess of Wessex\"\u003cbr\u003e  Appendix III: A Note on the Illustrations\u003cbr\u003e  Glossary\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eThomas Hardy\u003c\/b\u003e (1840-1928) immortalized the site of his birth—Egdon Heath, in Dorset, near Dorchester—in his writing. Delicate as a child, he was taught at home by his mother before he attended grammar school. At sixteen, Hardy was apprenticed to an architect, and for many years, architecture was his profession; in his spare time, he pursued his first and last literary love, poetry. Finally convinced that he could earn his living as an author, he retired from architecture, married, and devoted himself to writing. An extremely productive novelist, Hardy published an important book every year or two. In 1896, disturbed by the public outcry over the unconventional subjects of his two greatest novels—\u003cb\u003eTess of the D’Urbervilles\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003eJude the Obscure\u003c\/b\u003e—he announced that he was giving up fiction and afterward produced only poetry. In later years, he received many honors. He was buried in Poet’s Corner, in Westminster Abbey. It was as a poet that he wished to be remembered, but today critics regard his novels as his most memorable contribution to English literature for their psychological insight, decisive delineation of character, and profound presentation of tragedy.","brand":"Penguin Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304600260837,"sku":"NP9780140439007","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780140439007.jpg?v=1767739320","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-fiddler-of-the-reels-and-other-stories-isbn-9780140439007","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}