Arlo Bates
In this charming collection of short stories from American poet and journalist Arlo Bates, weighty subjects are addressed with lighthearted wit. In the title tale, a family finds itself on the brink of collapse as a result of the resident specter's mischievous shenanigans. The other stories run the gamut in terms of subject matter, but all are satisfying and fun to read.
2) The Puritans
At the dawn of the twentieth century, the chasm between religious faith and secular culture was more pronounced than ever before. That's the theme at the heart of Arlo Bates' novel The Puritans, which follows two seminary students as they struggle to reconcile their religious calling with the worldly pleasures that surround them.
This unique work of fiction presented in the form of a year-long diary draws a wonderfully three-dimensional portrait of a woman named Ruth Privet. Though not a saint in the religious sense of the word—indeed, Ruth has a great deal of disdain for theological dogmatism—she has dedicated her life to cleaning up after the mistakes of others. It's an inspirational message and an exceedingly engaging read.
A young woman named May Calthorpe has become obsessed with a novel called Love in a Cloud—and she's taken her interest in the book one step further by striking up a correspondence with the book's anonymous author. What begins as a harmless literary crush soon snowballs into a madcap comedy of errors.
Looking for a sophisticated and entertaining collection of short stories to add to your must-read list? The unique volume A Book o' Nine Tales from American writer Arlo Bates will definitely fit the bill. This collection of tales is interwoven with an imaginative series of "interludes" that enhance and expand on the stories' themes.
6) Albrecht
In Albrecht, novelist Arlo Bates contemplates the transformative power of love via an entertainingly novel fantasy tale. Set against the backdrop of a traditional courtly romance, a wood sprite who was born without a soul seeks to create his own soul by experiencing the emotion of love.
What happens when a bohemian artist finds himself thrust into the upper echelons of high society? Painter Arthur Fenton woos heiress Edith Caldwell with the express purpose of living the high life and turning her aristocratic friends into patrons of his art. But after he has succeeded in winning her hand, Fenton finds himself overwhelmed by the task of navigating the complex hierarchy and nuanced mores of this rarefied social stratum.
American-born critic Arlo Bates started his career as a journalist and editor, but later turned his efforts to analyzing and championing English literature, which led to him becoming a professor of English at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This collection brings together a series of enlightening lectures that Bates presented about literature during his tenure. It offers a fascinating glimpse into the ethos behind literary studies at
...In the early 1880s, a novel called Mr. Isaacs by Francis Marion Crawford set the publishing world on fire, rocketing to the top of the bestseller lists. Soon afterwards, Arlo Bates released Mr. Jacobs, a satirical send-up of that novel, riffing on the colonialism and naval-gazing of Mr. Isaacs.
