Seventeen short masterpieces, chosen for their timeless relevance and enduring popularity, include Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter," Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," Herman Melville's "Bartleby," as well as works by O. Henry, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson, Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, Jack London, Henry James, Willa Cather, Ambrose Bierce, Kate Chopin and more.