| A | B |
|---|
| Washington Irving | wrote stories based on German folktales |
| Washington Irving | known as the father of the American short story |
| Washington Irving | known as America's first international literary celebrity |
| Edgar Allan Poe | known as the father of the modern detective story |
| Edgar Allan Poe | known as the master of the psychological thriller |
| Edgar Allan Poe | disappeared after his wife's death and died four days after being found in a delirious state outside a tavern |
| Nathaniel Hawthorne | worked for twelve years in a room in his family home that he called the "dismal chamber" |
| Nathaniel Hawthorne | wrote about his dark insights into the human heart |
| Nathaniel Hawthorne | lived under a shadow of guilt from a Puritan conscience |
| Frank R. Stockton | had a lively imagination and wrote short stories for magazines |
| Frank R. Stockton | published a collection of fairy tales and edited a popular children's magazine |
| Frank R. Stockton | wrote a popular story which was both a blessing and a curse - publishers were hesitant to print other stories in fear that they weren't as good |
| Mark Twain | known as the greatest realist and most celebrated humorist in American history |
| Mark Twain | born Samuel Longhorn Clemons in backwoods Missouri |
| Mark Twain | worked as a printer, apprenticed as a steamboat pilot, served as a Confederate soldier, became a gold prospector, and worked as a journalist |
| Mark Twain | took a pen name from a term that was yelled to announce that the water was twelve feet deep |
| Bret Harte | known as the first literary voice of the West and a pioneer in Western "local color" writing |
| Bret Harte | blended sentimentality, humor, realistic detail, and unforgettable characters - Gold Rush rogues, miners, and gamblers |
| Bret Harte | accepted a $10,000 contract from The Atlantic Monthly to write Western stories |
| O. Henry | known for his trademark surprise "twist" endings, which readers loved and critics hated |
| O. Henry | born William Sidney Porter |
| O. Henry | accused of embezzlement when $5,500 was missing from the bank where he worked |
| O. Henry | found guilty of embezzlement and spent three years in prison |
| O. Henry | took a pen name, perhaps from the name of a prison guard |
| O. Henry | wrote in a style that was simultaneously ironic, sentimental, and semi-realistic |
| Dorothy Parker | known as the wittiest woman in America |
| Dorothy Parker | was a member of the famous "Algonquin Round Table" |
| Dorothy Parker | regularly quoted by newspaper columnists because she was quick and to the point |
| Dorothy Parker | wrote poems and short stories which, while both funny and poignants, reveal a deep sadness and pessimism about finding real love and fulfillment |
