The stories collected here were chosen for adaptation and inclusion in a series of films sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. These two superb collections of short fiction bring together the works of America's master writers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Complete with insightful commentary on the author and the work by an established scholar, both volumes also demonstrate through interviews, script excerpts, and photographs how the story was transformed into an acclaimed film drama. Comprehensive and scholarly, these stories offer a broad vision of the creative process through many prisms�that of the author, critic, scriptwriter, actor, and director. These volumes are rich and alive with the experience of great American art.