James B. ColvertCritiques

At 162 pages - including many full-page photographs - this is a quick and painless way to learn about the life of Stephen Crane. It is well written, well researched and well designed. There are other more detailed biographies, but for a 1-day read for the non-specialists it is very enjoyable and educational.

Crane published a few novels and many short stories. His work was uneven and beyond the big three - Red Badge of Courage, Maggie and The Open Boat - it is hard to know where to begin. This book provides an excellent guide to know what stories are his better ones, summaries of those stories, and the context of his life and surroundings when he wrote them. It also places his relationships with other well known authors like Henry James and HG Welles and Joseph Conrad into context.