本教材分为“Works”“Selected Criticism”与“Replaceable Works”三部分，旨在启发学生见微知著，透过这一扇天腱窥见几百年以来英文小说演变的概貌。编者萃取各种流派，不同时代，格调健康的长篇、中篇、短篇与小小说共计30篇（部），兼顾作品的思想性与可读性、类型与风格、产生地域等因素。每篇（部）作品均附有题为“About the Author”与“About the Work”的两种眉批，以及启发批判性思辨的讨论与写作题目。甄录于此的几篇小说研究与批评雄文，或宏观或微观，或笼统或精专，皆有助于学生在精读作品的基础之上拓宽视野，升华认识，并初具小说理论素养。15篇备选作品可供教师在教学过程中根据具体情况选择讲授，亦可由学生课后自行阅读。正文后附有“Glossary”和读后感式范文，供学生揣摩赏鉴。 本教材适用于为英语专业本科生与研究生开设的“小说选读”“作品与批评”等以阅读为主，兼及批评性写作的课程，亦可在为非英语专业本科生与研究生开设的阅读课上使用。

Part Ⅰ Works
1.Rip Van Winkle-Washington Irving (1819-1820)
2.The Masque of the Red Death Edgar Allan Poe (1842)
3.A Horseman in the Sky-Ambrose Bierce (1889)
4.Araby-James Joyce (1914)
5.The Mark on the Wall-Virginia Woolf (1917)
6.The Witness for the Prosecution-Agatha Christie (1925)
7.The Snows of Kilimanjaro-Ernest Hemingway (1938)
8.A Good Man Is Hard to Find-Flannery O'Connor (1953)
9.What We Talk About When We Talk About Love-Raymond Carver (1981)
10.Happy Endings-Margaret Atwood (1983)
11.An Excerpt from Come Over Come Over-Lynda Barry (1990)
12.Lunch Hour-John Updike (1995)
13.Great Expectations- Charles Dickens (1860-1861)
14.A Rose for Emily-William Faulkner (1930)
15.Human Moments in World War Ⅲ-Donald Richard DeLillo (1983)
Part Ⅱ Selected Criticism
1.Interpretation-Terence Eagleton (2013)
2.Why Do We Read Fiction?- Robert Penn Warren (1986)
3.Types of Narration-Wayne C. Booth (1961)
4.The Plot Edward Morgan Forster (1927)
5.What Is Metafiction?-Patricia Waugh (1984)
6.A Reading of "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love-Arthur M.Saltzman (1988)
7.The Meaning of "A Rose for Emily"-William Faulkner (1959)
Part Ⅲ Replaceable Works
1.Can-Can-Arturo Vivante (1972)
2.Knock-Fredric Brown (1948)
3.The Cop Who Loved Flowers-Henry Slesar (1966)
4.Living with Contradictions-Lynne Tillman (1982)
5.Blue- David Brooks (1985)
6.A String of Beads- Somerset Maugham (1951)
7.The Door- Elwyn Brooks White (1939)
8.A Most Dangerous Guy Indeed-Damon Runyon (1950)
9.Haircut Ring Lardner (1957)
10.The Second Death Graham Greene (1929)
11.The Chaser-John Collier (1940)
12.No One's a Mystery-Elizabeth Tallent (1985)
13.The Romancer-Hector Hugh Munro (1914)
14.The Gollan-Alfred Edgar Coppard (1929)
15.The Bank Robbery-Steven Schutzman (1976)
Glossary
Appendix: Two Sample Essays