GENERAL. Fannie Hurst is represented in three collections of “The Best
Short Stories.” The reason lies in the facts that she is one of the
skilled technicians of the time, one of the hardest workers--sparing no
pains to achieve that sound structure and perfection of detail which
only the seasoned artist knows how to achieve; that by narrative,
which stands without emphasis of didactic or propaganda purpose, she
yet manages to convey an idea much larger than the story itself, and
that she has quite literally created a unique world of men and women
who nevertheless in their behavior reflect a part of the myriad-minded
and many-mooded contemporary life. Any one of the present stories will
prove the truth of this assertion.
STARTING POINT OF “T. B.” “The flint that struck spark for ‘T. B.’,”
says Miss Hurst, “was the sight of a humpy looking girl standing before
the window display of a Tuberculosis exhibit.”