In his shorter fiction, Dickens felt free to investigate themes and experiment with narrative techniques in ways denied him by the constraints of novel-writing. In this selection, a literary master is brilliantly indulging the very essence of his art. His exuberant sense of comedy is allowed free rein and his exploration of the secret workings of the human psyche often surpasses anything in his longer work. Divided into three sections - Tales of the Supernatural, Impressionistic Sketches and Dramatic Monologues - this volume reveals Dickens's recurring concerns and places them clearly in the context of related elements in his novels.