A classic work that has charmed generations of readers, this collection assembles McCullers"s best stories, including her beloved novella "The Ballad of the Sad Café." A haunting tale of a human triangle that culminates in an astonishing brawl, "The Ballad of the Sad Café" introduces readers to Miss Amelia, a formidable southern woman whose café serves as the town"s gathering place. Among other fine works, the collection also includes "Wunderkind," an engrossing story of a musical prodigy who suddenly realizes she will not go on to become a great pianist. Written when McCullers was only seventeen and had abandoned her own musical aspirations, it was her first published story. Showcasing McCullers"s intricate world of alienation, heartache, and suffering, The Ballad of the Sad Café is a brilliant study of love and longing by "the greatest prose writer that the South [has] produced" (Tennessee Williams).