George Gissing was a prolific English writer of novels and short stories. Among his best known novels is The Odd Women, which was influenced by George Eliot, whose work he greatly admired. Another of his famous works, New Grub Street, entails a blunt critique of the working class life he knew by experience, especially during a number of the years he spent in the United States.This collection of stories ranges from the humorous to the tragic. Throughout, Gissing pokes mild fun at his characters' human frailties: egotism, self-satisfaction, and pomposity, among others. - Summary by Kirsten Wever