The Watchful Gods and Other Stories
Encyclopedia
The Watchful Gods and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
published in 1950. Clark is best known for his first novel, the classic Western The Ox-Bow Incident and the classic short story
"The Portable Phonograph" which is included in this collection.
The collection contains "Hook", "The Wind and the Snow of Winter", "The Rapids", "The Anonymous", "The Buck in the Hills", "Why Don't You Look Where You're Going?", "The Indian Well", "The Fish Who Could Close His Eyes", "The Portable Phonograph", and "The Watchful Gods".
has a portable phonograph
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Walter Van Tilburg Clark
Walter Van Tilburg Clark was an American novelist, short story writer, and educator. He ranks as one of Nevada's most distinguished literary figures of the 20th century and is known primarily for his novels, his one volume of stories, as well as his uncollected short stories...
published in 1950. Clark is best known for his first novel, the classic Western The Ox-Bow Incident and the classic short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
"The Portable Phonograph" which is included in this collection.
The collection contains "Hook", "The Wind and the Snow of Winter", "The Rapids", "The Anonymous", "The Buck in the Hills", "Why Don't You Look Where You're Going?", "The Indian Well", "The Fish Who Could Close His Eyes", "The Portable Phonograph", and "The Watchful Gods".
Contents
The Portable Phonograph is a tale about the last survivors in the world after the total destruction of a war. The author gives clues and hints of this throughout the beginning by writing in a narrative voice and describing the scene in dark war-like terms. The characters are then introduced as a group of men huddled around a fire. One of them, a doctorPhysician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
has a portable phonograph
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
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