Figures of narrative art

The book in your hands includes the biographies of twenty writers, some of the most prominent story writers in the world since the birth of the art of modern storytelling at the hands of Boccaccio in the fourteenth century until Thomas Hardy in the twentieth century. The twenty writers belong to various nationalities. Among them are Italian and Spanish. English, French, American, Irish and Russian. The biography of each writer was formulated in the form of a short, self-contained story, containing glimpses of the best writings of the biography's author. At the end of each story, the names of the writer's most important works are recorded so that the reader, after knowing the figures of narrative art, can directly document his connection to their works.
In portraying prominent figures, the book relies on material facts that lead to drawing a vivid, articulate picture that combines wit and interest. It deals with the writer as a human being, tracing his mistakes and struggles until he attains the position he took among the immortals.
If some biographers cover up the mistakes of the dead out of beauty, and others attack the dead with their arrogance insolence, then the approach of this group of biographies is etiquette in entering the graves of the dead and studying their contents with honest intent. Then leaving the graves after smelling the greatest fragrances.