The Old Man at the Railroad Crossing and Other Tales Selected and Introduced by Aimee Bender

In these tales, with one foot firmly planted in the present, Maxwell brings a certain sophisticated urbanity to the oral traditions of the fable and fairy tale. "The total effect is of something midway between the Brothers Grimm and Kafka, with perhaps a touch of Zen." (NYRB April 1966) While modern enough in locale and context, they are as old as humanity itself in what concerns them. And always that voice, the age old voice of the storyteller, the eternal magic of the speaking human voice. Such simplicity takes true artistry and Maxwell has that in spades.

William Keepers Maxwell, Jr. (August 16, 1908 – July 31, 2000) served as a fiction editor at The New Yorker from 1936 to 1975. An editor devoted to his writers, Maxwell became a legendary mentor and confidant to many of the most prominent authors of his day. Perhaps best known as an editor, Maxwell was also a highly respected and award-winning novelist and short story writer. Among his novels are Time Will Darken It (1948) and So Long, See You Tomorrow (1980). His story collections included The Old Man at the Railroad Crossing and Other Tales (1966), Over by the River, and Other Stories (1977) and Billy Dyer and Other Stories (1992). A collection of essays was published as The Outermost Dream in 1989. His honors included the American Book Award, the Brandeis Creative Arts Medal and the William Dean Howells Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (he was elected to the academy in 1963) Maxwell was president of the National Institute of Arts and Letter from 1969 to 1972.

Aimee Bender is the author of five books: The Girl in the Flammable Skirt (NY Times Notable Book), An Invisible Sign of My Own (L.A. Times pick of the year), Willful Creatures (2005), The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (SCIBA award for best fiction, and an Alex Award), and The Color Master (NY Times Notable book for 2013). Her short fiction has been published in Granta, GQ, Harper’s, Tin House, McSweeney’s, The Paris Review, and many more places, as well as heard on PRI’s “This American Life” and “Selected Shorts”. She has received two Pushcart prizes, was nominated for the TipTree award, and the Shirley Jackson short story award. She lives in Los Angeles, where she teaches creative writing at USC.