Short stories
Tales of the South Pacific
James Michener · 1947
Synopsis
Nineteen linked tales, set in the islands of the South Pacific during the war, from 1942 to early 1944, most of them told by a naval officer. A nurse from Arkansas, Nellie Forbush, falls in love with Emile de Becque, a French planter older than she is, father of mixed-race daughters. Lieutenant Joe Cable falls in love with Liat, daughter of Bloody Mary, a Tonkinese trader who sells grass skirts and shrunken heads to the soldiers. The pilot Bus Adams, shot down, waits for rescue on the water. Preparations are made for Operation “Alligator”, the invasion of an island.
Context
The book was published by Macmillan in January 1947. The Pulitzer jury ranked it only fifth, but the prize board wanted to crown it, which made it necessary to open the category to collections of stories: it changed from the name of novel to that of fiction. In 1949, Rodgers and Hammerstein drew South Pacific from it, a musical that received the Pulitzer for drama; the abridged paperback edition of the book was often reprinted while the show was running.
Who it is for
Short stories, to be read separately or in sequence, which follow the war in chronological order. Translated into French by Max Roth in 1951.
Prizes and reception
Pulitzer Prize 1948 for a first book, which led to the category being widened to include story collections.
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