The Country Where There Is No Death

Stephen Vincent Benét is a classic of American literature, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, flesh and blood of that brightest generation that gave us Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Faulkner. As a master of paradoxically ironic novella, he undoubtedly inherits O. Henry, often using historical, folklore, and fantastic plots. The distant or recent past appears as a revived kingdom of fantasy. Here on the American frontier, plots of ancient mythology unfold, the U.S. Secretary of State can compete in court with the devil himself for the soul of a neighboring farmer, a retired major of the French artillery can fantasize about world conquest while floating on a boat, a visiting European celebrity can conduct with his tail, a barefoot saint can renounce her name, and an Irish leprechaun can help build a railway...
The story “The Devil and Daniel Webster” has been adapted for film multiple times: in 1941, an Oscar-winning film by William Dieterle was released, and the 2004 version became Alec Baldwin's directorial debut. The story “The Crying Wives” served as the basis for Stanley Donen's famous film musical “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” (1954), which was nominated for five Oscars and won one.
“The Country Where There Is No Death” is the most representative collection of works by S. V. Benét in the world: the book includes all his author collections, one novel, and several stories that have not been included in previous collections.