The Celestial Railroad and Other Stories

Review
Allegorical short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1843 and included in his short-story collection Mosses from an Old Manse (1846). Following the path of Christian in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, the narrator travels from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City--not on foot as had the original pilgrim but as a passenger on the Celestial Railroad. Mr. Smooth-it-away, a friendly fellow traveler, comments contemptuously about the arduous trip the old-fashioned pilgrims had to undergo. At the journey's end, Mr. Smooth-it-away leaves the other passengers and divulges his true identity by breathing fire and brimstone. The narrator awakens and realizes, with great relief, that it has all been a dream. -- The Merriam-Webster Encylopedia of Literature --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The master storyteller-in short form

Famous for his novels, Hawthorne was first a short story writer. This collection includes his most powerful and penetrating stories, including "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Minister's Black Veil."