Project Gutenberg 2004-09-30 Public domain in the USA. 212 Cather, Willa 1873 1947 Cather, Willa Sibert Cather, Wilella Catherová, Willa Catherova, Willa Youth and the Bright Medusa Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_and_the_Bright_Medusa Coming, Aphrodite! -- The diamond mine -- A gold slipper -- Scandal -- Paul's case -- A Wagner matinée -- The sculptor's funeral -- "A death in the desert." E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Project Gutenberg Beginners Projects, Mary Meehan, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team "Youth and the Bright Medusa" by Willa Cather is a collection of short stories penned in the early 20th century. The stories explore themes of youth, aspiration, and the complex relationships within the arts, focusing particularly on characters navigating the challenges of life in the artistic milieu of their time. At the start of the collection, the story "Coming, Aphrodite!" introduces Don Hedger, a struggling painter living in a dreary New York studio. His solitary existence is interrupted by the arrival of a new neighbor, Eden Bower, a young woman aspiring to be a singer. Don is drawn to her beauty and vitality but also feels the weight of his own artistic struggles and insecurities. As he grapples with his feelings and his identity as an artist, the initial interaction between Eden and Don reveals a tension between their contrasting worlds and aspirations, setting the stage for the evolving dynamics in their relationship. The opening portion thus establishes a rich backdrop for exploring themes of desire, ambition, and the often painful journey toward self-discovery in the realm of art and passion. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 78.3 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Short stories, American PS Text Category: Short Stories Category: American Literature 427250 2025-08-06T05:58:19.545408 text/html 427307 427098 2024-11-06T08:35:35.783142 2023-10-06T09:38:44.691445 text/html text/html 236498 2025-08-06T05:58:26.655368 application/epub+zip 242571 2025-08-06T05:58:22.168397 application/epub+zip 228017 2025-08-06T05:58:21.090406 application/epub+zip 416337 2025-08-06T05:58:30.322350 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 396444 2025-08-06T05:58:26.004381 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 355115 2022-09-07T02:49:53.070790 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 400915 2025-08-06T05:58:18.996406 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 381032 2024-10-28T20:30:38 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17129 2025-08-06T05:58:30.456345 application/rdf+xml 12603 2025-08-06T05:58:21.585385 image/jpeg 3421 2025-08-06T05:58:21.338389 image/jpeg 233254 2025-08-06T05:58:19.579438 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia