Henry James explores human character with an elegant realism. This collection offers three of his most popular shorter works. In "The Aspern Papers" cultures, generations, and genders clash as a literary historian tries to pry a packet of letters, written by an important American poet, from the woman to whom they were sent. "The Jolly Corner" and "The Beast in the Jungle" feature characters who encounter apparitions that may express aspects of their hidden selves.