Stephen Crane is considered to be one of the most talented and influential writers of the late 1800s. He is known for his innovative style of writing, his vivid sense of irony, and his penetrating and sometimes disturbing psychological realism. He is considered a pioneer of the new form of literary realism that was seen in the 1920s. He wrote his first novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, when he was only twenty- one years old, and his masterpiece, The Red Badge of Courage, at the age of twenty-four. When he died at the age of twenty-eight, he had worked as a reporter and war correspondent and had written volumes of war reports and feature stories, six novels, over 100 short stories and sketches, and two books of poetry. Crane's complete works make up ten large volumes in a collection published by the University of Virginia Press, and his writings are studied in American literature classes in high schools, colleges, and universities.
