Maupassant is considered as one of the trendsetters like Somerset Maugham and O. Henry in the field of contemporary short story. He is famous for clever plotting and realistic art in displaying his subject. These works include That Costly Ride, That Pig Of A Morin, he Accursed Bread and The Assignation. That Costly Ride criticizes that lordship bring people with heavy burden and pressure. That Pig Of A Morin has brief contents and tight plots. The whole novel centers on one key event. The ending of The Accursed Bread is of profound meaning. The story is easy-reading and plots are well designed. In The Assignation, Maupassant decribes a true society of France in the last 19th century. People envys at upper class and pursue vanity. Through simple language, plots and stories, a society, which is ruled by money and power, is totally revealed.

This book contains four short stories of Maupassant: That Costly Ride, That Pig Of A Morin, The Accursed Bread and The Assignation. In That Costly Ride, Hector rides a horse together with his wife and daughter. Unfortunately, he runs down an old maid. After being sent to the hospital, the maid is actually in good condition. But she pretends to be sick. Hector has to send her to the sanatorium. This imposes a heavy financial burden on his family, causing them to live a tough life ever since. At last, they have to bring the old maid home in order to save money. In That Pig Of A Morin, the businessman Morin unconsciously kisses a beautiful girl in the street, causing huge chaos. Luckily, with the help of mine, that girl withdraws the appeal. But "That Pig Of A Morin" has become a famous story in La Rochelle. In The Accursed Bread, the bridegroom sings a song named The Accursed Bread and puts the plot to a climax. In The Assignation, a married woman plans to meet her fancy man when her husband goes to the exchange. She runs into a baron and ends up in his home. Later she explains to her lover in the letter, ascribing the cause of her absence to be her sudden illness.

Guy de Maupassant ( 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a popular French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents. Maupassant was a protégé of Flaubert and his stories are characterized by economy of style and efficient, effortless dénouements. Many are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s, describing the futility of war and the innocent civilians who, caught up in events beyond their control, are permanently changed by their experiences. He wrote some 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books, and one volume of verse. His first published story, "Boule de Suif" ("Ball of Fat", 1880), is often considered his masterpiece.