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. In The Double Pins, the story is displayed in the form of dialogue. In The Dowry, the woman longs for the perfect marriage, but on the contrary, her marriage is faced with huge challenges. The Drunkard is a tragedy of simple plots and unpredicable ending. The author describes the story in the logic and perspective of a drunken person. In The Effeminates, Maupassant criticizes the government as well as the society of his times thruogh descriptions of seemingly trivial details.

This book contains four short stories of Maupassant: The Double Pins, The Dowry, The Drunkard and The Effeminates. The Double Pins tells a story that the protagonist talks to his friends about his experience of being "cheated" by his two lovers. In The Dowry, after the protagonist wins his wife's trust, he absconds with the dowry. In The Drunkard, it is about a tragedy of death, which results from two sailors drinking in a bar. The Effeminates describes the treacherous and scheming nature of the effeminates.

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 (outcomes). 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.