October 4, 2002

Norton Publishes Classic Fairy Tales, Unsanitized; a Willa Cather Draft Reveals a Meta-Novel

By JENNIFER K. RUARK

HAPPILY EVER AFTER, SOMETIMES: Walt Disney it ain't. In the Grimm Brothers' version, Snow White's wicked stepmother is forced to don red-hot iron shoes and dance until she dies. To become human, Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid has her tongue cut out and endures stabbing pains with every footstep, only to lose her prince and dissolve into sea foam. Cinderella, in one rendition, invites her stepsisters to her wedding so that doves can peck out their eyes.

Those are among the

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