The first in Longman's new “Literature for College Readers” series, American 24-Karat Gold is a collection of American short stories for the developmental readers.

The text includes classic American writers (e.g., Mark Twain, O. Henry, Kate Chopin) along with diverse modern writers (e.g., Maxine Hong Kingston, Roberta Fernandez, and Alice Walker.)

The text begins with a sample lesson designed with the developmental learner in mind—introducing reading skills, note-taking, and literary terms. Following the sample lesson, the stories are arranged by literary elements: character, conflict, plot, irony, etc. Each story contains pre-reading vocabulary exercises and questions, headnotes, a journal entry worksheet, comprehension quizzes, and writing prompts.