Cather published Youth and the Bright Medusa, a collection of her short fiction, in 1920. According to Alfred Knopf, Cather had been displeased with the dull brown covers of O Pioneers! and My Antonia and upon seeing the bright blue Chinese cloth Knopf had purchased to cover other hardcovers, immediately handed him the manuscript of Youth and the Bright Medusa. Also in Knopf's belief, Willa Cather cared nothing for how much she would be paid for her work, but rather for fame and positive attention.

This collection contains the following stories: "Coming, Aphrodite!" aka "Coming, Eden Bower!" "The Diamond Mine" "A Gold Slipper" "Scandal" "Paul's Case" "A Wagner Matinee" "The Sculptor's Funeral" "A Death in the Desert"