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BOOK LIST:

Short Stories

Updated: January 11, 2020

Book cover for 20th Century Ghosts
20th Century Ghosts
Hill, Joe

An inventive and varied collection of horror and fantasy fiction—some stories are whimsical and poignant, "Better Than Home," "Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead", while others are incredibly creepy,"Best New Horror," "Last Breath".


Book cover for All Aunt Hagar's children
All Aunt Hagar's children
Jones, Edward P.
Jones's follow-up to his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Known World includes stories that deal with the migration of African Americans from the rural South to northern cities, and characters whose experiences span the 20th century.

Book cover for The Best of Roald Dahl: Stories From Over to You, Someone Like You, Kiss Kiss, Switch Bitch
The Best of Roald Dahl: Stories From Over to You, Someone Like You, Kiss Kiss, Switch Bitch
Dahl, Roald.

Though Dahl eventually became better known for his writing for children, his macabre, sinister, and darkly funny short stories are not to be missed.


Book cover for Bobcat & other stories
Bobcat & other stories
Lee, Rebecca, 1967-

These short stories are insightful, funny, poigant tales of modern relationships.  Rebecca Lee's characters falter, stumble, are frequently blind sided, sometimes recover, but move on through life. 


Book cover for The bridegroom : stories
The bridegroom : stories
Jin, Ha, 1956-
Stories of love, tragedy, politics, and culture, set in modern-day China.

Book cover for The call of Cthulhu and other weird stories
The call of Cthulhu and other weird stories
Lovecraft, H. P. 1890-1937.
Lovecraft's writing was not appreciated during his lifetime, but his creepy and weird tales have since attracted a cult following.

Book cover for The complete stories
The complete stories
Lispector, Clarice,

A complete collection, for the first time in English, of Clarice Lispector's short stories. She is one of South America's recently "discovered" major writers.


Book cover for Criers & kibitzers, kibitzers & criers
Criers & kibitzers, kibitzers & criers
Elkin, Stanley, 1930-1995.
Call Number: Ed.a
Elkin's writing is infused with dark, ironic humor and real human tragedy.

Book cover for The curious case of Benjamin Button and other jazz age stories
The curious case of Benjamin Button and other jazz age stories
Fitzgerald, F. Scott 1896-1940.
Tales of the Roaring Twenties, including the title story which was made into a major motion picture starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.

Book cover for The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye: Five Fairy Stories
The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye: Five Fairy Stories
Byatt, A. S.

A collection of modern fairy tales for adults by the Booker Prize-winning author.


Book cover for Drinking coffee elsewhere
Drinking coffee elsewhere
Packer, ZZ.
Z.Z. Packer's standout collection will take the reader to Tokyo, Yale, the Million Man March, and on a Girl Scout camping trip.

Book cover for Drown
Drown
Di?az, Junot, 1968-
Before writing the bestselling The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Diaz won critical acclaim for these portraits of young Dominican men living in New Jersey, New York, and the D.R.

Book cover for Edgar Allan Poe : the best of his macabre tales complete and unabridged
Edgar Allan Poe : the best of his macabre tales complete and unabridged
Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849.
This comprehensive volume includes 73 well-loved Poe stories, including his gothic tales of horror, suspenseful thrillers, mysteries, and detective stories.

Book cover for Enormous changes at the last minute; stories.
Enormous changes at the last minute; stories.
Paley, Grace.
Paley is best known for the unique, pitch-perfect voices she gives to her characters, and her deft portraits of the lives of Jewish New Yorkers.

Book cover for Evening in Paradise: More Stories
Evening in Paradise: More Stories
Berlin, Lucia

Berlin's short stories speak to everyone, with credible characters and plots.  Her prose and characterizations are crystalline, witty and hilarious, even when writing about some of our less worthy human activities.


Book cover for Everything inside : stories
Everything inside : stories
Danticat, Edwidge, 1969-

Edwige Danticat's short stories are about pain, grief and loss, and reflect her Haitian-American experience. Expressed in lyrical language, she explores the human condition in all of its complexity.


Book cover for Falling in Love With Hominids
Falling in Love With Hominids
Hopkinson, Nalo

This collection of short stories by celebrated fantasy author Nalo Hopkinson is incredibly original and beguiling. The stories throw you straight into new and fantastic worlds that you will wish to stay in longer.  Whether it be the quirky and adorable world of “Miss Emily Breakfast,” or the chilling coming of age “The Easthound,” this is a collection you will not be able to put down. 

 

Book cover for A good man is hard to find : and other stories
A good man is hard to find : and other stories
O'Connor, Flannery.
Call Number: Ed.a
O'Connor's flair for the gothic and grotesque, her distinctive humor, and her religious themes make her short fiction unmistakable and unforgettable.

Book cover for Goodbye, Columbus, and five short stories
Goodbye, Columbus, and five short stories
Roth, Philip.
Call Number: Ed.b

Roth won the National Book Award for this collection, which focuses on Jewish American life. Goodbye, Columbus is a satiric novella about young lovers in suburban New Jersey.  The other five stories reflect Roth's ambivalence about religion and ethnicity in an era of social conformity.


Book cover for Happy families : stories
Happy families : stories
Fuentes, Carlos.
Acclaimed novelist Carlos Fuentes makes a foray into short fiction with this stellar collection that explores the lives of many different Mexican families.

Book cover for The house at Belle Fontaine : stories
The house at Belle Fontaine : stories
Tuck, Lily, 1938-

These short stories are minimalist in style, characterization and plot, and it is through the dialogue and action that Lily Tuck allows her characters to reveal the complexities of modern life.


Book cover for I am an executioner : love stories
I am an executioner : love stories
Parameswaran, Rajesh.

A striking debut collection of short fiction that traffics in desire. In "The Infamous Bengal Ming," a lovesick tiger mauls his keeper and then prowls the city in anguish under helicopter high beams. In "Demons," a quietly desperate wife idly wishes her husband dead, then is crushed by guilt when he suddenly dies of a heart attack. These characters - human, animal, and insect - bear the puzzling weight of destroying what they love, or being destroyed by it.


Book cover for In the garden of the North American martyrs : a collection of short stories
In the garden of the North American martyrs : a collection of short stories
Wolff, Tobias, 1945-

Tobia Wolff, whose minimalist style recalls that of Raymond Carver, may be America's best living short story writer.  This collection was his critical breakthrough with pieces on academics, family squabbles and male longers


Book cover for Interpreter of maladies : stories
Interpreter of maladies : stories
Lahiri, Jhumpa.
In Lahiri's Pulitzer Prize-winning debut collection, her Indian-American characters contend with assimilation, cultural traditions, and family relationships that cross generations and national borders.

Book cover for Like life : stories
Like life : stories
Moore, Lorrie.
Call Number: Ed.a
Lorrie Moore's short stories about people in miserable situations are infused with wit and dark humor.

Book cover for The love of a good woman : stories
The love of a good woman : stories
Munro, Alice.
Munro uncovers the secrets, lies, and mysteries of small town life in rural Canada in this masterful collection.

Book cover for The mad scientist's guide to world domination : original short fiction for the modern evil genius
The mad scientist's guide to world domination : original short fiction for the modern evil genius
Call Number: SF

The mad scientist has been a science fiction standard since the genesis of the genre with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in 1818.  In this anthology, editor John Joseph Adams has gathered a wonderful collection of mostly new stories (only two have been previously published) by some of the genre's best and brightest authors exploring this sci-fi staple from the inside out, with fascinating, insightful and often hilarious results.  A must read for anyone contemplating their own plans to rule the planet!


Book cover for The magic barrel
The magic barrel
Malamud, Bernard.
Call Number: Ed.a
Malamud's stories about communities of Jewish-American immigrants draw from Yiddish folklore and Hasidic traditions.

Book cover for Monstress : stories
Monstress : stories
Tenorio, Lysley.

This debut collection of stories is noteworthy for its depiction of a spectrum of Filipino and Filipino-American experiences little represented in American literature; settings include San Francisco’s Manilatown in the 1930s, a Philippine leper colony in the 60s, and the Manila film scene of the 70s. What makes the stories truly enjoyable though, is Tenorio’s ability to cut to the quick of deep emotions with control and with humor.


Book cover for Night shift
Night shift
King, Stephen, 1947-
Call Number: Ed.c
In Stephen King's first collection of short stories, the things that go bump in the night include rats, vampires, zombies, and a possessed Hadley-Watson Model-6 Speed Ironer and Folder.

Book cover for The Pomegranate Lady and her sons : selected stories
The Pomegranate Lady and her sons : selected stories
Taraqqī, Gulī.

In this superb collection of short stories Iranian writer Goli Taraghi portrays what it is like for individuals to be deracinated within their own country, or exiled as the result of political change; for them to have an eternal longing to go home to a place that will never be the same, except in their memories and hearts. The various characters are portrayed in their full humanity which Taraghi does in a cheeky, humorous style.  The characters and perspective are Iranian, but the stories are universal in appeal.

November 5, 2013, the author was a guest at ALOUD.


Book cover for The pugilist at rest and other stories
The pugilist at rest and other stories
Jones, Thom.
A rugged, visceral collection of fiction with boxing and the Vietnam War at its center.

Book cover for Same place, same things
Same place, same things
Gautreaux, Tim.
A warm, folksy, and big-hearted collection by an often overlooked master of contemporary southern fiction.

Book cover for Sister age
Sister age
Fisher, M. F. K. 1908-1992.
The acclaimed food writer turns her hand to fiction, offering up a wise, lovely collection of stories about the challenges and rewards of growing older.

Book cover for Smoke and mirrors : short fictions and illusions
Smoke and mirrors : short fictions and illusions
Gaiman, Neil.
These stories draw from myths, legends and fantastical characters like Beowulf and Sir Galahad.

Book cover for The snows of Kilimanjaro, and other stories
The snows of Kilimanjaro, and other stories
Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961.
Call Number: Ed.c
Ten of Hemingway's best-loved short stories including "The Killers" and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber."

Book cover for Ten little Indians : stories
Ten little Indians : stories
Alexie, Sherman, 1966-
These stories about Spokane Indians living in the Seattle area are filled with vivid characters and thoughtful, wry reflections on what it means to be an Indian.

Book cover for Welcome to the monkey house : a collection of short works
Welcome to the monkey house : a collection of short works
Vonnegut, Kurt.
Call Number: Ed.a
A collection that conveys Vonnegut's signature wry humor and flair for the absurd.

Book cover for Where I'm calling from : new and selected stories
Where I'm calling from : new and selected stories
Carver, Raymond.
Call Number: Ed.a
Carver's short stories are considered modern classics. This volume, published shortly before his death in 1988, collects many of the best stories from his previous books, along with several other pieces.

Book cover for Winesburg, Ohio
Winesburg, Ohio
Anderson, Sherwood, 1876-1941.
Call Number: Ed.i
A collection of interconnected stories about the residents of a small Ohio town at the end of the 19th century.

Book cover for Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories
Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories
Cisneros, Sandra.
Call Number: Ed.a

Cisneros chronicles the lives and struggles of women living on both sides of the Tex-Mex border with warmth and humor.


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