Casual Reviews of Movies, Music, and Literature

Friday, April 15, 2016

25 Great Short Stories

I'm the kind of guy who loves to read (and write) short stories. Studying, analyzing, evaluating...I've spent a lot of time and energy on them. Short stories are clearly different than novels, with an incredibly unique chemistry and vibe. If you haven't read any since high school, then I strongly recommend the entries on this list. Some are old, some new, some foreign, many not, yadda yadda yadda. Check out this list, read some stories, and enjoy!

- "A&P" by John Updike
- "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury
- "Amigo Brothers" by Piri Thomas
- "Bullet in the Brain" by Tobias Wolff
- "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allen Poe
- "Early Autumn" by Langston Hughes
- "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker
- "Fiesta, 1980" by Junot Diaz
- "Following the Notes" by Pia Z. Ehrhardt
- "Greenleaf" by Flannery O'Connor
- "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut
- "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson
- "The Man in the Black Suit" by Stephen King
- "The Mark on the Wall" by Virginia Woolf
- "Missing Women" by June Spence
- "Mule Killers" by Lydia Peelle
- "My Kid's Dog" by Ron Hansen
- "The Sea Fairies" by Maura Stanton
- "The Secrets of Summer" by Bret Easton Ellis
- "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
- "The Swimmer" by John Cheever
- "Tandolfo the Great" by Richard Bausch
- "To Room Nineteen" by Doris Lessing
- "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" by Sherman Alexie
- "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates

Many of these stories can be found online, but the obvious place to look is your local Barnes & Noble or a used book store. Many of these authors, particularly Stephen King and Ray Bradbury, have entire short story anthologies you can snag. And all of them are top-notch. Happy reading!

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