19 Best Books Of Short Stories (2023 Update)

"how ironic," joyce carol oates writes in her introduction to this marvelous collection, "that in our age of rapid mass-production and the easy proliferation of consumer products, the richness and diversity of the american literary imagination should be so misrepresented in most anthologies." why, she asks, when writers such as samuel clemens, f. scott fitzgerald, eudora welty, flannery o'connor, saul bellow, and john updike have among them written hundreds of short stories, do anthologists settle on the same two or three titles by each author again and again? "isn't the implicit promise of an anthology that it will, or aspires to, present something different, unexpected?" in the oxford book of american short stories, joyce carol oates offers a sweeping survey of american short fiction, in a collection of fifty-six tales that combines classic works with many "different, unexpected" gems, and that invites readers to explore a wealth of important pieces by women and minority writers. some selections simply can't be improved on, oates admits, and she happily includes such time-honored works as irving's "rip van winkle," poe's "the tell-tale heart," and hemingway's "a clean, well-lighted place." he was one of the finest men i ever sat down to…a perfect gentleman, and singularly juicy"). from melville come the juxtaposed tales "the paradise of bachelors and the tartarus of maids," of which oates says, "only melville could have fashioned out of 'real' events…such harrowing and dreamlike allegorical fiction." the reader will also delight in the range of authors found here, from charles w. chesnutt, jean toomer, and sarah orne jewett, to william carlos williams, kate chopin, and zora neale hurston. contemporary artists abound, including bharati mukherjee and amy tan, alice adams and david leavitt, bobbie ann mason and tim o'brien, louise erdrich and john edgar wideman. oates provides fascinating introductions to each writer, blending biographical information with her own trenchant observations about their work, plus a long introductory essay, in which she offers the fruit of years of reflection on a genre in which she herself is a master. this then is a book of surprises, a fascinating portrait of american short fiction, as filtered through the sensibility of a major modern writer.

"to read their stories felt to me the way i suspect other people feel hearing jazz for the first time," recalls curtis sittenfeld of her initial encounter with the best american short stories series. "they were windows into emotions i had and hadn't had, into other settings and circumstances and observations and relationships." decades later, sittenfeld was met by the same feeling selecting the stories for this year's edition. the result is a striking and nuanced collection, bringing to life awkward college students, disgraced public figures, raunchy grandparents, and mystical godmothers. to read these stories is to experience the transporting joys of discovery and affirmation, and to realize that story writing in america continues to flourish. c. boyle – emma cline – mary gaitskill andrea lee – elizabeth mccracken – alejandro puyana william pei shih – kevin wilson and others

The first book in a two-volume collection, bringing together the complete collected short stories from the author of 'empire of the sun', 'cocaine nights' and 'super-cannes', this volume provides an opportunity to review the career of one of britain's greatest writers.

Excellent examples of american fiction of the 19th and 20th centuries, these stories have been chosen for their timeless relevance and enduring popularity. arranged in chronological order, they include herman melville's "bartleby" and "the egg" by sherwood anderson, as well as works by bret harte, edgar allan poe, o. henry, mark twain, sarah orne jewett, stephen crane, jack london, henry james, willa cather, ambrose bierce, kate chopin, f. scott fitzgerald, and other celebrated authors.this dover edition is specially designed for those who need or prefer large print and meets the standards of the national association for visually handicapped.

The complete, authoritative collection of ernest hemingway's short fiction, including classic stories like "the snows of kilimanjaro," "a clean, well-lighted place," and "the short happy life of francis macomber," along with seven previously unpublished stories.in this definitive collection of the nobel prize-winning author’s short stories, readers will delight in hemingway’s most beloved classics such as "the snows of kilimanjaro," "hills like white elephants," and "a clean, well-lighted place," and will discover seven new tales published for the first time in this collection, totaling in sixty stories. this collection demonstrates hemingway’s ability to write beautiful prose for each distinct story, with plots that range from experiences of world war ii to beautifully touching moments between a father and son. for hemingway fans, the complete short stories is an invaluable treasury.

A chilling new collection of henry james's short stories exploring the uncanny, including "the turn of the screw," the basis for the new netflix series the haunting of bly manor in "the turn of the screw," one of the most famous ghost stories of all time, a governess becomes obsessed with the belief that malevolent forces are stalking the children in her care. it is accompanied here by several more of the very best of henry james's short stories, all exploring ghosts and the uncanny. for more than seventy years, penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the english-speaking world. with more than 1,800 titles, penguin classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

This affordably-priced collection presents masterpieces of short fiction from 52 of the greatest story writers of all time. from sherwood anderson to virginia woolf, this anthology encompasses a rich global and historical mix of the very best works of short fiction and presents them in a way students will find accessible, engaging, and relevant. the book's unique integration of biographical and critical background gives students a more intimate understanding of the works and their authors.

Fans of short fiction will love christmas stories. each tale in author kevin moore's debut collection celebrates the hope, magic, and memories so central to the true meaning of christmas. celebrate the season of miracles with this collection of short stories about the lives of ordinary people and the lessons they learn during an extraordinary time of year. you'll meet a young boy who reevaluates his perceptions after he's forced to spend christmas with his stern grandfather, an attorney who seemingly has everything but really has very little; a burned-out homecoming queen who grows weary of her own excuses for failure; and many other memorable characters. as moore's protagonists face adversity and sadness, they learn important lessons, gain hope, and experience powerful transformations. the perfect length for reading before bed, on your daily commute, or during a quiet hour, these tales offer you the opportunity to step away from your own life and into a world where it's always christmas and where-despite the often painful realities of life-there is always a lesson to learn and a reason to celebrate.

National bestseller – the prestigious annual story anthology includes prize-winning stories by chimamanda ngozi adichie, lorrie moore, olga tokarczuk, joseph o'neill, and samanta schweblin." widely regarded as the nation's most prestigious awards for short fiction." —the atlantic monthly“these stories surprise and illuminate.” —publishers weeklycontinuing a century-long tradition of cutting-edge literary excellence, this year's edition contains twenty prizewinning stories chosen from the thousands published in magazines over the previous year. guest editor valeria luiselli has brought her own refreshing perspective to the prize, selecting stories by an engaging mix of celebrated names and emerging voices and including stories in translation from bengali, greek, hebrew, norwegian, polish, russian, and spanish. the winning stories are accompanied by an introduction by luiselli, observations from the winning writers on what inspired them, and an extensive resource list of magazines that publish short fiction. an anchor books original.the winning stories:“screen time,” by alejandro zambra,translated from the spanish by megan mcdowell“the wolves of circassia,” by daniel mason“mercedes’s special talent,” by tere dávila,translated from the spanish by rebecca hanssens-reed“rainbows,” by joseph o’neill“a way with bea,” by shanteka sigers“seams,” by olga tokarczuk,translated from the polish by jennifer croft “the little widow from the capital,” by yohanca delgado“lemonade,” by eshkol nevo,translated from the hebrew by sondra silverston “breastmilk,” by ‘pemi aguda“the old man of kusumpur,” by amar mitra,translated from the bengali by anish gupta“where they always meet,” by christos ikonomou,translated from the greek by karen emmerich“fish stories,” by janika oza“horse soup,” by vladimir sorokin,translated from the russian by max lawton“clean teen,” by francisco gonzález“dengue boy,” by michel nieva,translated from the spanish by natasha wimmer“zikora,” by chimamanda ngozi adichie“apples,” by gunnhild øyehaug,translated from the norwegian by kari dickson “warp and weft,” by david ryan“face time,” by lorrie moore“an unlucky man,” by samanta schweblin,translated from the spanish by megan mcdowell

Discover the first four dragon-bite-sized winglets stories from the #1 new york times bestselling wings of fire series, now newly available together! everyone knows the legends . . . but does anyone know the truth? fiercetooth, a nightwing obsessed with what could have — and should have — been. deathbringer, desperate to prove himself as the next great nightwing assassin. six-claws, a loyal sandwing, who will soon find that loyalty comes with a price. foeslayer the nightwing, a dragon in love turned kidnapper, and prince arctic of the icewings, a runaway turned captive. in these four short stories, dig deeper into the world of pyrrhia to discover what really happened.

All messy is a book of fictional short stories that glances into the lives of sketchy characters. you will experience their trials, embarrassments, and missteps driven by love firsthand. many of them are selfish, needy, and arrogant. they may pull at your empathetic heart, but beware – that is their scheme.

It collects stories by undeniable talents, both newcomers and favorites. these stories examine the turning points in life when we, as children or parents, siblings or friends or colleagues. by stephen king.

This extraordinary collection of short stories reminds us how great a talent dreiser was. a giant among american writers, he fought throughout his career to capture life in realistic terms. in his stories as well as his celebrated novels, he sought to uncover the problems of common americans at the turn of the century–their struggles with society and their dreams of power and wealth against a backdrop of threatening poverty. "dreiser has no peer in the american short story…. as fine as his novels are, they do not attain the artistic wholeness of his short tales. among the moderns, there is almost no one capable of writing tales like these. the best of today is pallid and non-human when compared with dreiser's compassionate searchings."–from the introduction by howard fast.

Here for the first time is the complete short fiction of one of the twentieth century's foremost imaginative geniuses. more than half of vonnegut's output was short fiction, and never before has the world had occasion to wrestle with it all together. organized thematically—"war," "women," "science," "romance," "work ethic versus fame and fortune," "behavior," "the band director" (those stories featuring lincoln high's band director and nice guy george hemholtz), and "futuristic"—these ninety-eight stories were written from 1941 to 2007, and include those vonnegut published in magazines and collected in welcome to the monkey house, bagombo snuff box, and other books; here for the first time five previously unpublished stories; as well as a handful of others that were published online and read by few. during his lifetime vonnegut published fewer than half of the stories he wrote, his agent telling him in 1958 upon the rejection of a particularly strong story, "save it for the collection of your works which will be published someday when you become famous. which may take a little time." selected and introduced by longtime vonnegut friends and scholars dan wakefield and jerome klinkowitz, complete stories puts vonnegut's great wit, humor, humanity, and artistry on full display. an extraordinary literary feast for new readers, vonnegut fans, and scholars alike.

Best-selling author meg wolitzer guest edits the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction. "if you know exactly what you are going to get from the experience of reading a story, you probably wouldn't go looking for it; you need, in order to be an open reader of fiction, to be willing. to cast a vote for what you love and then wait for the outcome," writes meg wolitzer in her introduction. the best american short stories 2017 casts a vote for and celebrates all that is our country. here you'll find a man with a boyfriend and a girlfriend, naval officers trapped on a submarine, a contestant on america's funniest home videos, and a gay man desperate to be a father–unforgettable characters waiting for an outcome, burning with stories to tell.the best american short stories 2017 includes t. c. boyle – jai chakrabarti – emma cline – danielle evans – lauren groff – eric puchner – jim shepard – curtis sittenfeld – jess walterand others

In his stories guy de maupassant (1850–1893) blended brilliantly realistic depictions of characters moving against carefully described backgrounds with an objectivity and universality that has earned him a place among the finest of all short-story writers. in this collection of seven of his most popular stories, each tale reflects both the author's intimate familiarity with paris and the provinces in the belle epoque, as well as a nonjudgmental humanism that is one of maupassant's most attractive qualities. included in this volume are his celebrated masterpiece "boule de suif," along with six other finely crafted selections: "la parure," "mademoiselle fifi," "la maison tellier," "la ficelle," "miss harriet," and "le horla." the stories are printed in french with excellent new word-for-word english translations on the facing pages. students of both french and english will find here an excellent resource for upgrading their language skills. admirers of fine literature will enjoy the conciseness, strength, and rigorous economy that characterize maupassant's art.

In his stories guy de maupassant (1850–1893) blended brilliantly realistic depictions of characters moving against carefully described backgrounds with an objectivity and universality that has earned him a place among the finest of all short-story writers. in this collection of seven of his most popular stories, each tale reflects both the author's intimate familiarity with paris and the provinces in the belle epoque, as well as a nonjudgmental humanism that is one of maupassant's most attractive qualities. included in this volume are his celebrated masterpiece "boule de suif," along with six other finely crafted selections: "la parure," "mademoiselle fifi," "la maison tellier," "la ficelle," "miss harriet," and "le horla." the stories are printed in french with excellent new word-for-word english translations on the facing pages. students of both french and english will find here an excellent resource for upgrading their language skills. admirers of fine literature will enjoy the conciseness, strength, and rigorous economy that characterize maupassant's art.

“the literary ‘oscars’ features twenty outstanding examples of the best of the best in american short stories.” — shelf awareness for readers the best american short stories 2014 will be selected by national best-selling author jennifer egan, who won the 2011 pulitzer prize and the national book critics circle award for fiction for a visit from the goon squad, heralded by time magazine as “a new classic of american fiction.” egan “possesses a satirist’s eye and a romance novelist’s heart” (new york times book review).

“the literary ‘oscars’ features twenty outstanding examples of the best of the best in american short stories.” — shelf awareness for readers the best american short stories 2014 will be selected by national best-selling author jennifer egan, who won the 2011 pulitzer prize and the national book critics circle award for fiction for a visit from the goon squad, heralded by time magazine as “a new classic of american fiction.” egan “possesses a satirist’s eye and a romance novelist’s heart” (new york times book review).