paul secor Posted May 4, 2013 Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 I'm curious if others here have favorite collections or compilations of short stories. I'll start with a few of my own and I hope that others will join in. W.P. Kinsella: The Mocassin Telegraph and Other Indian Tales John Dufresne: The Way That Water Enters Stone Percival Everett: Damned If I Do Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Strange Pilgrims Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted May 4, 2013 Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 Jorge Luis Borges - everything (but especially Ficciones) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted May 4, 2013 Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 J.F. Powers: The Stories of J.F. Powers. Forgotten master of prose whose Mort D'Urban is the best and funniest novel about the priesthood/religious life ever written. The standout story here is "The Prince of Darkness", which is the nickname of the priest the story is about. Raymond Chandler: LOA Volume 1. Very good detective stories, all gathered in one place. J.G. Ballard: The Complete Stories of J.G. Ballard. Very interesting stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted May 4, 2013 Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 Any and all collections of stories by Cordwainer Smith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted May 4, 2013 Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 Raymond Carver and Alice Munro are the first authors who come to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted May 4, 2013 Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 Hammett's "The Continental OP." Chandler's "Killer in the Rain" Philip K. Dick's "The Preserving Machine" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted May 4, 2013 Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 Any collection by Alice Munro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffcrom Posted May 4, 2013 Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 Flannery O' Connor - A Good Man is Hard to Find Bernard Malamud - The Magic Barrel P.G. Wodehouse - The World of Jeeves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted May 4, 2013 Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 Any collection by Alice Munro. You beat me to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Litweiler Posted May 4, 2013 Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 Short stories by Chandler, Hammett, Conan Doyle, Ballard, William Tenn, Eric Frank Russell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Weiss Posted May 4, 2013 Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 Jonathan Lethem: The Wall of the Sky, The Wall of the Eye Sam Shepard: Cruising Paradise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon8 Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 A few favorites: Lorrie Moore: Birds of America Denis Johnson: Jesus' Son Tim O'Brien: The Things They Carried Marcel Aymé: Le Passe-Muraille Donald Barthelme: 60 Stories Raymond Carver: What We Talk About When We Talk About Love Barry Hannah: High Lonesome David Means: Assorted Fire Events Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 I've just been reading, for the first time since the 60s, 'The Thurber carnival'. Funny the things you hang on to. I don't know what I saw in it then, but I'm not seeing much in it now. My favourite collections may be off most people's beam 'West African trickster tales' ed Martin Bennett. Most of these seem to come from Nigeria. Very much like the Brer Rabbit etc stories. Every culture has 'em. 'Moral tales' by Jules Laforgue (with some nice illustrations by him). 'Cruel tales' by Villiers de l'Isle-Adam. 'Pharos and Pharillon' by E M Forster (stories and history about Alexandria). MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon8 Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 "Contes cruels" is good one, indeed. Makes me think of his contemporary, Barbey D'Aurevilly, and his excellent short stories book, Les Diaboliques. I'm intrigued by Laforgue (read some of his poetry). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 Haven't read B d'A. I can't make headway with French writers in French. MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 Lily Tuck: The House At Belle Fontaine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim McG Posted May 7, 2013 Report Share Posted May 7, 2013 (edited) Complete Short Stories, Guy de Maupassant Complete Tales, Edgar Allen Poe Best Short Stories, O. Henry The Illustrated Man, Ray Bradbury Ray Bradbury Collection, Ray Bradbury Complete Short Stories, DH Lawrence The Thurber Carnival, James Thurber Highway 99, Stan Yogi, Editor There are many others... Edited May 8, 2013 by GoodSpeak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBop Posted May 7, 2013 Report Share Posted May 7, 2013 (edited) Setting aside my beloved Russians (Anton Chekov, Leo Tolstoy) - not everyone's samovar of tea, I would acknowledge Voltaire and Vonnegut. Vonnegut = Canary in a Cathouse (1961) Welcome to the Monkey House (1968) Bagombo Snuff Box (1999) God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian (1999) Armageddon in Retrospect (2008) Look at the Birdie (2009) While Mortals Sleep (2011) Sucker's Portfolio (2013) Edited May 8, 2013 by BeBop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Man Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 Raymond Carver and Alice Munro are the first authors who come to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crisp Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 I've been collecting a series that Everyman is putting out: Stories for Every Occasion in the website. It started with Christmas Stories and has gone on to include Detective Stories, Golf Stories, etc. They are all hardbacks and have varying striped spines. Look lovely on the shelf. Some of the titles sound rather twee and feminine (eg, Cat Stories), but if they are compiled by Diana Secker Tesdell they are terrific. Love Stories is actually quite a brutal collection, while Bedtime Stories is dark and supernatural, not what you might expect. Other favourites of mine are New York Stories and Stories of the Sea. Lots of classic tales (Irving, Hawthorne) are mixed with more recent works and I've discovered a lot of great new writers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.