Featured Stories

The Man to Send Rain Clouds

The Man to Send Rain Clouds: Short story by Leslie Marmon SilkoThis playful story by Leslie Marmon Silko illustrates how two cultures, one indigenous and very much attached to their land, the other foreign and dominant, coexist. When an aging Pueblo Native American dies tending their sheep, his people plan to give him a traditional tribal burial. They deceive a young Catholic priest, who would have insisted on a Christian ceremony, but later find they need something from him. Themes include death, tradition, adaptability (by the tribe as a means of mitigating culture clash) and flexibility (by the priest as a means of being accepted into the community).

Continue ReadingThe Man to Send Rain Clouds

Dry September

Dry September: Short story by William FaulknerWilliam Faulkner’s Dry September deals with events leading up to and shortly after the vigilante murder of a presumably innocent man. Set in a racially prejudiced community in America’s South, a misplaced or malicious complaint from a middle-aged spinster incites hatred against a local negro. Only one man (the town barber) stands up for him. A decorated ex-soldier leads a mob to avenge the woman’s honor. After the killing, the reliability of the woman’s story is called into question, as is the mental condition of the soldier who is shown to be violent by nature and possibly suffering from PTSD.

Continue ReadingDry September

Dusky Ruth

Dusky Ruth: Short story by A. E. CoppardIn addition to writing fantasy and horror stories, A. E. Coppard had a wonderful talent for describing nature and human nature through his tales of life and love in the English countryside. Here, a hiker exploring the Cotswolds stops for the night at a village inn. The only lodger, he shares passionate embraces with a dusky serving girl in a downstairs sitting room. Later that night, she invites him to her bedroom where, as she lays naked and crying beside him, he proves to be a perfect English gentleman. Themes include the beauty of nature, isolation, loneliness, sexuality, desire, restraint.

Continue ReadingDusky Ruth

The Undertaker / Coffin-Maker

The Undertaker / Coffin-Maker: Short story by Alexander PushkinMany readers feel let down by this gloomy Alexander Pushkin story because of its seemingly abrupt ending. A Russian undertaker moves house to a more affluent Moscow suburb of predominantly German artisans. Invited to a neighbor’s party, he over-indulges in wine. After taking a proposed toast to his “corpses” as an insult to his profession, he threatens to have his own celebration the next day for those for whom I work: the orthodox dead. He wakes to find that his threat has become a reality. Or has it? Themes: life and death; racial, professional and religious prejudice; insecurity; unethical conduct/cheating.

Continue ReadingThe Undertaker / Coffin-Maker

The Demon Lover

The Demon Lover: Short story by Elizabeth BowenIn this horror story by Elizabeth Bowen, a woman returns to her large, war-damaged city house to collect personal items. The house had been locked up, nobody knew she was coming, yet there is a letter addressed to her sitting on a table. It had been hand delivered earlier that day and is an anniversary greeting ending with the words: You may expect me at the hour arranged. Someone (possibly the spirit of a former soldier-lover) may be in the house or coming for her. Themes include the trauma of war, gender stereotypes, doubt, imagination and fear, betrayal and revenge.

Continue ReadingThe Demon Lover

Sonny’s Blues

Sonny's Blues: Short story by James BaldwinThe major theme of this rather intense story from James Baldwin is that for many people, life involves a constant cycle of suffering. (I was aware that this was only a moment, that the world waited outside, as hungry as a tiger, and that trouble stretched above us, longer than the sky.) The plot explores the adult relationship between an African-American teacher and Sonny, his musically gifted estranged brother, after Sonny’s arrest and imprisonment for drug trafficking. Other themes include race and racism, substance abuse, alienation, reconciliation, family/brotherly love, and the inspirational and healing power of music.

Continue ReadingSonny’s Blues

Grandfather’s Story

Grandfather’s Story: Short story by Catherine LimThis two-part story by Catherine Lim begins with the background of the narrator’s grandparents. We learn that the grandfather, unable to live with his wife who cruelly exploited bondmaids (female slaves) in growing a successful garment business, found lifetime love with another woman. In the second part of the story, the grandfather relates a folktale-like account of how the fates of all three were predestined a thousand years previously when the Almighty passed judgement on a Chinese farmer, his good-hearted but naïve wife, and a cruel, mercenary nun. Themes include love, cruelty, slavery, greed, fate, rebirth and karmic justice.

Continue ReadingGrandfather’s Story

The Bottom-Pincher

The Bottom-Pincher: Short story by Khushwant SinghKhushwant Singh’s writing is known for its use of satire and irony in addressing controversial aspects of Indian life. This humorous story is about an admitted “bottom-watcher” who dreams of becoming a “bottom-pincher”. When he encounters a serial bottom-pincher, he becomes obsessed and stalks the man, obtaining vicarious pleasure from his exploits before succumbing to the temptation himself. The major theme is hypocrisy: the facade of respectability adopted by wealthy Indian men who might pop out for a lunchtime “nooner” or engage in other salacious activities. Additional themes: sexual assault (unwanted touching), perversion, obsession, stalking, harassment, temptation, corruption, poverty.

Continue ReadingThe Bottom-Pincher