Featured Stories

The Baby (The First Thing the Baby Did Wrong)

The Baby (The First Thing the Baby Did Wrong): Short story by Donald BarthelmeThis story by Donald Barthelme may be confronting for some readers because it appears to make light of an example of child abuse. Through exaggeration and humor, Barthelme leads us to his central theme: the coming of a baby can change the whole dynamics of family relationships. Most parents like to think that they are the ones in control. However, all too often they find themselves dancing to their child’s tune. By the end of the story, this baby has totally turned the tables. Some might even say that it has been guilty of a form of parental abuse!

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A Useless Man

A Useless Man: Short story by Sait Faik AbasıyanıkRather than being “useless”, the protagonist of this story by Sait Faik Abasıyanık admits to having given up on life. A recluse, he hasn’t washed himself or left his Istanbul neighborhood of four streets in seven years. He follows the same routine, meets the same people, and fantasizes about the same voluptuous Jewish woman every day. One day, for no apparent reason, he ventures further afield and is dumbstruck by the changes to and vibrancy of the city. After returning home, he is so disoriented by the experience that he contemplates suicide. Themes include alienation, loneliness, fear, hopelessness, depression.

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User Friendly

User Friendly: Short story by T. Ernesto BethancourtWith all the hype these days about how artificial intelligence could destroy humankind, it seems timely to feature this forward-looking story by T. Ernesto Bethancourt. Written in 1989, it is a tale about a lonely, love-struck thirteen-year-old boy whose computer engineer father has built him a leading edge tutorial PC. When the computer learns the boy has been insulted by a girl and threatened by her brother, it “takes care of things.” At the end of the story, we learn that the computer has been hiding something. Themes: discrimination, loneliness, bullying, jealousy, the potential danger of poorly designed artificial intelligence.

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The Age of Lead

The Age of Lead: Short story by Margaret AtwoodIn this story by Margaret Atwood, a frozen 150-year-old body buried in the permafrost provides a lesson for the living. The story uses the solution to mystery cause of death of members of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition to highlight the dangers of consumerism and modern technology such as soil and water pollution, toxic waste and acid rain. The issues are brought home in the parallel story involving the the protagonist’s frustrating relationship with her eccentric, possibly gay lifetime friend who dies of an unknown viral infection. Themes include tragedy, side effects of consumerism and technology, individuality, friendship/unfulfilled love.

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The Sky is Gray

The Sky is Gray: Short story by Ernest J. GainesSet in the American South during the 1940s, this coming of age story by Ernest Gaines features an eight-year-old African-American boy from an impoverished family. Suffering a toothache, his mother takes him so see a dentist. During the trip he experiences the humiliation of segregation, is inspired by a debate in the dentist’s waiting room, stands up for his mother when threatened in a “colored” café, and experiences kindness on the “white” side of town. Following his uncompromising mother’s example, he conducts himself with courage and dignity. Themes: mother-son relationships, pride, racism and segregation, religious acceptance vs. knowledge and questioning.

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Naming the Names

Naming the Names: Short story by Anne DevlinSet during the Irish Troubles, the major themes of his story by Anne Devlin are love, loyalty and betrayal. Other themes include identity, the cyclical nature of violence, urban change/devastation, taking responsibility for one’s actions, and the humanization of terrorism. The plot is non-linear, with regular flashbacks to earlier times. An insecure woman who has been indoctrinated in the Republican cause since childhood joins the IRA. She plays a minor role until a decision is made to target a prominent British official, and finds herself perfectly placed to lure his son (who is also her lover!) into a deadly trap.

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A Small, Good Thing

A Small, Good Thing: Short story by Raymond CarverIn this heart-wrenching story by Raymond Carver, parents mount a vigil by their unconscious son’s hospital bed after he was struck by a car on his eighth birthday. On the few occasions one of them goes home to freshen up and feed the family dog, they receive prank phone calls, often mentioning the boy’s name. The boy dies after three days, but the calls continue. The mother soon realizes the caller is a baker from whom she had ordered a birthday cake, and insists on immediately confronting the man. Themes include family, tragedy, helplessness and isolation, compassion, connection, loneliness, forgiveness.

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Mr Miacca

Mr Miacca: English folktale from Joseph JacobsMr. Miacca is an English folktale of the ‘bogeyman’ type, where adults tell stories of imaginary beings to frighten young children into being good. In the story, a boy does something wrong and finds himself about to be cooked for Mr. Miacca’s dinner. He gets away by tricking Mrs. Miacca. The forgetful boy makes the same mistake, and again finds himself on Mr. Miacca’s dinner menu. This time Mr. Miacca watches over the boy himself, and decides to cut off the lad’s leg (which he throws in the cooking pot) to make sure he doesn’t run away.

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