| featuring the world's best short stories

Pigeon Feathers

Post category:Novelettes

Pigeon Feathers: Short story by John Updike John Updike’s Pigeon Feathers is a web of conflicts and satire. The central conflict is thirteen-year-old David’s crisis of faith, which he ultimately resolves through an epiphany born out of bloody violence. David’s questioning leads to conflict with the family church minister, who dismisses his concerns by inanely equating Heaven to the “goodness” of Abraham Lincoln. Unresolved conflicts include country vs. city living, and the organic (the land has a soul) vs. chemical (the earth is nothing but chemicals) farming debate between David’s parents. Themes: environmentalism, aging and death, family, isolation, spirituality, science vs. religion, the wonder of nature, faith.

The Necessary Grace to Fall

Post category:Short Stories

The Necessary Grace to Fall: Short story by Gina Ochsner In this story by Gina Ochsner, an investigative assistant in the claims department of a life insurance company finds himself bored by both the routine of the job and his marriage. He compensates by taking a morbid interest in the unusual causes of death he encounters, and becomes obsessed with learning more about a woman from his childhood neighborhood who jumped/fell from a bridge. While sitting on a ledge of the same bridge trying to imagine her motivation and feelings, he has an epiphany that may change his life. Themes include alienation, guilt, death, suicide, obsession, redemption, hope.

The Night of the Ugly Ones

Post category:Quick Reads

The Night of the Ugly Ones: Short story by Mario Benedetti This story by Mario Benedetti examines the concept of “ugliness” and the feelings of exclusion experienced by people with physical deformities when others turn away or pretend not to notice them. A man and woman, both with significant facial blemishes, meet at a movie and connect over coffee. (You’d like a face as smooth as that young girl’s on your right, even though you’re intelligent and she, judging by her laugh, is a hopeless idiot.) Their lovemaking later that night takes a curious turn, with both ending up in tears. Themes include isolation and loneliness, humanity, internal vs. external beauty.

The Best Girlfriend You Never Had

Post category:Novelettes

The Best Girlfriend You Never Had: Short story by Pam Houston If you are looking for a story with a traditional plot structure, this work of contemporary fiction by Pam Houston is not for you. The story comprises fourteen anecdotes and observations about the life of a thirty-one-year-old woman who comes to San Francisco seeking order and romantic love. Instead, she finds chaos and frustration. Obsessed with finding the right man, she always seems to identify with the wrong ones. The one man in her life she has strong feelings for calls himself the best girlfriend you never had. Themes: order vs. chaos, friendship vs. romantic love, self-esteem, fear, enlightenment, change.

Axolotl

Post category:Short Stories

Axolotl: Short story by Julio Cortázar Julio Cortázar gives away the plot of this story in the first paragraph: There was a time when I thought a great deal about the axolotls… Now I am an axolotl. The rest of the story talks about this Kafkaesque transformation, which is partial and may have only occurred in the protagonist’s mind. He (the axolotl part) sits in an aquarium tank watching himself (the unchanged part) looking in from the other side. Considering his life from this perspective seemingly builds the man’s self-esteem, and he no longer feels the need to return. Themes: loneliness, alienation, obsession, connection, enlightenment, inertia.

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Approximate Reading Times

Quick Read: under 5 minutes
Short Story: 5 to 30 minutes
Novelette: 30 to 90 minutes
Novella: 1.5 to 2.5 hours

The American Embassy
Short Story by Chimamanda Adichie. A Nigerian woman has a seemingly perfect case for U.S. asylum. Her anti-government journalist husband has already fled to America, and some troops searching for him accidentally shot their four-year-old son. Yet mid-way through the visa interview, she decides not to continue.
The Million Pound Bank Note
Novelette by Mark Twain. A poor but resourceful American finds himself penniless in London. When loaned a bank note he cannot spend he receives unlimited credit in stores and hotels, is an instant celebrity in the eccentric world of British High Society, and becomes a wealthy “influencer”.
Cheap at Half the Price
Short Story by Jeffrey Archer. After searching for a birthday present, a beautiful socialite has her heart set on a million pound diamond-and-ruby necklace. Knowing her husband’s weaknesses, she hatches a plan whereby the deluded man thinks he was clever enough to buy it for half the asking price.
Fat
Short Story by Raymond Carver. In this powerful story about body shaming, a waitress's co-workers (including her insensitive partner) dehumanize a customer by making fun of his size. They have no empathy for the person within. The experience greatly affects the waitress, who believes her life is going to change.
Ahoy, Sailor Boy!
Short Story by A. E. Coppard. Following a discussion in an English pub about death and divine retribution, an off-duty sailor unsuccessfully tries to solicit an attractive ghost in a park. After discussing her sins, and what she is doing to obtain redemption, he eagerly watches as she undresses.
A Face in the Dark
Quick Read by Ruskin Bond. A teacher walking through some woods late at night comes across a crying student. When the boy lifts his face, he runs away in fear and calls for help. When he encounters a night watchman, he gets an even bigger fright.
The Sky is Gray
Novelette by Ernest J. Gaines. During a trip to see a dentist on a freezing winter morning an eight-year-old African-American boy experiences the humiliation of segregation, is inspired by a debate in the dentist’s waiting room, and experiences compassion and kindness on the “white” side of town.
Jaycee
Quick Read by Fredric Brown. Scientists have discovered a way for women to asexually reproduce. Fifty million such children now exist, all males. The oldest has just reached puberty, and has started to exhibit behavior similar to the only previous virgin birth, which took place over 2,000 years ago.
Cleansing Monday
Short Story by Ivan Bunin. A young Russian man deeply in love suffers through a long, frustrating relationship. She has no interest in marrying and rejects all attempts at sexual contact. To his surprise, one “Clean Monday” she gives herself to him. That evening, she leaves his life forever.
Town and Country Lovers
Novelette by Nadine Gordimer. Set at a time when sexual intercourse between “whites” and “non-whites” was illegal in South Africa, the story explores the extent to which two women felt pressured into “illegal” relationships, and the unequal consequences suffered by the male and female participants.
The Piece of String
Short Story by Guy de Maupassant. A frugal farmer’s reputation is forever tarnished after being falsely accused of finding and failing to return a lost pocketbook. No matter how much he denies, it nobody will believe him. This weighs heavily on the proud man’s mind, leading to his early death.
The Machine That Won the War
Short Story by Isaac Asimov. Three men meet after the Earth’s successful war against the Denebians. Ironically, the war wasn’t won by a powerful computer (Multivac) or decisions by any of the three ‘experts’. It was won either by chance or because of problems experienced by the enemy.
Wasps’ Nest
Short Story by Agatha Christie. Hercule Poirot makes a surprise visit to an old friend and asks him to help prevent a murder involving a mutual acquaintance. Thanks to some very unlikely coincidences and skills learned from a grateful pickpocket, Poirot prevents both the murder and a suicide.
Bears Discover Fire
Short Story by Terry Bisson. A sixty-one-year-old man does his best for his dying mother. With only a TV for company at her nursing home, she has given up on life. She quietly passes away sitting with family in front of a fire tended by a group of friendly bears.