Selected Short Story Suggestions Thompson Rivers University Library ESAL

1 Updated February 2012

The following represents a partial list books in the library collection that may be of interest to you for this assignment. Please search the Library Catalogue for these books.

Author Title Description Stories of Interest

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi

The Thing Around Your Neck

Contemporary. Tensions between Nigerian and Nigerian-Americans.

"Cell One," The Headstrong Historian"

Alexie, Sherman The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

Native American. Fictional portrait of the characters, themes, and language of the Spokane Indian Reservation.

"Every Little Hurricane," "The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn't Flash Red Anymore"

Alexie, Sherman The Toughest Indian in the World

Native American. Conflicts of Indian heritage and traditions with the realities of the modern world.

"South by Southwest," "Assimilation"

Atwood, Margaret Moral Disorder

Canadian. Novel in stories of a woman's life and loves. Moves around in time 1930s-1980s.

Babel, Isaac Collected Stories Russian. Revolutionary Russia. Russian-Jewish conflicts.

"In the Basement," "Awakening," "The Sun of Italy," "My First Goose"

Bradbury, Ray Bradbury Stories Fantasy fiction. Science fiction

"There Will Come Soft Rains," "The Rocket," "The Toynbee Convector," "The Flying Machine"

Borges, Jorge Luis Ficciones Spanish "The Library of Babel"

Carver, Raymond Cathedral

Stories about loneliness, loss, the tragic banality of everyday life, and redemption.

"A Small, Good Thing," "Fever"

Carver, Raymond Where I'm Calling From

"Where I'm Calling From"

Cather, Willa Five stories American. Early 20th century. character-driven

Selected Short Story Suggestions Thompson Rivers University Library ESAL

2 Updated February 2012

Cheever, John Stories of John Cheever

American, modern

"The Enormous Radio", "The Hartleys," "The Sorrow of Gin," "Reunion," "The Sutton Place Story"

Chekhov, Anton The Stories of Anton Tchekov

Russian social life. Explores human behavior and psychology.

Chopin, Kate The Awakening Late 1880s. American. Role of women, early feminist.

Cisneros, Sandra Woman Hollering Creek

America/Mexico. Latina. Magical realism.

"Barbie-Q," "One Holy Night"

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor The Best Short Stories of Dostoyevsky

Psychological fiction. Russian.

"White Nights" , “ The Dream of a Ridiculous Man”

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

British mystery.

Ellison, Ralph Flying Home African-American 1930s-1950s.

“A Party down at the Square," "Flying Home", “The Black Ball”

Fitzgerald, F. Scott The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald

American. Jazz-age.

"The Offshore Pirate," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "One Trip Abroad," "Babylon Revisited"

Garcia Marquez, Gabriel

Strange Pilgrims Columbian. 1950s-1990s. Magic realism

"Maria dos Prazeres,""Bon Voyage, Mr. President," "'I Only Came to Use the Phone'"

Nikolai Gogol The Collected tales of Nikolai Gogol

Short stories probe the mind of a man to reveal his hidden motives.

“The Terrible Vengeance”, “The Diary of a Madman”, “ The Overcoat”

Greene, Graham 21 Stories British. Compelling; Spare writing style. Character-driven.

"The End of the Party," "The Blue Film," "The Destructors"

Harte, Bret The Best of Bret Harte

Western stories. "The Luck of Roaring Camp"

Selected Short Story Suggestions Thompson Rivers University Library ESAL

3 Updated February 2012

Hawthorne, Nathaniel

Hawthorne's Short Stories

American. Mid 1800s

"The Minister's Black Veil,""The Artist of the Beautiful," "Rappaccini's Daughter," "The Birthmark"

Hemingway, Ernest The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway

Spanish Civil War

"The Snows of Kilimanjaro," "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macamber"

Hughes, Langston The Short Stories of Langston Hughes

Folk African-American. 1920s. Harlem Renaissance

“Saratoga Rain”, “No Place to Make Love”, “On the Road”, “Little Old Spy”, “Slave on the Block”

Irving, Washington The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Selections

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle" have been called the first American short stories, although both are actually Americanized versions of German folktales.

James, Henry Complete Stories, 1898-1910

New York and Boston, early 20th century

“Miss Gunton of Poughkeepsie”, "The Velvet Glove", “Broken Wings”, “The Papers”

Lahiri, Jhumpa Interpreter of Maladies

Indian-American stories "A Temporary Matter," "A Real Durwan"

Lahiri, Jhumpa Unaccustomed EarthIndian

American stories. Immigrant stories.

“Hema and Kaushik”, "Unaccustomed Earth", “Going Ashore””

LeGuin, Ursula Searoad : chronicles of Klatsand

Pacific Northwest. Psychological fiction

LeGuin, Ursula The Wind's Twelve Quarters

Science Fiction. Fantasy Fiction

“April in Paris”, “Winter's King”, “Vaster than empires and more slow”

London, Jack Northland Stories

American. Stories about Klondike Gold Rush, Alaskan winters, miners, immigrants, Mexican Revolutionaries, and the mentally ill.

“The White Silence”, The Some of the Wolf”, “Where the Trail Forks”

Selected Short Story Suggestions Thompson Rivers University Library ESAL

4 Updated February 2012

Malouf, David Dream Stuff: Stories

Australian. Role of family, memory, exile, and chance in the lives of ordinary people.

“Lone Pine”, “Blacksoil County”, “At Schindler’s”

Mansfield, Katherine The Garden Party: and Other Stories

New Zealand/Europe. Psychological drama. Early 20th century. Coming-of-age stories

"The Modern Soul," "A Dill Pickle," "Weak Heart."

Munro, Alice Too Much Happiness Canadian. Contemporary. Psychological, haunting.

“Dimensions," “Wenlock Edge,” "Child's Play"

Munro, Alice. Dance of the Happy Shades

Fifteen stories about life in rural Ontario deal with adolescence, loneliness, broken hearts, an abandoned wife, family relations, blind dates, and an aspiring writer.

"Boys and Girls," "Red Dress"

Munro, Alice The View From Castle Rock

A compilation of short fiction journeys from the Scotland of the author's own family heritage and a ship en route to the New World, to a family odyssey from Illinois to Canada and in and around Lake Huron.

Oates, Joyce Carol Where is here?: Stories

Tightly focused narratives charged with tension, menace, and the shock of the unexpected.

“Insomnia”, “The Ice Pick”, “Angry”, “Running”

O'Connor, Flannery The Complete Stories Southern America. 1950s. Dark. Disturbing.

Wildcat," "A Stroke of Good Fortune," "A Late Encounter with the Enemy," "Greenfleaf," "The Life You Save May Be Your Own"

Parker, Dorothy The Complete Stories Darkly humorous. Witty. Commentary on everyday life

“Big Blonde”, “Advice to the Little Peyton Girl”, “The Cradle of Civilization”, “Oh! He's Charming!”

Selected Short Story Suggestions Thompson Rivers University Library ESAL

5 Updated February 2012

Poe, Edgar Allan Thirty-two Stories American. Horror/creepy.

“The Balloon-Hoax”, “Eleonora”, “Ligeia”, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, “The Purloined Letter”

Proulx, Annie Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories

Downtrodden country folk

“Bowl”, “Testimony of the Donkey”, . “Family Man,” “I've Always Loved This Place,” “Swamp Mischief”

Salinger, J.D. Nine Stories American. 1950s. "For Esme- With Love and Squalor," "A Perfect Day for Bananafish"

Steinbeck, John The Long Valley American. 1930s-1960s. "The Murder," "The Chrysanthemums," "Flight"

Updike, John My Father's Tears and Other Stories

A collection of short fiction includes tales set in the author's native Pennsylvania, the New England suburbs, and foreign countries, all depicting different facets of the American experience from the Depression through the aftermath of 9/11.

“My Father's Tears”, “The Accelerating Expansion of the Universe”, “The Laughter of the Gods”

Vonnegut, Kurt Welcome to the Monkey House

American. Satire. Science Fiction. Darkly Humerous.

"All the King's Horses"

Walker, Alice The Way Forward is with a Broken Heart

African-American. Southern. Civil Rights Movement. Part memoir, part fiction

"To My Young Husband"

Welty, Eudora The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty

American. Southern. Tranquil view of the southern U.S.A. Small town life.

"Death of a Traveling Salesman"

Various Authors - Canadian

Writing without direction : 10 1/2 short stories by Canadian authors under 30

“Housecleaning” by KSA Brazier-Tompkins, “30 ways to die” by Ashley Little”, “The embalmer's heart” by Sandy

Selected Short Story Suggestions Thompson Rivers University Library ESAL

6 Updated February 2012

Various Authors – Canadian

Distant early warnings : Canada's best science fiction

Collected here are the best recent works by Hugo Award winners Spider Robinson, Robert J. Sawyer, and Robert Charles Wilson, Hugo nominees Paddy Forde, James Alan Gardner, Nalo Hopkinson, and Peter Watts, and Aurora Award winners Julie E. Czerneda and Karl Schroeder

In Spirit by Paddy Forde The Ray-Gun: A Love Story by James Alan Gardner Bubbles and Boxes by Julie E. Czerneda Shed Skin by Robert J. Sawyer Halo by Karl Schroeder The Eyes of God by Peter Watts You Don’t Know My Heart by Spider Robinson A Raggy Dog, a Shaggy Dog by Nalo Hopkinson The Cartesian Theatre by Robert Charles Wilson

Various Aboriginal Authors

Zaagidiwin is a many splendoured thing : love, laughter & learning stories from Aboriginal writers

Zaagidiwin is an Ojibwe word that loosely translates as love. The authors tackled the issue of love in this collection that draws on First Nations and Metis traditions and brings these personal stories of love and loss to literacy audiences. Caution: mature themes and content.

Authors: Wilson, Lisa. Hayden-Taylor, Drew. Kolson, Bren. Dimaline, Cherie. Toulouse, Colleen. Daybutch, Damian. Nowgabow, Julian. Whitehead, Louis. Richmond-Saravia, Michelle. Johnson, Nancy. Sinclair, Thomas. Waubgeshig, Rice. George, E. Priscilla.