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Fiction » Short Stories

Browse book recommendations:

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We have a number of interviews dedicated to short stories, but beyond that many of our interviewees have recommended them among their book choices.  Two of our short story interviews are dedicated to Russian literature; Rosamund Bartlett recommends the best Russian short stories and Robert Chandler the best tales from Soviet Russia, and you can also find the stories of Vladimir Nabokov here.

Among collections by US writers, we have Up in the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell, mainly focused on New York City and All the Days and Nights by William Maxwell, whose stories are more focused on the Midwest.  American-Arab author and artist Etel Adnan covers life in the US, Paris and Beirut in her short story collection, Master of the Eclipse. Maxim D Shrayer’s Yom Kippur in Amsterdam can be found here.

We also have collections from Korea by D Lee, Call to Arms by the Chinese writer Lu Xun, from Burma in Inked Over, Ripped Out and a collection of writings by Arab women authors, Opening the Gates. Selected short stories by Rabindranath Tagore can be found here. From Africa we have House of Hunger, a collection by the Zimbabwean author, Dambudzo Marechera, The Will to Die  by South African Can Themba, and  The Thing Around Your Neck by the Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Among Western European authors, we have The Periodic Table by Primo Levi and Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino, The Complete Short Stories of Oscar Wilde, Burning Your Boats by Angela Carter and The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy by Tim Burton.  We have two collections in Spanish, Short Stories in Spanish for Beginners, selected by Olly Richards and Short Stories in Spanish in the  Penguin parallel text series, selected by John L King.

The author Sophie King tells you how to do it in her book, How To Write Short Stories for Magazines.

For something a bit longer, we also have a list of short books you can read in a day.

    The Best Russian Short Stories, recommended by Rosamund Bartlett

  • Read
    The Best Russian Short Stories - The Queen of Spades and Other Stories by Alexander Pushkin

    1

    The Queen of Spades and Other Stories
    by Alexander Pushkin

  • Read
    The Best Russian Short Stories - Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Nikolai Leskov

    2

    Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
    by Nikolai Leskov

  • Read
    The Best Russian Short Stories - Master and Man and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy

    3

    Master and Man and Other Stories
    by Leo Tolstoy

  • Read
    The Best Russian Short Stories - About Love and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov

    4

    About Love and Other Stories
    by Anton Chekhov

  • Read
    The Best Russian Short Stories - The Complete Works of Isaac Babel by Isaac Babel

    5

    The Complete Works of Isaac Babel
    by Isaac Babel

  • The Best Russian Short Stories - The Queen of Spades and Other Stories by Alexander Pushkin
  • The Best Russian Short Stories - Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Nikolai Leskov
  • The Best Russian Short Stories - Master and Man and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy
  • The Best Russian Short Stories - About Love and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov
  • The Best Russian Short Stories - The Complete Works of Isaac Babel by Isaac Babel

The Best Russian Short Stories, recommended by Rosamund Bartlett

In Russia, it’s often fallen to writers to challenge conventions and speak the truth, says the translator and biographer Rosamund Bartlett. She makes a personal selection of some of the most exhilarating Russian short fiction.

The Best Russian Short Stories, recommended by Rosamund Bartlett

    Jim Shepard recommends his favourite Short Stories

  • Read
    Jim Shepard recommends his favourite Short Stories - Matters of Life and Death by Tobias Wolff (editor)

    1

    Matters of Life and Death
    by Tobias Wolff (editor)

  • Read
    Jim Shepard recommends his favourite Short Stories - Collected Stories by Amy Hempel

    2

    Collected Stories
    by Amy Hempel

  • Read
    Jim Shepard recommends his favourite Short Stories - Bear and His Daughter by Robert Stone

    3

    Bear and His Daughter
    by Robert Stone

  • Read
    Jim Shepard recommends his favourite Short Stories - Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson

    4

    Jesus’ Son
    by Denis Johnson

  • Read
    Jim Shepard recommends his favourite Short Stories - American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell

    5

    American Salvage
    by Bonnie Jo Campbell

  • Jim Shepard recommends his favourite Short Stories - Matters of Life and Death by Tobias Wolff (editor)
  • Jim Shepard recommends his favourite Short Stories - Collected Stories by Amy Hempel
  • Jim Shepard recommends his favourite Short Stories - Bear and His Daughter by Robert Stone
  • Jim Shepard recommends his favourite Short Stories - Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson
  • Jim Shepard recommends his favourite Short Stories - American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell

Jim Shepard recommends his favourite Short Stories

The American writer shares his favourite collections, and tells us why short stories are like guerrilla warfare and perfect for the Twitter generation.

Jim Shepard recommends his favourite Short Stories

    The Best Tales of Soviet Russia, recommended by Robert Chandler

  • Read
    The Best Tales of Soviet Russia - The Russian Countess by Edith Sollohub

    1

    The Russian Countess
    by Edith Sollohub

  • Read
    The Best Tales of Soviet Russia - The Road by Vasily Grossman

    2

    The Road
    by Vasily Grossman

  • Read
    The Best Tales of Soviet Russia - The Russian Word’s Worth by Michele A Berdy

    3

    The Russian Word’s Worth
    by Michele A Berdy

  • Read
    The Best Tales of Soviet Russia - The Foundation Pit by Andrey Platonov & Robert Chandler (translator)

    4

    The Foundation Pit
    by Andrey Platonov & Robert Chandler (translator)

  • Read
    The Best Tales of Soviet Russia - Black Earth City by Charlotte Hobson

    5

    Black Earth City
    by Charlotte Hobson

  • The Best Tales of Soviet Russia - The Russian Countess by Edith Sollohub
  • The Best Tales of Soviet Russia - The Road by Vasily Grossman
  • The Best Tales of Soviet Russia - The Russian Word’s Worth by Michele A Berdy
  • The Best Tales of Soviet Russia - The Foundation Pit by Andrey Platonov & Robert Chandler (translator)
  • The Best Tales of Soviet Russia - Black Earth City by Charlotte Hobson

The Best Tales of Soviet Russia, recommended by Robert Chandler

Robert Chandler, one of the best known translators of Russian literature, recommends some of his favourite tales of Soviet Russia. There’s the one about a dog in space and the one about the Soviet café which stocked nothing but champagne and Mars bars…

The Best Tales of Soviet Russia, recommended by Robert Chandler

About

We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand seven hundred interviews, or eight thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

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