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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

Some Other Stories You May Like

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  • Terrapin

    Short Story by Patricia Highsmith. When a controlling mother brings home a terrapin (turtle) to cook for a special dinner, her eleven-year-old son mistakes it for a pet. The terrapin’s seemingly agonising death in boiling water, including a perceived cry for help, triggers a terrifying response.

  • The 400-Pound CEO

    Short Story by George Saunders. A dark comedy in which a 400-pound man remains calm and optimistic about the future despite the indignation of being stuck in an unrewarding, distasteful job and suffering constant humiliation from colleagues. Things change when “a lifetime of scorn” boils over and he commits murder.

  • The Tenant

    Short Story by Bharati Mukherjee. A young Indian-American college professor struggles to make a new life after a series of “indiscretions”. She has sullied her reputation among her Brahman caste by marrying and later being left by an American graduate student, and compensated for the loss and shame through promiscuity.

  • Anandi

    Short Story by Ghulam Abbas. Concerned about the appearance of prostitutes plying their trade, a Pakistani city’s authorities banish them to empty land twelve miles out of town. A small marketplace develops around them, and the process repeats itself when the outpost grows into a thriving new city.

  • Paul’s Case

    Novelette by Willa Cather. A misunderstood, alienated boy is experiencing problems in both his school and home lives. When forced to leave school and give up the only two things that mean anything to him, he decides on drastic action (or is it all a daydream?).

  • The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky

    Short Story by Stephen Crane. A small-town Marshall's return from a city visit with a new wife is a symbol of the beginning of the end for America's 'Wild West'. The instrument of change is the railroad, which brings ‘Eastern’ ways to previously isolated communities.

  • The King of Jazz

    Short Story by Donald Barthelme. A satirical account of the American jazz scene. Targets include fickle music critics and their flowery and often meaningless language, the ‘cutting contests’ once used to judge musicians against one another, and the notion that American musicians are the preeminent force in world jazz.

  • This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen

    Short Story by Tadeusz Borowski. This almost clinical account of the author’s holocaust experiences explores an often overlooked aspect of the so-called “final solution”: how general prisoners forced to assist in sending the condemned to gas chambers became so desensitized to the brutality that many actively participated in it.

  • The Gift of the Magi

    Short Story by O. Henry. A poor couple each sell their most valuable possession in order to buy a Christmas present that they feel is good enough for the one they love. The irony is that neither can use the precious gift the other has bought them.

  • Swaddling Clothes

    Short Story by Yukio Mishima. The callous swaddling of an illegitimate baby in newspaper and protagonist Toshiko’s conviction that it is destined to grow up a poverty-stricken criminal underlines Japan’s rigid class structure. Shortly afterwards, while taking a walk alone one night, she comes face to face with her prophesy.

  • Usher II

    Short Story by Ray Bradbury. A book-lover, angry about destruction of his extensive library due to fantasy and horror story censorship on Earth, builds a look-alike version of Edgar Allan Poe’s House of Usher on Mars. He invites prominent book-banners to a party, where they meet different Poe-inspired ends.

  • The Gold-legged Frog

    Short Story by Lao Khamhom. A Thai farmer must leave his dying son in the hands of faith-healers and herbalists to grovel in front of local officials for a 200 baht government handout. He gets the money but, contrary to what other villagers say, it’s not his lucky day.

  • Kissy Face

    Grade 3-4 Story by Nancy Jean Northcutt. A young boy doesn’t like being kissed by his fussy extended family, partly because of the hurtful teasing by best friend Ben. One day, he receives a pleasant surprise. Although the kissing stops, the solution brings extra responsibilities.

  • Cold Spring

    Short Story by Aharon Appelfeld. At the end of World War 2, six Jews emerge from their forest hiding place and feast on food and alcohol abandoned by departing soldiers. They then join a long line of refugees, their presence among whom is met with surprise, prejudice and kindness.

  • The Harvest

    Quick Read by Tomás Rivera. An older member of a group of Mexican-American seasonal farm workers walks alone into the fields each afternoon, refusing to allow anyone to follow. He is single with no family, sparking rumors that he either is hiding his wages somewhere, or has found buried treasure.

  • Everyone Cried

    Quick Read by Lydia Davis. A bleak picture of how our lives are dominated by the little things that go wrong, and how these can lead to depression and tears. Some respite may come at the end of the day, but only if things are going well at home

  • Dusky Ruth

    Short Story by A. E. Coppard. A hiker stops for the night at a village inn. That evening, a dusky serving girl he had shared passionate embraces with invites him to her bedroom where, as she lays naked and crying beside him, he proves to be a perfect English gentleman.

  • The Man Who Was Almost a Man

    Short Story by Richard Wright. Although old enough and strong enough to do a man’s work, a seventeen-year-old’s family and co-workers treat him like a boy. He buys a gun, believing that having one will win him the respect he deserves. Instead, a wayward shot destroys his life.

  • Two Words

    Short Story by Isabel Allende. A woman whispers two secret words to a feared bandit/rebel leader who forced her to write a motivating political speech to help him become president. He becomes the favorite to win the election but, obsessed by the meaning of the words, withdraws into himself.

  • Cap O’ Rushes

    English Folktale. A rich man banishes his daughter. She makes a cloak out of rushes to hide her fine clothes and finds a job cooking and cleaning. As you might have guessed, she meets her true love at a ball and turns her bad luck into a ‘happily-ever-after’ ending.

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