Featured Stories

In Search of Epifano

In Search of Epifano: Short story by Rudolfo AnayaIn this story by Rudolfo Anaya, an eighty-year-old woman leaves her loveless marriage and unfulfilling life in California behind to follow her passion (painting) and search for her familial, ethnic and spiritual roots in the Mexican desert. She journeys to the abandoned ranch of her great-grandfather Epifano, who she believes is calling her in her dreams. As she overlooks the ruins of his hacienda, a tall Indian with Epifano’s eyes guides her through an ancient ceremony in which her moan of love is like a new life as a blinding flash fills her body. Themes include heritage, identity, emptiness, epiphany.

Continue ReadingIn Search of Epifano

The Mesmerizer

The Mesmerizer: Short story by Mark TwainIn this story taken from the Autobiography of Mark Twain, the author reminisces about a childhood prank that still haunts him in adult life. When a traveling mesmerizer (hypnotist) came to town, young Twain volunteered as a subject to show off before the public … and make the people laugh and shout and admire. His performance was so convincing that he fooled everyone in town. Later in life he comes to regret the deception, but learns that it can sometimes prove very difficult to undo a lie. Themes include showmanship, deception, the temporary nature of fame, cruelty, gullibility.

Continue ReadingThe Mesmerizer

Kew Gardens

Kew Gardens: Short story by Virginia WoolfRather than a unified plot, this Virginia Woolf story describes a series of unrelated events over a few minutes of time. A married couple exchange memories of earlier visits to the gardens; an eccentric old man accompanied by a carer talks nonsense to the flowers; two elderly women break into their small talk to gossip about the old man; an infatuated young couple create their own memories for later visits; a purposeful snail decides on the best path to its destination. Themes: peace and beauty amid turmoil, isolation, memories, regret, aging, romance, gender roles, aimlessness vs. focus and determination.

Continue ReadingKew Gardens

Young Goodman Brown

Young Goodman Brown: Short story by Nathaniel HawthorneIn this story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a pious young Puritan named Goodman Brown travels into the forest one night to prove that he can resist evil. There he meets a man implied to be the devil, who demonstrates that most of his townspeople, including his wife Faith, embrace witchcraft. Thanks to Brown’s belief in his moral superiority, he accepts everything he sees without question. He fails to appreciate that the visions may have been a dream, contrived by the devil as a way of deceiving him. Themes: temptation (good vs. evil), dreams vs. reality, deceit, paranoia, loss of faith, alienation.

Continue ReadingYoung Goodman Brown

The End of the World

The End of the World: Short story by Dino BuzzatiThis story by Dino Buzzati is a satire of false piety. The fist of God appears in the sky, signaling the end of the world. Two friars, happy to have been proven right, laugh and make fun of the panicking crowds. The rich buy up the services of most available confessors, while charlatans pretending to be priests do house-calls to hear confessions from those who can afford it. A young priest cornered by a crowd mechanically takes confession after confession, before damning them all to hell for cheating him of his own salvation. Themes include piety, Armageddon, fear, greed, hypocrisy.

Continue ReadingThe End of the World

The Purloined Letter

The Purloined Letter: Short story by Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe is famous for his horror stories. However, only about fifteen of his sixty or so stories are of this kind.He is also widely recognized as the “father” of modern detective fiction thanks to his three tales featuring the Chevalier [Sir] Auguste Dupin. In a manner later emulated by the likes of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, Dupin succeeds where eminent policemen fail… in this case, simply by recognizing that the best place to hide something important is in plain sight. Themes: blackmail, political manipulation, deception, linear (scientific) vs. lateral thinking.

Continue ReadingThe Purloined Letter

A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune

A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune: Short story by Chris CrutcherAngus, Chris Crutcher’s self-proclaimed fat kid with perverted parents, suffers major self-image problems. Constantly ridiculed for his size and unusual family, he is nevertheless surprisingly agile and a defensive force to be reckoned with on the school football team. A prank sees him voted the school Senior Winter Ball King. His “Queen” is the long-term girl of his dreams, who he has always considered out of his league. She arrives with one of the most popular boys at school but, after sharing a secret with Angus, they connect and leave together. Themes: body shaming, prejudice, bullying, self-image, courage, acceptance, homosexuality.

Continue ReadingA Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune

A Clean Well-Lighted Place

A Clean Well-lighted Place: Short story by Ernest HemingwayThis story by Ernest Hemingway takes place in a cafe. Two waiters (one young, the other middle-aged) talk about an old man sitting alone at one of the tables. A line from each waiter exemplifies three major themes. From the young waiter: I wouldn’t want to be that old. An old man is a nasty thing. (attitudes towards the aged). From the older waiter: It [life] was all a nothing and a man was a nothing too. (emptiness and despair). Other themes include aging and death, gender stereotyping, and the fact that money doesn’t buy happiness.

Continue ReadingA Clean Well-Lighted Place