The Crocodile’s Lady

The Crocodile's Lady: Short story by Manoj DasLike one of our earlier Manoj Das stories, Farewell to a Ghost, this story illustrates the prevalence of superstition in traditional Indian village life. A foreign professor visits a remote village and is fascinated by the story of the Crocodile’s Lady. In appreciation for her protection, villagers take it in turns to feed and care for the now ninety-plus year-old. As a young woman, she had been carried off by a crocodile and reappeared a decade later, claiming to have fallen in love with and lived with it in the river. Themes include religious faith, the supernatural, unnatural love, loyalty.

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The Aleph

The Aleph: Short story by Jorge Luis BorgesIn a commentary on this story, Jorge Borges explained: “What eternity is to time, the Aleph is to space”. In the story, a fictionalized version of Borges maintains contact with the family of a deceased woman he once loved. He learns that her cousin, an “untalented” poet, is using an Aleph, a point in space that contains all other points, to write an epic poem versifying every place on Earth. Major Themes: the fleeting nature of memory, the limitations of language in describing infinity. Other themes: unrequited love, death, grief, the subjective nature of art.

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The Living

The Living: Short story by Mary LavinIn this story by Mary Lavin, a boy challenges a younger friend to visit a wake to “know” a corpse for the first time The dead man, who had been intellectually challenged since birth, had never had contact with children. The boys agree when his mother invites them to pray over the body, but flee when she asks them to stroke it. The encounter with death not only brings the younger boy closer to his parents but also highlights the grim significance of his family’s nightly prayer. Themes include bravado, death, family, the precious and capricious nature of life.

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Notes to My Biographer

Notes to My Biographer: Short story by Adam HaslettThe narrator of this dark comedy by Adam Haslett is a mentally ill seventy-three-year-old. The proud, delusional man won’t acknowledge the problem, refuses to take his medication, and is in severe financial difficulty. After a road trip to visit his son Graham, the only family member who will see him, he comes up with an idea for a revolutionary new bicycle that will make both of them rich. Graham, who is secretly battling the same illness as his father, is left shattered by the visit. Themes include mental illness, pride, estrangement, loneliness, obsession, paranoia, sexuality, embarrassment, fear.

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You’re Ugly, Too

You're Ugly, Too: Short story by Lorrie MooreLorrie Moore’s protagonist Zoë is a small-town college professor. She is a free-spirited, “almost pretty”, emotionally troubled woman whose efforts to forge relationships without being a “Heidi” have achieved the opposite. Her witty, cynical one-liners have alienated colleagues, students and suitors alike. Central themes are loneliness, the expectations of men, and the role of sex in relationships. An offensive, misogynistic “big city” blind date confirms her misgivings about marriage; a medical scare and consequent thoughts of death bring into focus what she sees as the futility of her life. Other themes: isolation, alienation, appearance, gender roles, mortality, nihilism.

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Menagerie, a Child’s Fable

Menagerie, a Child’s Fable: Short story by Charles JohnsonLike George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Charles Johnson’s confronting allegorical fable about animals left to fend for themselves in a locked pet shop is not for children. Some see the story as a religious allegory for the consequences (chaos and hell fire) of losing faith in God (Tilford) and listening to the devil (the monkey). Another interpretation is as a political allegory for the anarchy that can arise after a breakdown of authority and the rule of law, much like modern day (2024) Haiti. Themes include oppression, freedom and democracy, pluralism vs. racism, lawlessness and power (greed, violence, murder and rape).

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The Cat from Hell

The Cat from Hell: Short story by Stephen KingIn this story from Stephen King, an aging industrialist hires a hitman to kill an unusual target… his cat. The old man believes the cat, a stray taken in by his sister, is responsible for her death and that of two other members of his household, and fears he will be next. The hitman accepts the job and takes the cat, which was purring peacefully on his lap as they talked, away. Unfortunately for him, the tables are soon turned in a most gruesome way. Themes include appearance vs. reality, fear, animal testing and suffering, demonic retribution, the supernatural.

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In the Garden

In the Garden: Short story by Jose Dalisay, Jr.Set during the Philippine’s Marcos dictatorship, this story by Jose Dalisay Jr. takes place in the garden of an isolated one-room school. As the children tend their vegetables, a group of soldiers appears and begins to pull them out. Their orders are to take or destroy all local food sources in retaliation for the killing of one of their number. The younger children are sent home, but the oldest (a fourteen-year-old girl) is ordered to stay to “cook and do the soldier’s washing”. Bravely, the teacher insists on staying with her. Themes include innocence, oppression, intimidation, helplessness, fear, responsibility, courage.

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Only the Dead Know Brooklyn

Only the Dead Know Brooklyn: Short story by Thomas WolfeNew arrivals in a city often learn things and visit places that long-term residents don’t know about. In this humorous story from Thomas Wolfe, a stranger demonstrates this to the annoyance of the well-meaning but increasingly agitated narrator. The highly opinionated men differ over the narrator’s warnings about the dangers of the “nice sounding” Brooklyn neighborhoods the stranger has chosen for his nightly walks. To make matters worse, the stranger insists that all one needs to feel safe and get to “know” the city is a good map. Themes: connection, pride, perception, fear, curiosity.

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Sonny’s Blues

Sonny's Blues: Short story by James BaldwinThe major theme of this rather intense story from James Baldwin is that for many people, life involves a constant cycle of suffering. (I was aware that this was only a moment, that the world waited outside, as hungry as a tiger, and that trouble stretched above us, longer than the sky.) The plot explores the adult relationship between an African-American teacher and Sonny, his musically gifted estranged brother, after Sonny’s arrest and imprisonment for drug trafficking. Other themes include race and racism, substance abuse, alienation, reconciliation, family/brotherly love, and the inspirational and healing power of music.

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