Featured Stories

Someone to Talk To

Someone to Talk To: Short story by Deborah EisenbergThe major theme of this story by Deborah Eisenberg is the need to be heard. A once up-and-coming concert pianist struggles to deal with a stalled career and failed relationship. Potential salvation arrives with an invitation to perform in an unnamed Latin American Country. Patronizing treatment by the concert’s upper-class organizers, a walk through poorer neighborhoods, and the inane behavior of an English radio journalist, emphasize the importance for people of all persuasions to not only speak out, but also be heard and understood. Other themes: loneliness, alienation, elitism, class, poverty, oppression, indifference to the suffering of others.

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The War Prayer

War Prayer: Short story by Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain)Following Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine, it seems appropriate to feature one of literature’s most famous “anti-war” stories. Written in 1905, this narrative essay by Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) is a condemnation of the American imperialist agenda that led to the Spanish and Filipino-American Wars. With his usual sarcasm and wit, Twain brushes aside patriotic bravado and poignantly focuses on the suffering of combatants and civilians on both sides. Themes: patriotism, the horrors of war, the connection between the church (religion) and war, the selfish one-sidedness of war prayers vs. the universality of God.

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A Nurse’s Story

A Nurse's Story: Short story by Peter BaidaInterwoven in this tale by Peter Baida are the story of the life and death of a nurse of forty years, her town, the nursing profession, worker’s rights, and 1960s activism. As the woman looks back at her life, she tries to encourage a new nurse in the geriatric facility in which she is staying to stand up for her right to fair wages. In doing this, she recounts her experience in helping to unionize the hospital in which she had worked. Themes include love, family, dying with dignity, worker’s rights, activism, memories.

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A Shinagawa Monkey / Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey

A Shinagawa Monkey / Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey: Short stories by Haruki MurakamiLast year (2020) Haruki Murakami released Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey, a sequel to his 2006 story, A Shinagawa Monkey. Both deal with a talking monkey who steals items showing the names of women to whom he is attracted. By concentrating on these, he absorbs aspects of the women’s identity. Although this satisfies the Monkey’s desires towards the women, it causes them to forget their names. The monkey is a symbol for all the lonely, often overlooked people in society whose circumstances make it difficult to find love. Other themes: envy; suicide; confronting and sharing concerns; reaching out for help.

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The Signal-man

The Signal-man: Short story by Charles DickensMany Charles Dickens stories feature ghosts. Part of the attraction of The Signal-man is that, although generally considered one of these, there is no hard evidence of a ghost. Dickens masterfully uses setting to create a forbidding, unearthly atmosphere, and then leaves the question of the ghost to the reader. Like all first-person stories, the narrator’s version is open to misinterpretation and bias. The only evidence of the supernatural are the ghostly sightings described by the (now dead) signal-man, and some (potentially coincidental) shared expressions and gestures. Themes: duty & responsibility, fate, isolation, guilt, sanity, the supernatural.

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Barney

Barney: Short story by Will StantonIt is hard to write an introduction to this Will Stanton story without giving the ending away. Like another of our featured stories, Flowers for Algernon, the plot involves a scientist conducting a bizarre experiment to increase the intelligence of a very special rat (in this case Barney). The major theme is the potential catastrophic effect of poorly controlled scientific experiments. Because Barney is humanized a little more than Algernon (he enjoys flipping through books in the library as opposed to simply running through mazes), a secondary theme is the ethics of animal testing. Other themes: deception, narrow-mindedness, revenge.

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The Man with the Light

The Man with the Light: Short story by José Eduardo AgualusaIn this story by José Eduardo Agualusa, an itinerant Russian has been traveling remote areas of Angola for over forty years, entertaining villagers with a pedal-powered projector and old films. During one of the country’s many civil wars, his Russian heritage brings him to the attention of authorities. From a hiding place, he watches in horror as the soldiers sent to find him savagely beat and rape innocent bystanders. He talks his way out of arrest, but loses his treasured projector. In desperation, he turns to “James Dean” for help. Themes include aging, brutality, fear, abuse of power, despair.

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Elbow Room

Elbow Room: Short story by James Alan McPhersonThis metafictional story by James Alan McPherson is an account by an unidentified black writer of his relationship with a young multiracial couple in the late 1960s. Interspersed with the narrative are questions and observations from either his editor or himself. The intense husband struggles with his identity (both his “whiteness” and place in the world). His protective black wife, who has travelled extensively with the Peace Corps, is comfortable in hers. While the parents on both sides initially opposed the union, a baby brings them onside. Themes include race and racism, loss of innocence, identity and self-awareness, storytelling.

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