Featured Stories

The Shell Collector

The Shell Collector: Short story by Anthony DoerrIn this story by Anthony Doerr, the life of a blind shell expert living alone with his dog on an island off the coast of Kenya is thrown into chaos. The aging man becomes world famous when two people suffering from malaria are cured by the venom of a deadly cone snail. Ailing people from all over the world converge on his tiny island, causing him to lose his privacy, much of his collection, the life of his son, and almost his own life. Themes include isolation, the dangers and benefits of the natural world, media power, desperation, hope.

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A Cup of Tea

A Cup of Tea: Short story by Katherine MansfieldAlthough written in a lighthearted tone, this innocently titled story from Katherine Mansfield deals with some big issues. Its major theme is the materialism, hypocrisy and vanity of the British upper class. The desire for a “cup of tea” symbolizes the one similarity (womanhood) between a young beggar and middle-aged socialite. One is poor, desperate and astonishingly pretty; the other rich, entitled and not exactly beautiful. The socialite’s reason for wanting to help the girl was to show how compassionate she is. However, she soon realizes this may highlight a less favorable difference between them. Other themes: appearance, jealousy, insecurity.

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Three Girls

Three Girls: Short story by Joyce Carol OatesIn this story by Joyce Carol Oates a woman recalls when, as a college student, she and a fellow girl-poet encountered a woman they believed to be a heavily disguised Marilyn Monroe browsing in a used bookstore. Torn between acknowledging the woman and protecting her privacy, they choose the latter. “Marilyn” gives them a book as a memento and leaves. For the girls, who are coming to grips with their sexuality and mutual attraction against social norms of the time, the shared experience triggers a first kiss. Themes include identity, gender norms, sexuality, passion, courage, stereotypes.

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How Much Land Does a Man Need?

How Much Land Does a Man Need?: Short story by Leo TolstoyIn this Leo Tolstoy story, a Russian peasant thinks to himself: Our only trouble is that we haven’t enough land. If I had a lot of land, I shouldn’t fear the Devil himself! The Devil ‘overhears’ this and puts him to the test. The more land the man gets, the more he thinks he needs. He hears of a place where for almost nothing you can buy all the land you can walk around in a day. In rushing to encircle as much land as possible, he learns the answer to the titular question. Themes: class, exploitation, temptaion, envy, avarice.

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Fish Cheeks

Fish Cheeks: Short story by Amy TanThe thesis for this narrative essay by Amy Tan is expressed in the form of a prayer: For Christmas I prayed for this blond-haired boy, Robert, and a slim new American nose. The protagonist, a fourteen–year-old girl, is uncomfortable with her Chinese looks and what others might think of her family’s Chinese ways. She is especially concerned because her would-be boyfriend Robert and his church minister father have been invited for Christmas dinner. After watching on in embarrassment as they sit through the meal of traditional Chinese delicacies, she receives some wise life advice from her mother.

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The Distant Past

The Distant Past: Short story by William TrevorIn this story by William Trevor, Irish villagers ridicule an elderly brother and sister for living in the past by clinging to their family’s long-held British allegiance. Almost forty years have passed since the Anglo-Irish War. The rest of the community, who are predominantly Republican, have moved on. That is until “The Troubles” of the late 1960s, when the other villagers’ hatred and mistrust of the British resurfaces. The once well-liked siblings find themselves ostracized, proving that the past is never far away. Themes: family loyalty and pride, isolation, tolerance, friendship, religious/political conflict, alienation, the interrelationship between past and present.

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The Blue Umbrella

The Blue Umbrella: Short story by Ruskin BondIn this story by Ruskin Bond, a poor girl from the Himalayan foothills trades her tiger’s-claw lucky charm for a magnificent, though impractical silk umbrella. She is the envy of her village, and vainly parades it everywhere she goes. The village teashop owner covets the umbrella, and tries to acquire it by fair means and foul. Ultimately, the girl and shop owner realize their mutual folly. The girl gives him the umbrella, which he shares with the whole village, and she is greatly rewarded for her kindness. Themes include innocence, beauty, vanity, envy, materialism and greed, compassion, kindness and generosity.

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Good Advice is Rarer than Rubies

Good Advice is Rarer than Rubies: Short story by Salman RushdieThis story by Salman Rushdie satirises several aspects of life in post-colonial Pakistan. When an attractive woman steps off a bus outside a British Consulate for a visa interview, wily “advice expert” Muhammad Ali sees her as any easy mark. However when they meet, he is so struck by her beauty that he offers to help for free. Muhammad is confused when the woman rejects his assistance, attends the interview, and comes back into the street very happy, having failed to get her visa. Themes: power, emigration, deception, tradition (women’s subservience, arranged marriages) and change (women’s growing independence and freedom).

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