Featured Stories

What I Have Been Doing Lately

What I Have Been Doing Lately: Short story by Jamaica KincaidThis circular narrative by Jamaica Kincaid takes the form of a dream in which the narrator, woken by her doorbell and finding no one there, embarks upon a surreal journey. An interesting aspect of the story is that although delivered in the first person, the narrator’s identity is neither given nor defined. When asked the titular question by an unknown woman, she gives a slightly different version of the journey so far, suggesting either personal growth (greater awareness), or that she has experienced multiple iterations of the journey. Themes include reality vs. fantasy, loss and longing, motherhood, personal growth, identity.

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Boys and Girls

Boys and Girls: Short story by Alice MunroThe major themes of this story by Alice Munro are coming of age and gender roles. Set on a Canadian fox farm, a young tomboy prefers to spend her time outdoors with her father rather than indoors helping her mother. When she overhears her mother talking about how happy she will be when the girl is older and can help more around the house, she feels betrayed. Her outlook slowly changes as she gets older, culminating in a rebellious act that her father dismisses with the words She’s only a girl. Other themes: family relationships, loss of innocence, self-awareness.

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The Color Master

The Color Master: Short story by Aimee BenderIn this folktale-like story by Aimee Bender, a group of artisans skilled in making fine clothing and footwear receive several difficult commissions from a king. The story is a loosely based prequel to the fairy tale Donkey Skin, in which a princess demands three dresses of seemingly impossible color (the sky, the moon and the sun) to avoid having to marry her father. In the process of directing the work, the dying Color Master anoints a successor and, in instructing her to put anger into the creations, saves the princess. Themes include artisanship, succession, faith, unnatural love (incest).

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Leaving the Yellow House

Leaving the Yellow House: Short story by Saul BellowIn this depressing but captivating story by Saul Bellow, a seventy-two-year-old woman reviews her life of lost opportunities after an accident threatens her ability to live independently in her off-the-grid Yellow House. A heavy drinker, she is portrayed as irresponsible, selfish, brash and demanding. With no close relatives and the six other eccentric white people in her isolated desert community tolerating rather than befriending her, she has no one to turn to and, more importantly, nobody “good enough” to bequeath her only treasure (the house) to. Themes include poverty, aging and death, identity, self-deception, alienation and isolation, disconnection, alcohol abuse.

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The Last Question

The Last Question: Short story by Isaac AsimovIn commenting on this story, Isaac Asimov once wrote: This is by far my favorite story of all those I have written. After all, I undertook to tell several trillion years of human history in the space of a short story…. I also undertook another task, but I won’t tell you what that was lest I spoil the story for you. Although there is very little character development or action, the ending is so powerful that almost everyone who reads it remembers it. Themes include technological change, the search for knowledge, entropy and the fate of mankind, religion (omniscience, creation).

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Adam and Eve and Pinch Me

Adam and Eve and Pinch Me: Short story by A. E. CoppardIn one of A. E. Coppard’s more enigmatic stories, a confused man finds himself unable to open the doors in his house or communicate with his three children or servants. The inference is that he is dead and doesn’t know it. Relief comes when he awakens from a daydream with his wife beside him. However, he has a different identity and the third child featured in the dream, who had special powers, has not yet been born. Themes include the convergence of reality and fantasy, death, family, frustration, anger, precognition, identity.

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Baby H.P.

Baby H.P.: Short story by Juan José ArreolaThis satirical “story” by Juan José Arreola is in the form of an advertisement targeting 1940s housewives. It promotes a light metal exoskeleton which, when attached to a child’s body by means of comfortable belts, bracelets, rings, and brooches, transforms the energy of its movements into stored electricity. The story can be looked at on several levels: as a critique of the emerging consumer society (increasing use of household gadgets); as an attack on commercialism (impacting children’s lives for profit); and as a warning of the potential dehumanizing effects of technology. Themes include absurdity, consumerism, child exploitation, misuse of technology.

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The Parsley Garden

The Parsley Garden: Short story by William SaroyanIn this coming-of-age story by William Saroya, an eleven-year-old boy is caught stealing a hammer from a department store. Rather than calling the police, the store manager lets him off with a warning. The boy spends the rest of the day plotting how to get the hammer back and respond to what he considers “humiliating” treatment. The confusion in his mind is contrasted with the peace and tranquillity of his mother’s “parsley garden”, where everything is free for the taking. Themes include temptation, choices and consequences, shame/humiliation, anger, redemption, self-image.

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