Featured Stories

Foreign Shores

Foreign Shores: Short story by James SalterA feature of this story from James Salter is its ambiguity, starting with the identity of the protagonist. Is it Gloria, the young divorcee who is too caught-up in partying to take proper care of her demanding six-year-old-son? Or is it Truus, her conscientious nineteen-year-old au pair? And although Truss is certainly the erotic focus of the story, does she really develop the morals of a housefly? Alternatively, could she an exploited victim, guilty only of misguided love, or is everything an unfortunate misunderstanding? Themes: sexual grooming / exploitation, appearance, motherhood, condescension, judgmentalism, jealousy, insecurity, emptiness.

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Jacklighting

Jacklighting: Short story by Ann BeattieIn this story by Ann Beattie, a troubled couple who have travelled from New York to Virginia each year to visit a free-spirited friend and his brother on his birthday, make the trip once more on the birthday following his death. The trip is ostensibly to comfort the friend’s brother. Ironically, although each of them clearly loved the dead man and is in need of closure, they suppress their feelings and do not even talk about him. Themes include friendship, the burdens and unpredictability of life and death, death as relief from suffering, grief and mourning.

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Blacksoil Country

Blacksoil Country: Short story by David MaloufBlacksoil Country by David Malouf has major themes of struggle taming the Australian bush, tolerance of its native peoples, and perspectives on ownership and access to the land. A settler shoots an innocent Aborigine bearing a gift from a neighbor. Shortly afterwards, his twelve-year-old son is brutally murdered. This triggers a racially driven killing spree, which elevates the man from a surly loner nobody wanted to associate with to hero status. Ironically, the boy is the only “white” character to have come close to understanding Aboriginal spiritual connections to the land. Other themes: father-son relationships, loyalty, racism, violence, revenge, spirituality.

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The Shifty Lad

The Shifty Lad: Irish folktale from Andrew LangThis Irish folktale is about a boy who likes to play tricks on people and wants nothing more than to grow up to be a thief. His mother warns him that if he does become a thief he will be caught one day and hang from the Bridge of Dublin. The boy does some rather terrible things on the way to becoming the most famous thief in the country. Luckily, there is still justice in some folktales and the Shifty Lad is soon lying dead under the Bridge of Dublin… but not for the reason his mother expected.

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The Outlaws

The Outlaws: Short story by Selma LagerlöfThe story from Selma Lagerlöf involves two medieval fugitives who meet and become close friends while hiding out in the Swedish wilderness. The men differ greatly in physique, confidence, class, religious belief and the seriousness of their crimes. One has murdered a monk; the other has admitted to stealing a fishing net. The only thing they have in common is that their charges arose because of manipulating women. To his ultimate cost, the murderer tries to help the fisherman (a pagan) by teaching him the fundamentals of Christianity. Themes: living in nature, mateship, culture, betrayal, religion, repentance, ‘justice’.

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A Mystery of Heroism

A Mystery of Heroism: Short story by Stephen CraneAs the title suggests, this story from Stephen Crane explores the concept of what makes a “hero”. In trying to answer the question, the story considers issues such as recklessness vs. bravery and the danger of bravado. It also touches on perspectives of heroism. To an injured officer, the protagonist is a hero; to his fellow soldiers, he is an impetuous fool. The irony of a dropped bucket at the end of the story suggests that many acts of heroism in wartime are wasted, having no impact on the outcome. Themes: war, duty, death, bravado, pride, heroism.

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The Intoxicated Years

The Intoxicated Years: Short story by Mariana EnriquezThis story by Mariana Enriquez is set during one of Argentina’s worst economic crises. As their parents struggle for economic survival and fight their own demons, three late-teenaged girls are given almost total freedom. With no respect for adults or their conventional peers, the thoroughly dislikeable trio pursue a hedonistic, drug and alcohol fueled lifestyle. The socially detached girls pledge a bond of “sisterhood”. When a punk rocker causes one of them to distance herself, the others exact violent retribution. Themes include alienation, social isolation, alternative culture, drug dealing and abuse, betrayal, revenge.

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Because He Loved Them

Because He Loved Them: Short story by Samira AzzamThis story by Samira Azzam highlights the catastrophic effect of the 1948 creation of Israel on the half-million plus Palestinians it displaced. A man working in a government food distribution agency is wrongly suspected of embezzlement. He documents two examples of lives ruined by the partition and the story of a “sonofabithch” camp informer who profited by it, then torches a food warehouse. He believes that if his people are hungry enough they will rise up and rebel, and claims to have done this “because he loves them”. Themes include displacement, corruption, injustice, suffering, violence, betrayal, rebellion.

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