Saturday, May 25, 2013

Short stories for a long weekend


Hurry up and get your supplies today for the long weekend!  The library will be closed on Monday, May 27th in observance of Memorial Day.

Inspired by this postage stamp story, I thought I would suggest some of my favorite short reads for the long weekend ahead.

Though it appears to be entirely apocryphal, I still love the tale of how Hemingway allegedly won a bet by producing a story in 6 words: For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.  (Or something to that effect.  That’s the beauty of urban legends: they are so mutable.)  

Heckuva way to win a bar tab, sir.

Also along those lines is another favorite of mine, this time attributed to science fiction writer Frederic Brown:  The last man on earth sat alone in a room.  There was a knock on the door...


Always gives me chills, that one does.



That is the beauty of short stories, no?  They pull no punches.  They can leave the reader gasping in so few words. So here's a heap of some that have moved me in one way or another, in no particular order:


The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka







The Lottery by Shirley Jackson






The Heart of Happy Hollow
by Paul Laurence Dunbar










Welcome to the Monkeyhouse
by Kurt Vonnegut
The Works of Edgar Allen Poe

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