I'm looking for very very short stories to print and give as presents for Christmas

December 11, 2012 8:40 AM

For Christmas I would like to print stories and make books I’ll bind myself and give as presents. I know about bookbinding and I use InDesign everyday. What I need is the content : can you please point me towards great *very* short stories, fictionnal or real?

Right now I’m thinking of :

- Auggie Wren’s christmas story by Paul Auster

- an article about “littlest Jedi” and how the blogosphere united to support her (example of article here)

- David Foster Wallace commencement speech to the graduates of Kenyon College in 2005

- The laugher written by Heinrich Böll

The commmon denominator of the four -very different- examples above is they are moving and thought-provoking.
What I’m looking for, in addition to be moving and thought-provking : stories that are fun, uplifting, weird, deep, that depicts awesome attitudes or awesome people wanting to make the world a better place, etc. and they must be very short.

What I’m not interested in : stories that are too cynical or don’t end well (it’s Christmas!)

Thank you in advance Mefites! I'm looking foward to reading all your suggestions.

posted by mugitusqueboom to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

Best answer: I am a fan of Donald Barthelme and have been collecting his stories online for a decade. He has a few that I think would work for you and might be fun (self-links, sorry!). I'd suggest, notably....

- languishing half-deep in summer... (absurdist)
- The first thing the baby did wrong (funny if you like that sort of thing, some might not)
- The Great Hug (sort of between the first two)

I am also a big fan of some of Richard Brautigan's stories and I think Complicated Banking Problems would fit your bill or Perfect California Day.
posted by jessamyn at 8:55 AM on December 11, 2012

Would you consider compiling some poetry? Not a recommendation for a specific story, I know (sorry!), but if you enjoy the genre then it would definitely help you control the length of your binding projects. I understand the need for brevity because I once undertook a large project to bind a book I had made (an illustration of a lengthy song), and the binding was grueling. Lovely idea for a gift, by the way.
posted by Temeraria at 9:27 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Fredric Brown is known for his short stories like this one.
posted by Sophont at 10:23 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Mark Twain is good for this stuff--he has lots of very short stories. And, y'know, he's Mark Twain. A favorite of mine (is 18 pages too long?) is Eve's Diary. Twain being Twain, it is of course very funny, but also extremely touching.
posted by Skot at 11:06 AM on December 11, 2012

Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl."
posted by dlugoczaj at 11:58 AM on December 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you everybody for your suggestions! @ Temeraria : the people who'll get the books aren't very fond of poetry... that's a shame, your idea is great! :)
posted by mugitusqueboom at 9:57 AM on December 12, 2012