Please help me remember the title and author of a short story I read maybe 15 years ago. A handicapped woman, living with her sister and her sister's family, sees a man in church she feels quite sure is the devil. In order to get away from him, she struggles to regain the physical independence she had given up. (She had gone into a wheelchair because walking was possible, but too painful.) She does manage to become self-sufficient enough to move out on her own--and then wonders if it was worth it, after all. I am almost sure the author was Italian. Can anyone help?
posted by uans on Nov 16, 2009 - 0 answers

Name this short story about an immigrant student working as a babysitter for an American professor. [more inside]
posted by Bizurke on Sep 9, 2009 - 3 answers

I'm looking for the title of a French short story, in which a father kills his son. [more inside]
posted by Isingthebodyelectric on Jan 29, 2009 - 5 answers

Short Story Askme: I read a short dystopian story many years ago set in a run-down, post apocalyptic future. A queue of people line up on a street to spit at a painting. The painting represents all the problems of the past. It is implied that the painting is The Mona Lisa. What is the story?
posted by bollockovnikov on Sep 25, 2008 - 2 answers

What are some good short stories in which time passes extremely quickly? [more inside]
posted by whir on Sep 1, 2008 - 12 answers

Help me remember the name of this short story about a draft dodger in Vietnam. [more inside]
posted by BusyBusyBusy on May 15, 2008 - 8 answers

Looking for a science fiction short story I read years ago. [more inside]
posted by gerryblog on Feb 24, 2008 - 11 answers

Help me identify this short story! It is a story told from the perspective of an infant as he is free-falling through the garbage chute of a multi-level housing complex after being discarded by his teenage mother. The story is divided into nine parts, with each part signifying the baby's arrival at each floor until he finally reaches the trash compactor at the ground level. [more inside]
posted by sansgras on Jan 16, 2008 - 4 answers

What is the name of this short story that I am thinking of? [more inside]
posted by jModug on Jan 6, 2008 - 6 answers

Short Story Filter: I'm trying to track down a wonderful short story I read maybe 15 years ago. It focuses on a couple struggling with a dysfunctional marital and/or sexual relationship. The story is set somewhere in a snowy/icy climate, and the central conceit of the story is that the husband needs to free their car which is stuck in the snow. As the story unfolds, the author describes the back-and-forth rocking of the car as he slams it from "drive" into "reverse" and back again, and it becomes clear that the movement of the car is a powerful sexual metaphor. Finally the car rolls free and the dramatic release seems to provide hope for the relationship. Does this sound familiar to anybody? I thought the title of the story was "Unstuck," but Googling has led me nowhere.
posted by AngerBoy on Dec 11, 2007 - 5 answers

Do you recognize this short story, possibly written by David Mamet? A Japanese couple scrimps and saves so they can incrementally improve their lives, and they go to a shopping mall/set of stores for fun, where they purchase candies/cookies that look like 1000 or 10000 or 1000000 yen. (More inside.) [more inside]
posted by Slap Factory on Jun 20, 2007 - 5 answers

ScienceFictionfilter: Suggestions for gift subscriptions of science fiction magazines, journals printed in English and dead tree format [more inside]
posted by jadepearl on Jun 18, 2007 - 10 answers

ShortStoryFilter: Looking for a short story where Americans go on vacation and get killed. [more inside]
posted by mwang1028 on May 6, 2007 - 3 answers

I remember a friend of mine telling me about a short story/novel/novella about a baseball pitcher whose pitched balls disappeared after leaving his hand, only to reappear in a totally different place and kill someone. There's [more inside]
posted by reenum on Nov 22, 2006 - 9 answers

The Postal Service song "We Will Become Silhouettes" reminds me of a short story (or maybe poem?) I read in high school, but I can't remember the name or author for the life of me. I believe the action centered around an automated house going through its daily routine after the inhabitants had been vaporized on its side. There was also something about birds singing... I think. Any ideas?
posted by pokermonk on Oct 12, 2006 - 12 answers

Short story filter--does anyone know the title and author of a short story that's written entirely in the form of personal checks? The idea of the whole thing is to kind of read between the lines and figure out what is going on by who the person is writing checks to, for what amount, what's in the memo line, etc. A teacher friend would like to know. I remember seeing this but have no idea where to look. Thanks!
posted by printchick on Jul 24, 2006 - 15 answers

Has anyone written and published very brief, dense prose works akin to Borges' ficciones, and are they any good? [more inside]
posted by jack_mo on May 16, 2006 - 17 answers

Can you name short stories, preferably from the classics, about a birthday? [more inside]
posted by dov on Apr 13, 2006 - 5 answers

SciFi Filter: Help me find a short story that fits my oh-so-exacting criteria... [more inside]
posted by featherboa on Mar 6, 2006 - 14 answers

StoryFinderFilter: Please help me find a short story that describes the homecoming of an older Shakespeare to Anne Hathaway's house. Only Shakespeare isn't Shakespeare, and the wife notices . . . [more inside]
posted by amber_dale on May 9, 2005 - 2 answers

What with the Archbishop of Canterbury on the point of being vanquished by plain old Doubt (not that it was much of a contest in Rowan Williams's case) I was reminded of a drama I once read as a book and later saw as a TV screenplay. An abbot of a particular monastery has secretly lost his faith, and so does not wish to lead the brothers in prayer; he always gets someone else to do this, to avoid a personal spiritual crisis caused by having to pray publicly to, as he sees it, nothing. The Catholic hierarchy of that future time, unbeknownst to him, has become entirely atheist. An agent of the curia is sent to force the abbot to the point of a self-destroying confrontation with his unbelief. The agent achieves this by manipulating him into a situation where he can't avoid being the one to lead the assembled brothers in a public prayer.

Can anyone tell me what this thing is that I remember? Title and author are entirely gone. Thanks!
posted by jfuller on Jan 6, 2005 - 4 answers