What are the world's most acclaimed short stories? [more inside]
posted by Bleusman on Sep 20, 2009 - 66 answers

Having recently discovered Anais Nin's Delta of Venus and Little Birds, I'm looking for classy, somewhat highbrow, non-amateur, published erotic literature along the same lines. [more inside]
posted by Lush on Aug 7, 2009 - 16 answers

recommend short story collections that would be good short film fodder [more inside]
posted by timsneezed on Jun 17, 2009 - 18 answers

Looking for short story collection suggestions. [more inside]
posted by imabanana on May 18, 2009 - 23 answers

I'd like recommendations for short stories that are strange, humorous, or have a surprising twist. [more inside]
posted by Rinku on Mar 8, 2009 - 56 answers

John Updike's death reminded me that I have a book of his short stories. Which ones should I read first? [more inside]
posted by ocherdraco on Jan 30, 2009 - 9 answers

I'm looking for a short mystery stories book I read in a library. One of the stories is where a character comes up a flight of stairs and thinks he sees something (a murder?) in someone's apartment, but it's actually some kind of mirrored reflection of a mirrored reflection of someone through a window across the street. The book/collection was published before 1996 and if I remember correctly, was all short story mysteries of 5 to 20 pages.
posted by cashman on Nov 25, 2008 - 8 answers

Short Story Filter. I remember a short story that I read in a sci-fi story anthology back in the mid 90's that I haven't been able to find since. There are a group of three boys, one of them substantially younger, who play out in a big field. One of the older boys tells the younger boy, as a joke, that if you look through the hole in the middle of a stone, you can see into another world of some kind. Mysterious circumstances then occur. [more inside]
posted by lockle on Oct 23, 2008 - 2 answers

What sci-fi market might be a good match for my shorts? And, in what fashion should I attempt to sell them? [more inside]
posted by Netzapper on Aug 12, 2008 - 23 answers

What are your favorite short stories or short story collections, anthologies etc. [more inside]
posted by Salvatorparadise on May 28, 2008 - 54 answers

What's the process by which published fiction gets adapted into comic book form? [more inside]
posted by overglow on May 25, 2008 - 4 answers

It's time for another round of "Name That Book!" Looking for the title of a compilation of horror stories from the 1980s or 1990s. [more inside]
posted by bijou on Dec 1, 2007 - 7 answers

What is your favorite book or DVD series about Mexico? Particularly historical fiction or contemporary fiction. Preferably in English, but if you have a great recommendation in Spanish, I'd take that too! My grandmother thanks you! [more inside]
posted by barnone on Nov 27, 2007 - 8 answers

I'm trying to recall a science fiction time travel short story set in a Paris cafe. The story begins when one man overhears another speaking in "antique Latin." I know that's not much to go on, but I'm hoping those few facts might ring a bell for some sci-fi loving askmetafilter genius!
posted by garyduke on Jul 24, 2007 - 3 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

Help me remember the name and author of this short story. The pathetic male main character is abused and humiliated by an abusive female character (his wife, I think). The culmination involves some sort of grotesque and humiliating performance by the main character at a party, arranged by the wife. [more inside]
posted by bubukaba on Apr 9, 2007 - 12 answers

What is the name of this novel/short story? A father is speaking to his daughter (Melanie maybe?) on the phone, and she tells him either that she's pregnant or marrying a much older man, who I think was her professor. I distinctly remember the professor being older than the father by quite a bit; I think the professor gets on the phone and calls the father "sir." The father is horrified, and to make matters worse, he and his wife are getting a divorce, which he doesn't want to tell his daughter about.
posted by tatiana wishbone on Oct 30, 2006 - 5 answers

Dorothy Parker has beguiled and confounded me! And she's dead. What a gal. I'm looking for help figuring out a puzzling casual remark from one of her short stories. [more inside]
posted by Skot on May 25, 2006 - 22 answers

I need recommendations for short stories suitable for discussion at a work-sponsored short story club. [more inside]
posted by ferociouskitty on May 19, 2006 - 11 answers

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

a short story by a continental european writer that directly addresses or suggests conflicts within human nature-- the desire to perform "good" acts vs. our tendency (the temptation) to commit "evil" ones? [more inside]
posted by ronv on Mar 8, 2006 - 10 answers

Best Sci-Fi short story anthology? [more inside]
posted by skwm on Dec 11, 2005 - 20 answers

Fuzzy Memories Please help me identify a book I read as a child. [more inside]
posted by orange swan on Mar 22, 2005 - 8 answers

I love Raymond Carver's short stories because they're complete and perfect without much happening in them, in terms of action and plot development. What I'd like to find is some novels that are similarly "plotless"? Do they exist? [more inside]
posted by bunglin jones on Mar 8, 2005 - 38 answers

I have free time during the day, and I love to pass it with a good story. Since I can't often make it to the library, I'm looking for stories on the web. I'm familiar with literature.org and classicauthors.net. Are there any other sites MeFiers can recommend?
posted by Miss Bitchy Pants on Feb 15, 2005 - 15 answers

Can someone please explain to me either what A Perfect Day for Bananafish is about, or why people like it? I really don't get it.
posted by Sibrax on Jan 17, 2005 - 27 answers

Another partially remembered childhood story question. Does anyone recall a short story with a female narrator that revolves around her using a silver pencil to write and thereby deal with a debilitating illness? I seem to also recall something about "blue roses", but I'm not sure if that's in the story or just mixed in with it in my memories. Thanks.
posted by tommasz on Jan 13, 2005 - 10 answers

Looking for good, free online writers' forums to try and promote a magazine project I'm working on. Where on the web do poets and short story writers tend to congregate, and how can I reach that audience (preferably without spending any money)?
posted by BackwardsCity on Jan 11, 2005 - 3 answers

Another book finding thing--this one's a short story I read at maybe age seven or eight. God is a kindergarten student and his universe project isn't very good and his teacher tells his parents he's very slow. [mi] [more inside]
posted by u.n. owen on Dec 14, 2004 - 8 answers

I, too, am vaguely remembering a short story. It was a young adult sci fi dealie, where, in a grim future, orphan teenagers are used in a Pavlovian experiment. Most of the novella takes place in a seemingly endless tangle of stairs...
posted by Specklet on Dec 13, 2004 - 6 answers

I'm looking for an informal online writing community. I've got a lot of ideas for short stories, but without peer reviews, I just don't have any drive to finish stuff. Plus, you know, having other writers tell me what sucks is helpful, too. Subject matter varies quite a bit.
posted by billybunny on Dec 13, 2003 - 16 answers