Good short prose samples on the web?

July 14, 2011 2:30 PM

Are there any websites with large collections of exquisite examples of prose?

I am a beginning writer, and I am often inspired by well written writing. I enjoy reading longform essays, and short pieces of fiction. Sometimes I just want to read something short and beautiful to get me motivated.

Are there any websites with large collections of short samples of really high quality prose?

posted by satori_movement to Writing & Language (4 answers total)

Best answer: Bartleby.com is a real treasury. Here's the Harvard Classics & Shelf of Fiction, apparently the "most comprehensive ... anthology of all time." You'll find Emerson's Essays which I've always found immensely awe-inspiring.
posted by mbrock at 2:38 PM on July 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Laudator Temporis Acti
posted by Iridic at 3:03 PM on July 14, 2011

Best answer: I like the articles collected on longform. Despite the sites name, the writing is usually only internet long.
posted by jade east at 3:58 PM on July 14, 2011

Response by poster: mbrock, thank you for sharing bartleby, an excellent site, and something I will definitely look closer at.


Jade east, longform is a sweet website, but sometimes I want something much shorter, and also the essays there are of variable quality.

Iridic's site is much closer to what I kind of meant.

I am looking for bite sized excerpts from the masters, Faulkner, Steinbeck, Pynchon, etc.
posted by satori_movement at 4:05 PM on July 14, 2011