I’m on my annual large family vacation–there are three generations here, ages 17 to 85. In a conversation about choices with a few of my nephews, I referenced The Gift of the Magi. They looked at me blankly. I explained–briefly–the plot which I have always found depressing and asked what short stories they liked. Again, they looked rather clueless. Apparently, short stories are not in vogue in American education any more.
This strikes me as a bad plan. Short stories can pack an incredible wallop. Anyone who has ever read The Lottery has 1) never forgotten it and 2) has ever since been more mistrustful of democratic decision making than they might have been. A Good Man is Hard to Find is as chilling a tale about random evil as one could encounter. (My middle son did have to read that in college freshman English and he still shakes his head in wonder when he mentions it.) Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin is a testament to the healing power of art. I’m so grateful I know these and many more. My father loved stories by Saki and Poe and read them to me as a child. Short stories are, for me, one of literature’s great gifts.
How about for you? Did you grow up with short stories in your lexicon? If so, what are those you love?
I’ve never gravitated towards short stories and novellas, and still don’t. I can answer your question – Did you grow up with short stories in your lexicon? With a definite “no” – I don’t know why. I didn’t grow up in a house of readers – my parents were probably too busy working to make ends meet to have time and it wasn’t a culture they were brought up in, either.
Today, I generally approach short stories and novellas with trepidation as it seems few authors have the skill needed to tell a good yarn and flesh out characters etc. in a short word count (and of course, in romance, there’s the need to shoe-horn in a sex scene as well!) I do read short stories, but mostly when they’re about characters I’m already familiar with and whose characters have been/are being developed in full-length novels. (Gregory Ashe writes a lot of shorts which he sets “in between” books, and LJ Hayward wrote several in her Death and the Devil series, which are, really, integral to the series.)
Courtney Milan’s A Kiss for Midwinter and The Governess Affair are – still – shining examples of “how to” when it comes to romance novellas.
In general though, it’s not a form I’m drawn to.
I read quite a lot of short stories via newsletters or websites of favourite authors. These are usually extras about popular characters from their books. Rachel Reid, Con Riley and Lily Morton are the authors that come to mind immediately, as well as Gregory Ashe as Caz has mentioned. Most of them are free, but both Lily Morton and Gregory Ashe tend to collect some of their free stories together and add some new ones before releasing them for sale. Another novella/short story that I have bought and enjoyed is KJ Charles’ The Ruin of Gabriel Ashley, which is part of her wonderful A Society of Gentleman series.
I don’t remember reading short stories as a child, but I was such a voracious reader that I just read everything I could get my hands on! I read a lot of series because that way I always had the next book lined up…..
When I started secondary school at 11 I think that some of the set texts were probably novellas or short stories but the only one that I can really remember is Paul Galico’s The Snow Goose. I have read The Gift of the Magi somewhere along the line as I can remember finding it very miserable!
Since you made me think WAAAAY back – I read the Complete Sherlock Holmes short stories starting when I was ten. I didn’t read the novels until I was in my teens.
I also enjoy the Regency Christmas anthologies – especially Carla Kelly.
I also agree that short stories set in an already developed “universe” work much better for me since I am familiar with the big picture. The short stores set in the Liaden Universe of Sharon Lee and Steve Miller are especially enjoyable
Love short stories. I always enjoy the regency anthologies that come out around Christmas. When I was young, working full time, and going to school at night, I did not have time to get into full novels so short stories became my go to reads. I especially liked reading the year’s best sci fi anthologies. Now I’m retired and can read whatever I like, but I still read short stories. I have been taking a short story class through the local senior center for the past few years, so I’ve been exposed to a broad variety of authors that I normally would not have read. This semester we read some O Henry (including The Gift of the Magi), Mark Twain, Theodore Dreiser, and Roald Dahl. A few semesters ago, the instructor did a whole semester on Russian authors. For the most part, I’ve enjoyed all the stories we have read. The exception was Flannery O’Connor. The class rebelled when our instructor wanted to add more O’Connor stories and we told her three stories was two too many, no way would we read five.
Also, short stories are a great way to introduce people to new authors. You may not be willing to invest a lot of time reading a novel by an unknown or new to you author. But a good author can do a lot within the narrow confines of the short story.
Great point!
In many school systems in the US, short stories are used to teach about literature literary analysis, such as plot, POV, setting, themes, characters, etc. Or at least they used to be. Short forms are less daunting, especially for uninterested students, and many short stories pack a big punch in a digestible package. Both of my siblings were high school English teachers and I leaned on them when teaching my own kids.
Some classic short stories I remember reading and analyzing in school were The Tell-Tale Heart by Poe, To Build a Fire by Jack London, The Lottery, Metamorphosis by Kafka, and The Gift of the Magi. I actually read more short stories while teaching my kids than in school. For high school I sent them to private classes for literature studies because English and Literature is not my strong suit. That teacher, while incorporating short stories and poetry, put more emphasis on full length novels and plays than most classroom teachers are able to with their large classes.
Short stories in genre fiction feel different to me than the ones I noted above. They rarely have the punch. Mostly, in romance at least, they are sweet stories, often between novels so the reader can enjoy more time with beloved characters. I do read a fair number of short stories and novellas a year, but they aren’t generally my favorite type of fiction.
I usually turn to short stories when I’m in a reading rut. When I was younger, I’d seek them out more — some for pleasure, some for assignments, and I especially enjoyed gothics. There was also a time after I graduated from college when I was burnt out and not reading much, working two jobs and still living paycheck to paycheck, when I gravitated to short story anthologies because I didn’t have the bandwidth for anything else. I’d browse the anthology section of the bookstore and read selected stories there and look for books at my library by authors I had discovered in those collections. It is a good way to sample authors. I mostly read SF&F and Speculative stories back then.
Some of my favorites: The Twice-Told Tales collection and Rappaccini’s Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne; The Demon Lover by Elizabeth Bowen; and By the Waters of Babylon by Stephen Vincent Benet. I don’t think Ray Bradbury has been mentioned yet. I also think he was a master of the short form.
I read mostly F&SF for years before I started reading genre romances, and short works are definitely part of that genre. Stand-alone short stories are extremely rare and difficult in the romance genre, since it is hard to convey a romance in anything shorter than a novella or novelette, though there are quite a few short add-ons tied to longer works. The other genre I can think of where stand-alone short works are common is erotica, though I’m not sure the term “story” (something with a plot) always applies there, maybe episode or incident or scene or vignette.
A few memorable short stories from decades ago:
The Nine Billion Names of God by Arthur C. Clarke (big idea)
The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin (extremely grim)
The Ambulance Made Two Trips by Murray Leinster (psionics and humor)
I did elementary and junior high school in the 70s/80s (in the US) and short stories were studied in English/Literature classes. I do remember reading The Gift of the Magi (which I thought was incredibly depressing) and Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart (creepy). My children are now in college and looking back, I think they did read some short stories in class but I’m not certain the percentage compared to long form books.
I do read romance short stories currently. These are generally e-book anthologies and I buy probably 6-8 per year. Often the anthologies are built around a season (such as Christmas) or a purpose (such as all proceeds go to a particular charity or cause). The main reason I buy them is that the anthology has one or more authors I already like. Since I favor longer books, I may not actually read the other stories in the anthology. However, when I have done so, I have often found new authors. For example, the Heart2Heart M/M romance anthology earlier this year introduced me to SE Harmon and Neve Wilder and I have now read most of their backlists. The short stories in the anthologies are sometimes a bonus peek into the life of characters from a previous book or standalones. Sometimes I have seen an author later take the story and offer it for sale by itself (usually e-book for 99 cents), either in original or expanded form. I may purchase it if the story has been expanded.
I consider romance novellas to be a bit longer than short stories, generally about 150-200 pages long with e-book prices of $0.99 – $2.99. My purchases of these are pretty much only e-book and usually authors I already know.
I think it is very hard to do a satisfactory standalone romance in short story form – the best romances need time for relationship development. It helps if the main characters in the short story already have a relationship history and are not newly meeting. Novellas work better as they are longer. Some novellas I loved are:
Merry Measure (M/M contemporary holiday) by Lily Morton
Love Around the Corner (M/M contemporary) by Sally Malcolm
The Governess Affair (M/F historical) by Courtney Milan
Under One Roof (M/F contemporary) by Ali Hazelwood
It is tough to beat Milan for romance novellas. She really is the best in my personal experience.
The two short stories I still read once or twice a year are The cask of amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe and Leiningen Versus the Ants by Carl Stephenson. I read them first in high school and they creeped me out so much. Being buried alive and being eaten by ants don’t make for good bedtime reading but I keep going back to them because of the horror they evoke in me.
I read Leningren Verses the Ants when I was teaching my kids. Wow! What a great story for teaching about hubris! It’s very appropriate today!
Those Who Walk Away is one I read every now and then but it’s hard to manage.
I have always loved O Henry’s The Gift of the Magi but Guy de Maupassant’s lovely, touching stories are perhaps the most romantic and so evocative of human foibles. I also remember as a young girl and pre-teen awaiting the latest editions of my mother’s McCall’s, Redbook and Reader’s Digest magazines. There were always lovely short stories and serials as well as Betsy McCall paper dolls (that was a very long time ago!).
This is a timely topic for me, because I was just searching for audio short stories to take on a 3 hour road trip with my husband and two adult sons. I settled on a Sherlock Holmes collection narrated by Stephen Fry, and we are enjoying it so far. I also picked up some Agatha Christie short stories when Audible had a sale. As far as physical or ebooks go, I rarely read short stories, as I prefer to be immersed in longer narratives. However, I did read a lot of short stories through middle school and high school. In addition to many of the tales mentioned already, The Yellow Wall Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a favorite because it was a creepy and powerful feminist story written in the late 1800s.
I still remember the Gilman story from 9th grade!
I enjoy reading short stories, especially during the holidays when I don’t have as much time to read. My favorites are the old Christmas Regency Anthologies.
My head is like a sieve these days, so I don’t remember the name, but I recently read a comment by a writer to the effect that he wrote a novel because he didn’t have time to write a short story. A good short story is a gem of craftsmanship. I think Hemingways short stories, like “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”, are better than any of his novels.
I don’t know why short stories aren’t taught much these days. More than half a century later I still have vivid memories of “The Lottery” and “To Light a Fire”. Maybe they’re too disturbing and would require trigger warnings.
I agree that Hemingway’s true gift was his short stories. Hills Like White Elephants is the first place anyone in my education discussed abortion–in 9th grade–and the language from it about it’s just like letting a little air in has stayed in my brain for almost 50 years.
For those who like short stories, you might enjoy these short performances at podcast Playing on Air. I heard a lovely little play called The Clam today, performed by Tony Shaloub and an actress whose name I did not catch.
Back when I was an English teacher I too found short stories a good way to teach literary analysis. I’ve read heaps of vintage mystery short stories from Christie et al, published back in the day when there were dozens of magazines needing content.
I find romance short stories to be generally underdeveloped and unsatisfying. I’m not interested in revisiting novel couples once they’ve had their HEA. I have occasionally used romance anthologies to try to find new authors, but the short stories are only useful to showcase the authors’ style rather than being all that engrossing in themselves.
A short story has to have impeccable structure and the modern romance genre doesn’t seem to care about that much. I’ve slogged through plenty of utterly unnecessary scenes in full length books that I otherwise quite liked, but it seems as though if most readers like the characters they are happy to spend as much time as possible with them.
I read all the “classic” short stories in high school and college, they were part of the canon then. The two that have really stayed with me for almost 50 years are Virginia Woolf’s SOLID OBJECTS (about a prominent politician who gives up his career and spends all day picking up discarded detritus on the streets) and Alan Sillitoe’s ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON (about a working-class boy, growing up with casual abusive violence, who finds the body of a neighbor who has committed suicide and realizes for the first time that not all hatred is directed outward). Another two favorite short stories are Connie Willis’s time-travel CHANCES (which rips out my heart every time I read it) and Rebecca West’s SALT OF THE EARTH, which features the most chillingly self-satisfied main character I can remember. I rarely read short stories today because (alas!) I find most romance writers don’t seem to get the pacing right for shorter fiction (although a couple of Sierra Simone’s short stories have hit the spot). I do recommend the Collected Short Stories of John O’Hara. O’Hara is pretty much a forgotten writer these days, remembered if at all for “sexy” 1950s books like BUTTERFIELD 8 and RAGE TO LIVE, but he was a master at short fiction and is perhaps single-handedly responsible for what we now think of as “The New Yorker short story” (where he published about 200 short stories over a very long writing career). Highly recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Collected-Stories-John-OHara-Introduction/dp/0394540832/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?crid=2LK4K9HD5WWHX&keywords=john+ohara+short+stories&qid=1660490180&sprefix=john+o’hara%2Caps%2C119&sr=8-6
Dabney, are you running ads on the site now? I don’t blame you if you are because money has to be generated in some fashion to keep the site afloat, but lots of weird ads (not book-related) were popping up when I opened AAR this morning. If you’re not running ads, the site may have been hacked.
Nope. The site was hacked.