Books and Audio Books

a selected list (** indicates prose that is relatively easy for non-native speakers to read, i.e. you shouldn't need your dictionary constantly).

Anthologies
Oxford Book of English Short Stories --all from the last 50 years (this collection is not the one our British stories were taken from) edited by A.S. Byatt

The Penguin Book of Modern British Short Stories
emphasis on experimental fiction (the stories House of the Famous Poet and The Enigma came from this anthology, and they were some of the least experimental!), edited by Malcolm Bradbury.

Best American Short Stories of the Century edited by John Updike

50 Great Short Stories (American--spans 200 years) both book and CD available

Nothing But You, Love Stories from the New Yorker, edited by Roger Angell. Features a variety of modern writers and styles, ranging from Woody Allen to Vladimir Nabokov.

I Thought My Father Was God **(Audio version of True Tales of American Life)

I Know Some Things: Stories about Childhood by Contemporary Writers **edited by Lorrie Moore. Includes work by famous authors and some relatively unknown ones.

Single-author Collections
Interpreter of Maladies **by Jhumpa Lahiri. Subtle, deceptively simple prose; engaging characters and voices; well-crafted plots. One of the finest young writers around.

Don't Tell Anyone by Frederick Busch, a collection of short stories. Elegant writing.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love **by Raymond Carver. Minimalist realism. This is the writer whose editor, Robert Gottlieb, apparently played a considerable role in the sparse style for which Carver is famous. Considered one of the masters of modern storytelling, his tales are full of atmosphere, if a tad depressing at times.

Who Will Run the Frog Hospital **by Lorrie Moore
slightly dark, witty, beautifully written stories by a contemporary writer

The Early Stories by John Updike. Updike is wonderful at remembering and setting down the texture of daily life and the emotional subtleties of our response to it.