TERSE TEXTS
From Anton Chekhov to Ali Smith, these writers have nailed the art of the short story. Charlotte Cripps picks the best
There is nothing more appealing, particularly when time is limited, than dipping into a short story collection.
And just because this genre is written in fewer words than a novel, it doesn’t mean it’s any less potent.
The short story can be a mechanism for writers to explore and find their own voice. For others, the themes in a short story can gestate and make it into their greatest novel.
Some writers are simply more prolific at short story writing, while others just don’t have time to write a novel, finding short stories less of a commitment.
Here, we round up 20 of the best short story collections for those who want an enduring story in fewer pages.
Dancing Girls and Other Stories by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid’s Tale author – whose sequel, The Testaments, is out on 10 September – reveals the complexities of human relationships in ordinary people’s lives in her occasionally violent short story collection. Standout stories include “The Man from Mars”, in which a college student with a creepy stalker almost comes to appreciate this unhealthy obsession, when it gives her the attention that is lacking in her mundane life.
The Collected Short Stories of F Scott Fitzgerald
This career-spanning collection of stories brings together the Tender Is the Night author’s most famous stories, including “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz”. This sinister fantasy tale about the perils of fabulous wealth is a topic he explored in greater depth later, especially when writing his best-known novel The Great Gatsby.
Kiss Kiss by Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl is better known for children’s books such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but these creepy, tense and dark stories are a real treat for adults. A highlight is “Mrs Bixby and the Colonel’s Coat”, about a married woman who pawns a mink coat her lover gave her, with a jaw-dropping twist at the end. Alfred
Hitchcock directed the screen version.
The Garden Party and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield
This is the third and most revered short story collection by the pioneering modernist writer, whose psychologically in-depth characters tend to have sudden epiphanies. It was written towards the end of Katherine Mansfield’s short life (she died aged 34 of tuberculosis), and includes the title story, one of her best-known works. In it, the wealthy Sheridan family prepares for a picnic, and through this seemingly mundane affair, the author deals with issues of life and death as well as the British class system.
The Acid House by Irvine Welsh
The Trainspotting author’s first collection of short stories is a real page-turner, bursting with colourful characters and humour. He plays with surrealism and fantasy in standout stories including the title story, about a football hooligan on an acid trip and a pregnant feminist on her way to the hospital who are struck by lightning. In “Eurotrash”, a Scottish junkie hangs around Amsterdam in typically hopeless, Trainspotting fashion.
First Love, Last Rites by Ian McEwan
The author admitted that his first published work allowed him to experiment and discover his voice. The perverse and ominous stories in this collection are linked by a theme of adolescence and include “Butterflies”, in which a man has a sordid meeting with a girl who he then drowns. The man describes the
murder himself, and is alarmingly void of emotion when doing so.
Public Library by Ali Smith
The Man-Booker shortlisted author of Autumn and How To Be Both defends UK public libraries against threats of mass closures in her most recent, must-read short story collection. All of the characters in its 12 stories are passionate about books. Highlights include “The Ex-Wife”, in which Katherine Mansfield becomes the other woman in a relationship, when the narrator feels left out of his partner’s life as she researches the famous author’s life and works.
Nine Stories by JD Salinger
The American author of The Catcher in the Rye was deeply affected by his experiences as a soldier in the Second World War, and this is reflected in his writings. This collection includes two of his most famous short stories – “A Perfect Day for Bananafish”, about a combat veteran recently discharged from an army hospital, and “For Esmé – with Love and Squalor”, a tribute to those former Second World War soldiers suffering from PTSD.
The Moons of Jupiter by Alice Munro
The master of the contemporary short story won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2013, at the age of 82. She started writing short stories when she was at home with three young children and didn’t have time to write a novel. Her 2004 collection contains stories about 12 women whose romantic lives are derailed by broken marriages and betrayed affections.
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter
Angela Carter made it very clear that her intention was not to do “horrible, ‘adult’ fairy tales” but to “extract the latent content from the traditional stories and to use it as the beginnings of new stories”. These dark and sensual new tales include the famous title story, which acts more like a novella within the collection. This gruesome story is about a beautiful young girl who finds the bodies of her husband’s previous wives in a castle chamber.
Dubliners by James Joyce
The author’s only short story collection, which is taken up largely by the subject of death, nearly never made it into print. One publisher even burnt the manuscript when he changed his mind about publishing it. Highlights include “Eveline”, about a girl deciding between staying at home like a dutiful daughter or leaving Dublin with her lover. “The Dead” is considered his best short work and a masterpiece of modern fiction.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver
Carver’s breakthrough short story collection is a punchy and concise portrait of the lives of people ambling along in middle America. The writer digs deep into the themes of friendship and heartache with his use of vivid dialogue. The unedited version of the stories were first published after his death under the title “Beginners”, with the approval of Carver’s widow.