A classic work that has charmed generations of readers, this collection assembles Carson McCullers’s best stories, including her beloved novella “The Ballad of the Sad Café.”

A haunting tale of a human triangle that culminates in an astonishing brawl, the novella introduces readers to Miss Amelia, a formidable southern woman whose café serves as the town’s gathering place.

Among other fine works, the collection also includes “Wunderkind,” McCullers’s first published story written when she was only seventeen about a musical prodigy who suddenly realizes she will not go on to become a great pianist.

The Ballad of the Sad Café is a brilliant study of love and longing from one of the South’s finest writers.

A twentieth-century successor to Edgar Allan Poe as the master of "weird fiction," Howard Philips Lovecraft once wrote, "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." In the novellas and stories he published in such pulp magazines as Weird Tales and Astounding Stories—and in the work that remained unpublished until after his death, including some of his best writing—H. P. Lovecraft adapted the conventions of horror stories and science fiction to express an intensely personal vision, cosmic in its ramifications and fearsome in its shuddering view of human destiny.

In this Library of America volume, the best-selling novelist Peter Straub brings together the very best of Lovecraft's fiction in a treasury guaranteed to bring fright and delight both to longtime fans and to readers new to his work. Early stories such as The Outsider, The Music of Erich Zann, Herbert West–Reanimator, and The Lurking Fear demonstrate Lovecraft's uncanny ability to blur the distinction between reality and nightmare, sanity and madness, the human and non-human. The Horror at Red Hook and He reveal the fascination and revulsion Lovecraft felt for New York City; Pickman's Model uncovers the frightening secret behind an artist's work; The Rats in the Walls is a terrifying descent into atavistic horror; and The Colour Out of Space explores the eerie impact of a meteorite on a remote Massachusetts valley.

In such later works as The Call of Cthulhu, The Whisperer in Darkness, At the Mountains of Madness, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and The Shadow Out of Time, Lovecraft developed his own nightmarish mythology in which encounters with ancient, pitiless extraterrestrial intelligences wreak havoc on hapless humans who only gradually begin to glimpse "terrifying vistas of reality, and our frightful position therein." Moving from old New England towns haunted by occult pasts to Antarctic wastes that disclose appalling secrets, Lovecraft's tales continue to exert a dread fascination.

Interpreter of Maladies brings to life the stories of characters navigating between the Indian traditions they've inherited and the new world they find themselves in. These elegant, touching stories explore the search for love beyond the barriers of culture and generations.

In "A Temporary Matter," a young Indian-American couple faces the heartbreak of a stillborn birth while their Boston neighborhood copes with a nightly blackout. In the title story, an interpreter guides an American family through the India of their ancestors and hears an astonishing confession. Lahiri writes with deft cultural insight and a nuanced depth, charting the emotional journeys of her characters with compassion and understanding.

Academics hail it as the beginning of modernism, but to readers around the world—even those daunted by Moby-Dick—Bartleby the Scrivener is simply one of the most absorbing and moving novellas ever. Set in the mid-19th century on New York City's Wall Street, it was also, perhaps, Herman Melville's most prescient story: what if a young man caught up in the rat race of commerce finally just said, "I would prefer not to"?

The tale is one of the final works of fiction published by Melville before, slipping into despair over the continuing critical dismissal of his work after Moby-Dick, he abandoned publishing fiction. The work is presented here exactly as it was originally published in Putnam's magazine—to, sadly, critical disdain.

The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights, brings together a cherished collection of fantastic tales full of mischief, valor, ribaldry, and romance. These stories have captivated readers for centuries and recount the clever tactics of Shahrazad, who spun enchanting narratives night after night to postpone her execution by the vengeful King Shahriyar. Her tales, which include the adventures of Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp, the voyages of Sinbad the Seaman and Sinbad the Landsman, and the cunning Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, have become deeply embedded in the global literary consciousness.

This edition preserves the 1932 Modern Library version selected by Bennett A. Cerf, drawing from Sir Richard F. Burton's comprehensive translation. It also features Burton's extensive, well-regarded explanatory notes. From the epic to the comic, from moral fables such as The Young Woman and her Five Lovers to the sharp social critique of The Tale of the Hunchback, these narratives not only entertain but also provide a detailed portrait of medieval Islamic society.

I Wish Someone Were Waiting For Me Somewhere explores how a life can be changed irrevocably in just one fateful moment. A pregnant mother's plans for the future unravel at the hospital; a travelling salesman learns the consequences of an almost-missed exit on the motorway in the newspaper the next morning; while a perfect date is spoilt by a single act of thoughtlessness.

In those crucial moments, Gavalda demonstrates her almost magical skill in conveying love, lust, longing, and loneliness. Someone I Loved offers a hauntingly intimate look at the intolerably painful, yet sometimes valuable consequences that adultery can have on a marriage and the individuals involved. A simple tale, yet long in substance, Someone I Loved ends like most great love affairs, forever leaving you wanting just one more moment.

Burning Chrome is a compelling collection of ten short stories by the master of science fiction, William Gibson. Renowned for his ability to create intensely-realized worlds, Gibson takes us on a journey through the computer-enhanced lives of his characters. From the chip-enhanced couriers of "Johnny Mnemonic" to the street-tech melancholy of "Burning Chrome", each story is a breathtaking exploration of the future.

Contents:
Johnny Mnemonic (1981)
The Gernsback Continuum (1981)
Fragments of a Hologram Rose (1977)
The Belonging Kind (1981) with John Shirley
Hinterlands (1981)
Red Star, Winter Orbit (1983) with Bruce Sterling
New Rose Hotel (1984)
The Winter Market (1985)
Dogfight (1985) with Michael Swanwick
Burning Chrome (1982)

Each tale is tautly written and suspenseful, showcasing Gibson's characters at their absolute best.

The Metamorphosis and Other Stories, by Franz Kafka, is a collection that showcases Kafka's mastery in storytelling, encapsulating the anxieties and alienation of modern life in a surreal, often absurd, manner.

The Metamorphosis is Kafka's most famous story, where Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a giant insect. This harrowing yet amusing tale explores themes of alienation, family loyalty, and unconditional love.

Also included is The Judgment, which Kafka considered his breakthrough story, and The Stoker, the first chapter of his novel Amerika. These stories, along with The Metamorphosis, form a suite Kafka referred to as "The Sons," presenting a devastating portrait of the modern family.

Other notable stories in this collection include In the Penal Colony, which delves into the horrors of a torture machine, and A Hunger Artist, a tale of an artist's struggle to communicate with an uncomprehending public.

Kafka's lucid and succinct writing style captures the labyrinthine complexities and futility-laden horror of modern existence, making this collection a must-read for those interested in psychological and existential themes.

Mixed Magics: Four Tales of Chrestomanci whisks readers away to a world brimming with enchantment. Under the watchful eye of the dapper and wise enchanter Chrestomanci, magic is kept in check, ensuring harmony throughout the lands. This collection of beguiling tales introduces us to a variety of magical predicaments that Chrestomanci must navigate.

From a warlock attempting to evade Chrestomanci's influence, to the perilous adventures of Cat Chant and Tonino, each story is laced with fantastical elements and vivid characters. Readers will encounter dreamscapes where the inhabitants rebel against their scripted lives, and divine beings attempting to circumvent prophecies that threaten their existence.

Diana Wynne Jones masterfully crafts each story, imbuing them with a sense of wonder and excitement that fans of the fantastical will adore. Join Chrestomanci as he delves into enchanting narratives that promise to captivate and charm.

In the final years of his prominent life, Chekhov had reached the height of his powers as a dramatist, and also produced some of the stories that rank among his masterpieces.

The poignant 'The Lady with the Little Dog' and 'About Love' examine the nature of love outside of marriage - its romantic idealism and the fear of disillusionment.

And in stories such as 'Peasants', 'The House with the Mezzanine' and 'My Life', Chekhov paints a vivid picture of the conditions of the poor and of their powerlessness in the face of exploitation and hardship.

With the works collected here, Chekhov moved away from the realism of his earlier tales - developing a broader range of characters and subject matter, while forging the spare minimalist style that would inspire modern short-story writers such as Hemingway and Faulkner.

Tales from Earthsea delves deeper into the enchanting world of Earthsea, presenting readers with five captivating tales. These stories unfold during times both preceding and succeeding the era chronicled in the original novels. Accompanying these tales is an insightful essay that invites readers to explore the rich tapestry of Earthsea—its people, languages, history, and the very essence of its magic.

The collection includes:

• The Finder
• Darkrose and Diamond
• The Bones of the Earth
• On the High Marsh
• Dragonfly

Readers are also treated to new maps and a special essay that delves into Earthsea's history, languages, literature, and magic, offering a comprehensive guide to this beloved fantasy realm.

Arthur C. Clarke, renowned author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Childhood's End, and The City and the Stars, presents a definitive collection of his shorter works in this expansive volume. Known as one of the defining voices in science fiction, Clarke's stories span from early works like "Rescue Party" and "The Lion of Comarre," to classics such as "The Star," "Earthlight," "The Nine Billion Names of God," and "The Sentinel," which inspired the novel and film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

This collection encapsulates an illustrious career in science fiction, showcasing Clarke's visionary imagination and his passion for storytelling and science. From "A Meeting with Medusa" to "The Hammer of God," these stories reflect the breadth and depth of Clarke's contribution to the genre.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of such short-fiction masterpieces as Young Goodman Brown and The Minister's Black Veil, is regarded as one of the most significant American writers of the nineteenth century. Twice-Told Tales is a collection of short stories that showcases Hawthorne's unique ability to weave intricate tales that delve into the human psyche and moral complexities.

This volume gathers many of his most famous short works, providing a fitting compendium of his literary achievements for newcomers or longtime Hawthorne fans alike. The stories, originally published in magazines and annuals, bring forth themes of individuality, societal norms, and the supernatural.

Contents Include:

• The Gray Champion
• Sunday At Home
• The Wedding Knell
• The Minister's Black Veil
• The Maypole of Merry Mount
• The Gentle Boy
• Mr Higginbotham's Catastrophe
• Little Annie's Ramble
• Wakefield
• A Rill From the Town Pump
• The Great Carbuncle
• The Prophetic Pictures
• David Swan
• Sights From a Steeple
• The Hollow of the Three Hills
• The Toll-Gatherer's Day
• The Vision of the Fountain
• Fancy's Show-Box
• Dr Heidegger's Experiment
• Legends of the Province House
• The Haunted Mind
• The Village Uncle
• The Ambitious Guest
• The Sister Years
• Snow-Flakes
• The Seven Vagabonds
• The White Old Maid
• Peter Goldthwaite's Treasure
• Chippings with a Chisel
• The Shaker Bridal
• Night Sketches
• Endicott and the Red Cross
• The Lily's Guest
• Footprints on the Sea-Shore
• Edward Fane's Rosebud
• The Threefold Destiny

Seven stories of fantasy and fun by the fantastic Roald Dahl.

The Boy Who Talked With Animals - in which a stranded sea turtle and a small boy have more in common than meets the eye.

The Hitchhiker - proves that in a pinch, a professional pickpocket can be the perfect pal.

The Mildenhall Treasure - a true tale of fortune found and an opportunity lost.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar - in which a modern-day Robin Hood brings joy to the hearts of orphans - and fear to the souls of casino owners around the world.

Bill and Sam arrive in the small American town of Summit with only two hundred dollars, but they need more and Sam has an idea for making a lot of money. When things start to go very wrong, both men soon regret their visit - and the idea.

Nine Stories (1953) is a collection of short stories by American fiction writer J. D. Salinger published in April 1953. It includes two of his most famous short stories, A Perfect Day for Bananafish and For Esmé – with Love and Squalor. (Nine Stories is the U.S. title; the book is published in many other countries as For Esmé - with Love and Squalor, and Other Stories.)

The stories are:

• A Perfect Day for Bananafish
• Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut
• Just Before the War with the Eskimos
• The Laughing Man
• Down at the Dinghy
• For Esmé – with Love and Squalor
• Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes
• De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period
• Teddy

When he died in 1937, destitute and emotionally and physically ruined, H.P. Lovecraft had no idea that he would come to be regarded as the godfather of the modern horror genre, nor that his work would influence an entire generation of writers, including Stephen King and Anne Rice. Now, at last, the most important tales of this distinctive American genius are gathered in one volume.

Combining the nineteenth-century gothic sensibility of Edgar Allan Poe with a daring internal vision, Lovecraft's tales foretold a psychically troubled century to come. Set in a meticulously described, historically grounded New England landscape, his harrowing stories explore the collapse of sanity beneath the weight of chaotic events. Lovecraft's universe is a frightening shadow world where reality and nightmare intertwine, and redemption can come only from below.

Hubert Selby Jr. is one of the most acclaimed novelists in the English language. Known for his controversial cult classic, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Selby began his literary career as a writer of short fiction. He excels in this form, plunging the reader into the densely realized worlds of his protagonists, where the details of daily life intermingle with obsession and madness.

Although fundamentally concerned with morality, Selby's humility prevents him from preaching. Instead, he offers a passionate empathy for the ordinary dreams and aspirations of his characters, showcasing a brilliant ear for the urban vernacular and the voices of conscience and self-deceit that torment them.

Song of the Silent Snow is a collection that reflects these themes, offering a profound insight into the human condition through Selby's masterful storytelling.

The Stories of John Cheever is a remarkable collection of sixty-one stories that chronicle the lives of what has been called "the greatest generation." From the early wonder and disillusionment of city life in "The Enormous Radio" to the surprising discoveries and common mysteries of suburbia in "The Housebreaker of Shady Hill" and "The Swimmer," Cheever tells us everything we need to know about "the pain and sweetness of life."

This collection spans the duration of Cheever’s long and distinguished career, showcasing tales that have helped define the short story form. Cheever’s crowning achievement is his ability to be simultaneously generous and cynical, acknowledging that the absurd and the profound can reside in the same moment.

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men is a thought-provoking and playful short story collection by David Foster Wallace, where he nudges at the boundaries of fiction with inimitable wit and seductive intelligence. Wallace's stories present a world where the bizarre and the banal are interwoven and where hideous men appear in many guises.

Among the stories are 'The Depressed Person', a dazzling and blackly humorous portrayal of a woman's mental state; 'Adult World', which reveals a woman's agonized consideration of her confusing sexual relationship with her husband; and 'Brief Interviews with Hideous Men', a dark, hilarious series of imagined interviews with men on the subject of their relations with women.

Wallace delights in leftfield observation, mining the absurd, the surprising, and the illuminating from every situation. This collection will enthrall DFW fans and provides a perfect introduction for new readers.

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning and bestselling author of The Shipping News and Accordion Crimes comes a celebrated short-story collection. Annie Proulx's masterful language and fierce love of Wyoming are evident in these tales of loneliness, quick violence, and the wrong kinds of love. Each portrait in Close Range reveals characters fiercely wrought with precision and grace.

These are stories of desperation and unlikely elation, set in a landscape both stark and magnificent.
The stories include:

• The half-skinned steer
• The mud below
• 55 miles to the gas pump
• The bunchgrass edge of the world
• A lonely coast
• Job history
• Pair a spurs
• People in Hell just want a drink of water
• The governors of Wyoming
• The blood bay
• Brokeback Mountain

This collection showcases an author writing at the peak of her craft.

Ray Bradbury's second short story collection is back in print, offering chilling encounters with funhouse mirrors, parasitic accident-watchers, and strange poker chips. Both sides of Bradbury's vaunted childhood nostalgia are on display, in the celebratory "Uncle Einar," and haunting "The Lake," the latter a fine elegy to childhood loss.

This edition features a new introduction by Bradbury, an invaluable essay on writing, wherein the author tells of his "Theater of Morning Voices," and, by inference, encourages you to listen to the same murmurings in yourself.

The October Country is many places: a picturesque Mexican village where death is a tourist attraction; a city beneath the city where drowned lovers are silently reunited; a carnival midway where a tiny man's most cherished fantasy can be fulfilled night after night. The October Country's inhabitants live, dream, work, die—and sometimes live again—discovering, often too late, the high price of citizenship.

Here a glass jar can hold memories and nightmares; a woman's newborn child can plot murder; and a man's skeleton can war against him. Here there is no escaping the dark stranger who lives upstairs...or the reaper who wields the world. Each of these stories is a wonder, imagined by an acclaimed tale-teller writing from a place of shadows. But there is astonishing beauty in these shadows, born from a prose that enchants and enthralls.

Jorge Luis Borges has been called the greatest Spanish-language writer of our century. Now for the first time in English, all of Borges' dazzling fictions are gathered into a single volume, brilliantly translated by Andrew Hurley. From his 1935 debut with The Universal History of Iniquity, through his immensely influential collections Ficciones and The Aleph, these enigmatic, elaborate, imaginative inventions display Borges' talent for turning fiction on its head by playing with form and genre and toying with language. Together these incomparable works comprise the perfect one-volume compendium for all those who have long loved Borges, and a superb introduction to the master's work for those who have yet to discover this singular genius.

When Pushkin first read some of the stories in this collection, he declared himself amazed. "Here is real gaiety," he wrote, "honest, unconstrained, without mincing, without primness. And in places what poetry! . . . I still haven't recovered."

More than a century and a half later, Nikolai Gogol's stories continue to delight readers the world over. Now a stunning new translation presents these stories in all their inventive, exuberant glory to English-speaking readers.

For the first time, the best of Gogol's short fiction is brought together in a single volume: from the colorful Ukrainian tales that led some critics to call him "the Russian Dickens" to the Petersburg stories, with their black humor and wonderfully demented attitude toward the powers that be.

All of Gogol's most memorable creations are here: the minor official who misplaces his nose, the downtrodden clerk whose life is changed by the acquisition of a splendid new overcoat, the wily madman who becomes convinced that a dog can tell him everything he needs to know.

These fantastic, comic, utterly Russian characters have dazzled generations of readers and had a profound influence on writers such as Dostoevsky and Nabokov. Now they are brilliantly rendered in the first new translation in twenty-five years—one that is destined to become the definitive edition of Gogol's most important stories.

Featuring his world-famous masterpiece, Death in Venice, this collection of Nobel laureate Thomas Mann's stories and novellas reveals his artistic evolution. In a widely acclaimed translation that restores the controversial passages that were censored from the original English version, Death in Venice tells about a ruinous quest for love and beauty amid degenerating splendor. Gustav von Aschenbach, a successful but lonely author, travels to the Queen of the Adriatic in search of an elusive spiritual fulfillment that turns into his erotic doom. Spellbound by a beautiful Polish boy, he finds himself fettered to this hypnotic city of sun-drenched sensuality and eerie physical decay as it gradually succumbs to a secret epidemic.

Also included in this volume are eleven other stories by Mann: Tonio Kroger, Gladius Dei, The Blood of the Walsungs, The Will for Happiness, Little Herr Friedmann, Tobias Mindernickel, Little Lizzy, Tristan, The Starvelings, The Wunderkind, and Harsh Hour. All of the stories collected here display Mann's inimitable use of irony, his subtle characterizations, and superb, complex plots.

Birds of America is a long-awaited collection of twelve stories by the acclaimed author Lorrie Moore. Known for her characteristic wit and piercing intelligence, Moore unfolds a series of portraits of the lost and unsettled of America, infused with a trademark humor that fuels each story with pathos and understanding.

From the opening story, "Willing", about a second-rate movie actress in her thirties who has moved back to Chicago, where she makes a seedy motel room her home and becomes involved with a mechanic who has no idea of who she is as a human being, Birds of America unfolds a startlingly brilliant series of portraits of the unhinged, the lost, the unsettled of our America.

In the story "Which Is More Than I Can Say About Some People", a woman newly separated from her husband embarks on a long-planned trip through Ireland with her mother. When they set out on an expedition to kiss the Blarney Stone, the image of wisdom and success that her mother has always put forth slips away to reveal the panicky woman she really is.

In "Charades", a family game at Christmas is transformed into a hilarious and insightful revelation of crumbling family ties. Meanwhile, "Community Life" depicts a shy, almost reclusive librarian, Transylvania-born and Vermont-bred, who moves in with her boyfriend, the local anarchist in a small university town, and all hell breaks loose.

In "Four Calling Birds, Three French Hens", a woman who goes through the stages of grief as she mourns the death of her cat (Anger, Denial, Bargaining, Häagen Dazs, Rage) is seen by her friends as really mourning other issues: the impending death of her parents, the son she never had, Bosnia.

In what may be her most stunning book yet, Lorrie Moore explores the personal and the universal, the idiosyncratic and the mundane, with all the wit, brio, and verve that have made her one of the best storytellers of our time.

"Everybody is a book of blood; wherever we're opened, we're red." For those who only know Clive Barker through his long multigenre novels, this one-volume edition of the Books of Blood is a welcome chance to acquire the 16 remarkable horror short stories with which he kicked off his career. For those who already know these tales, the poignant introduction is a window on the creator's mind.

Reflecting back after 14 years, Barker writes: "I look at these pieces and I don't think the man who wrote them is alive in me anymore.... We are all our own graveyards I believe; we squat amongst the tombs of the people we were. If we're healthy, every day is a celebration, a Day of the Dead, in which we give thanks for the lives that we lived; and if we are neurotic we brood and mourn and wish that the past was still present. Reading these stories over, I feel a little of both. Some of the simple energies that made these words flow through my pen--that made the phrases felicitous and the ideas sing--have gone. I lost their maker a long time ago."

These enthusiastic tales are not ashamed of visceral horror, of blood splashing freely across the page: "The Midnight Meat Train," a grisly subway tale that surprises you with one twist after another; "The Yattering and Jack," about a hilarious demon who possesses a Christmas turkey; "In the Hills, the Cities," an unusual example of an original horror premise; "Dread," a harrowing non-supernatural tale about being forced to realize your worst nightmare; "Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament," about a woman who kills men with her mind.

Some of the tales are more successful than others, but all are distinguished by strikingly beautiful images of evil and destruction. No horror library is complete without them.

In this definitive collection of Ernest Hemingway's short stories, readers will delight in the author's most beloved classics such as "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," "Hills Like White Elephants," and "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," and will discover seven new tales published for the first time in this collection. For Hemingway fans The Complete Short Stories is an invaluable treasury.

This collection demonstrates Hemingway’s ability to write beautiful prose for each distinct story, with plots that range from experiences of World War II to beautifully touching moments between a father and son.

Today, F. Scott Fitzgerald is known for his novels, but in his lifetime, his fame stemmed from his prolific achievement as one of America's most gifted (and best-paid) writers of stories and novellas. In 'The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald', Matthew J. Bruccoli, the country's premier Fitzgerald scholar and biographer, assembles a sparkling collection that encompasses the full scope of Fitzgerald's short fiction.

The forty-three masterpieces range from early stories that capture the fashion of the times to later ones written after the author's fabled crack-up, which are sober reflections on his own youthful excesses. Included are classic novellas, such as "The Rich Boy," "May Day," and "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz," as well as a remarkable body of work he wrote for the Saturday Evening Post and its sister "slicks."

These stories can be read as an autobiographical journal of a great writer's career, an experience deepened by the illuminating introductory headnotes that Matthew Bruccoli has written for each story, placing it in its literary and biographical context. Together, these forty-three stories compose a vivid picture of a lost era, but their brilliance is timeless. This essential collection is a monument to the genius of one of the great voices in the history of American literature.

An entrancing, otherworldly collection of short stories from one of Europe's most accomplished 20th century writers.

A counter-prophet attempts the impossible to prove his power; a girl sees the hideous fate of her sisters and father in a mirror bought from a gypsy; the death of a prostitute causes an unanticipated uprising; and the lives of every ordinary person since 1789 are recreated in the almighty Encyclopedia of the Dead.

These stories about love and death, truth and lies, myth and reality range across many epochs and settings. Brilliantly combining fact and fiction, epic and miniature, horror and comedy, this was Danilo Kiš's final work, published in Serbo-Croatian in 1983.

Danilo Kiš was born in the then Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1935. After an unsettled childhood during the Second World War, in which several of his family members were killed, Kiš studied literature at the University of Belgrade where he lived for most of his adult life. He wrote novels, short stories, and poetry.

Best known for the 1892 title story of this collection, a harrowing tale of a woman's descent into madness, Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote more than 200 other short stories. Seven of her finest are reprinted here.

Written from a feminist perspective, often focusing on the inferior status accorded to women by society, the tales include "turned," an ironic story with a startling twist, in which a husband seduces and impregnates a naïve servant; "Cottagette," concerning the romance of a young artist and a man who's apparently too good to be true; "Mr. Peebles' Heart," a liberating tale of a fiftyish shopkeeper whose sister-in-law, a doctor, persuades him to take a solo trip to Europe, with revivifying results; "The Yellow Wallpaper"; and three other outstanding stories.

These charming tales are not only highly readable and full of humor and invention, but also offer ample food for thought about the social, economic, and personal relationship of men and women — and how they might be improved.

Originally published in 1997, Drown instantly garnered terrific acclaim.

Moving from the barrios of the Dominican Republic to the struggling urban communities of New Jersey, these heartbreaking, completely original stories established Díaz as one of contemporary fiction's most exhilarating new voices.

With ten stories that crackle with an electric sense of discovery, Díaz evokes a world in which fathers are gone, mothers fight with grim determination for their families and themselves, and the next generation inherits the casual cruelty, devastating ambivalence, and knowing humor of lives circumscribed by poverty and uncertainty.

In Drown, Díaz has harnessed the rhythms of anger and release, frustration and joy, to indelible effect.

Tales of Mystery and Imagination is a collection of some of Edgar Allan Poe's most enthralling and chilling stories. This book brings to life the macabre and mysterious worlds crafted by one of the greatest authors of all time.

Within its pages, readers will find themselves immersed in tales such as The Gold-Bug, Ms. Found in a Bottle, and A Descent into the Maelström. The collection also includes classics like The Fall of the House of Usher, William Wilson, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, and The Tell-Tale Heart.

This volume is a must-have for fans of the macabre and those who enjoy stories that delve into the depths of the human psyche. Edgar Allan Poe is renowned for his ability to weave suspense and horror into narratives that have stood the test of time, making this collection a fantastic addition to any bookshelf.

In Our Time is a remarkable collection of short stories and vignettes by Ernest Hemingway, marking his American debut and earning him instant fame. First published in 1925, it was lauded by literary giants like Ford Madox Ford, John Dos Passos, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The collection is celebrated for its simple and precise language, conveying a wide range of complex emotions.

Within its pages, readers will find several early Hemingway classics, including the famous Nick Adams stories "Indian Camp," "The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife," "The Three Day Blow," and "The Battler." These stories introduce the hallmarks of Hemingway's style: a lean, tough prose enlivened by an ear for the colloquial and an eye for the realistic, suggesting, through the simplest of statements, a sense of moral value and clarity of heart.

Recognized as one of the most original short story collections in twentieth-century literature, In Our Time provides a key to understanding Hemingway's later works. Its themes of alienation, loss, and grief are conveyed through a style known as Hemingway's "theory of omission" or iceberg theory, making it an essential read for any literature enthusiast.

The Complete Stories brings together all of Kafka’s stories, from the classic tales such as “The Metamorphosis,” “In the Penal Colony,” and “A Hunger Artist” to shorter pieces and fragments that Max Brod, Kafka’s literary executor, released after Kafka’s death. With the exception of his three novels, the whole of Kafka’s narrative work is included in this volume.

“[Kafka] spoke for millions in their new unease; a century after his birth, he seems the last holy writer, and the supreme fabulist of modern man’s cosmic predicament.” —from the Foreword by John Updike

The ideal introduction to the genius of Ernest Hemingway, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories contains ten of Hemingway's most acclaimed and popular works of short fiction.

Selected from Winner Take Nothing, Men Without Women, and The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories, this collection includes "The Killers," the first of Hemingway's mature stories to be accepted by an American periodical; the autobiographical "Fathers and Sons," which alludes, for the first time in Hemingway's career, to his father's suicide; and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," a brilliant fusion of personal observation, hearsay and invention.

Beautiful in their simplicity, startling in their originality, and unsurpassed in their craftsmanship, the stories in this volume highlight one of America's master storytellers at the top of his form.

This volume collects, for the first time, the entire Dream Cycle created by H. P. Lovecraft, the master of twentieth-century horror, including some of his most fantastic tales:

• The Doom that Came to Sarnath - Hate, genocide, and a deadly curse.
• The Nameless City - Death lies beneath the shifting sands, in a story linking the Dream Cycle with the legendary Cthulhu Mythos.
• The Cats of Ulthar - In Ulthar, no man may kill a cat...and woe unto any who tries.
• The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath - The epic nightmare adventure with tendrils stretching throughout the entire Dream Cycle.

And twenty more tales of surreal terror.

Neil Klugman and pretty, spirited Brenda Patimkin - he of poor Newark, she of suburban Short Hills - meet one summer and dive into an affair that is as much about social class and suspicion as it is about love.

The novella, the first book published by Philip Roth, explores issues of both class and Jewish assimilation into American culture.

Countless tombstones stand in rows throughout a small community, forming a bizarre tableau. What fate awaits a brother and sister after a traffic accident in this town of the dead? In another tale, a girl falls silent, her tongue transformed into a slug. Can a friend save her? Then, when a young man moves to a new town, he finds the house next door has only a single window. What does his grotesque neighbor want, calling out to him every evening from that lone window?

Fresh nightmares brought to you by horror master Junji Ito.

At the centre of Music for Chameleons is Handcarved Coffins, a ‘nonfiction novel’ based on the brutal crimes of a real-life murderer. Taking place in a small Midwestern town in America, it offers chilling insights into the mind of a killer and the obsession of the man bringing him to justice.

Also in this volume are six short stories and seven ‘conversational portraits’ including a touching one of Marilyn Monroe, the ‘beautiful child’ and a hilarious one of a dope-smoking cleaning lady doing her rounds in New York.

The seventeen pieces in Ficciones demonstrate the whirlwind of Borges's genius and mirror the precision and potency of his intellect and inventiveness, his piercing irony, his skepticism, and his obsession with fantasy. Borges sends us on a journey into a compelling, bizarre, and profoundly resonant realm; we enter the fearful sphere of Pascal's abyss, the surreal and literal labyrinth of books, and the iconography of eternal return. To enter the worlds in Ficciones is to enter the mind of Jorge Luis Borges, wherein lies Heaven, Hell, and everything in between.

Part One: The Garden of Forking Paths
Prologue
Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius (1940)
The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim (1936, not included in the 1941 edition)
Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote (1939)
The Circular Ruins (1940)
The Lottery in Babylon (1941)
An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain (1941)
The Library of Babel (1941)
The Garden of Forking Paths (1941)
Part Two: Artifices
Prologue
Funes the Memorious (1942)
The Form of the Sword (1942)
Theme of the Traitor and the Hero (1944)
Death and the Compass (1942)
The Secret Miracle (1943)
Three Versions of Judas (1944)
The End (1953, 2nd edition only)
The Sect of the Phoenix (1952, 2nd edition only)
The South (1953, 2nd edition only)

The Elephant Vanishes is a collection that showcases the imaginative genius of Haruki Murakami, an international literary icon. These stories blend the mundane with the extraordinary, creating a world where the surreal becomes the new normal.

A man witnesses the inexplicable disappearance of his favorite elephant, newlyweds find themselves driven by insatiable hunger to rob a McDonald's, and a young woman becomes the object of affection for a peculiar green monster. Each story takes the reader on a journey across the boundaries of reality, returning with remarkable treasures.

By turns haunting and hilarious, this collection includes the story Barn Burning, which inspired the major motion picture Burning.

Jesus' Son, the first collection of stories by Denis Johnson, presents a unique, hallucinatory vision of contemporary American life unmatched in power and immediacy and marks a new level of achievement for this acclaimed writer. In their intensity of perception, their neon-lit evocation of a strange world brought uncomfortably close to our own, the stories in Jesus' Son offer a disturbing yet eerily beautiful portrayal of American loneliness and hope.

Contains:

• Car Crash While Hitchhiking
• Two Men
• Out on Bail
• Dundun
• Work
• Emergency
• Dirty Wedding
• The Other Man
• Happy Hour
• Steady Hands at Seattle General
• Beverly Home

This now classic book revealed Flannery O'Connor as one of the most original and provocative writers to emerge from the South. Her apocalyptic vision of life is expressed through grotesque, often comic situations in which the principal character faces a problem of salvation: the grandmother, in the title story, confronting the murderous Misfit; a neglected four-year-old boy looking for the Kingdom of Christ in the fast-flowing waters of the river; General Sash, about to meet the final enemy.

Stories include:
A Good Man Is Hard to Find
The River
The Life You Save May Be Your Own
A Stroke of Good Fortune
A Temple of the Holy Ghost
The Artificial Nigger
A Circle in the Fire
A Late Encounter with the Enemy
Good Country People
The Displaced Person

The fables of Aesop have become one of the most enduring traditions of European culture, ever since they were first written down nearly two millennia ago. Aesop was reputedly a tongue-tied slave who miraculously received the power of speech; from his legendary storytelling came the collections of prose and verse fables scattered throughout Greek and Roman literature.

First published in English by Caxton in 1484, the fables and their morals continue to charm modern readers: who does not know the story of the tortoise and the hare, or the boy who cried wolf?

'There is no harm in a man's cub.' Best known for the 'Mowgli' stories, Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book expertly interweaves myth, morals, adventure, and powerful storytelling. Set in Central India, Mowgli is raised by a pack of wolves. Along the way, he encounters memorable characters such as the foreboding tiger Shere Kahn, Bagheera the panther, and Baloo the bear.

Including other stories such as that of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, a heroic mongoose, and Toomai, a young elephant handler, Kipling's fables remain as popular today as they ever were.

A wine connoisseur with an infallible palate and a sinister taste in wagers. A decrepit old man with a masterpiece tattooed on his back. A voracious adventuress, a gentle cuckold, and a garden sculpture that becomes an instrument of sadistic vengeance. Social climbers who climb a bit too quickly. Philanderers whose deceptions are a trifle too ornate. Impeccable servants whose bland masks slip for one vertiginous instant.

In these deliciously nasty stories, an internationally acclaimed practitioner of the short narrative works his own brand of black magic: tantalizing, amusing, and sometimes terrifying readers into a new sense of what lurks beneath the ordinary.

Included in Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected are such notorious gems of the bizarre as "The Sound Machine," "Lamb to Slaughter," "Neck," and "The Landlady."

The Best of Roald Dahl is a collection of 25 of Roald Dahl's short stories. This collection brings together Dahl’s finest work, illustrating his genius for the horrific and grotesque which is unparalleled.

Contents:

- Madame Rosette
- Man from the South
- The Sound Machine
- Taste
- Dip in the Pool
- Skin
- Edward the Conqueror
- Lamb to the Slaughter
- Galloping Foxley
- The Way Up to Heaven
- Parson's Pleasure
- The Landlady
- William and Mary
- Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat
- Royal Jelly
- Georgy Porgy
- Genesis and Catastrophe
- Pig
- The Visitor
- Claud's Dog (The Ratcatcher, Rummins, Mr. Hoddy, Mr. Feasey, Champion of the World)
- The Great Switcheroo
- The Boy Who Talked with Animals
- The Hitchhiker
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
- The Bookseller