Short Stories Books

Children of the Dead End is as captivating to read as any more respected novel of development. There may be some problems with the formal structures of the novel in regards to the genre, but it is a wonderful read nonetheless. I truly enjoyed reading the book, and it was successful in eliciting my emotions. As a true-to-life account of the hardships that Irish Catholic families dealt with at the turn of the 20th Century, Children of the Dead End deserves to be canonized right along with anything that Joyce had written.

This story is truly autobiographical of my grandfather's early life and is very moving and effective. His early years in Donegal were difficult and fraught with the perils of poverty. Nevertheless, Grandpa overcame is lack of formal education and humble beginnings to be a successful author. His later years were no less difficult as he struggled for decades with the debilitation of MS, but he raised, with my grandmother, three amazingly strong and successful women. This autobiographical novel teaches us all abouth the indomitable strength of the human will and spirit.

This is one of the most memorable books I have ever read. The writer tells the story of growing up in Donegal and his exit to scotland in search of work. You are drawn into his life and the people he loved. There is an honesty in the writing that moves you to tears.

this book is the most moving book I have ever read. It tells the story of a young man making his way in life. Born in Donegal, Ireland working his way through Scotland and the USA. It will move you to tears and lead you to book after book from this very talented writer.

Having read Children of the Dead End for the first time I was taken over by it.It is a story of extraordinary main characters,humour and the bleak portrayal of life as a near slave,potatoe digger and the harsh life as a navvie. I was amazed at the life that the main character"Dermod" lived.He left home at the age of 12 without an education and he went to the hiring fair and worked to send money back home to his family.He has to face the harsh reality and he gambles his money and becomes a heavy drinker. He experiences life without a roof over his head. This story is said to be Patrick MacGills autobiography. Some of the Characters are fictonal while others are said to be true characters. Mac Gills descriptive power is Compelling and I never wanted to leave the book down. Children of the Dead End is an undiscovered classic of Irish litriture and it should be comended.

Jackson Tippett McCrae is rapidly becoming my favorite of the new, young, Southern writers. With The Children's Corner, he takes a form often considered to be unfashionable and reminds readers of how effective short stories can be. Always wry, cynical, and multi-faceted, McCrae's work stays with the reader.

Why this author has not won the National Book Award is beyond me. The writing is some of the best I've ever come across and worthy of a high literary prize. My only complaint with this book is that I'm not able to put it down. Nothing gets done around the house until I've finished. If you want something that will keep you reading until the wee hours, you just found it. Especially liked "Christmas Comes But Once a Year." I read it outloud to my husband and we were both rolling on the floor!

This book was recommended to our book club by another club, and we immediately took it up as our reading for that month. It wasn't long before the members started meeting each other on the street and in grocery stores with raised eyebrows and whispered questions such as "Have you gotten to the one about . . . " Let's just say that we were all captivated by this wonderful and exciting collection of stories. We all felt as if we'd just found some banned book in high school and were sneaking around with our secrets. Great fun, this slim volume is. Easy to read and full of shocking moments as well as touching ones.

As a keen observer of the human condition, Jackson McCrae is apt to tell a story from an angle that not many of us would expect. And this begs the question, "Who is he really observing?" Is it the characters in the story, or, is it us? My reason for saying this is because, as I read, I was struck by how my mind worked, trying to figure out what was coming, where the story was going, and what was being expected of me. I thought I knew who I was, what I was reading, and where I was being taken, but as usually, this talented author turned the tables on me (as I'm sure he's done to many others) and I found myself laughing at my misconceptions about the human race. Ever remember hearing what you thought was a dirty joke, only to get to the end and find out that the "dirty" part was only in your mind? That the actual joke was about something innocuous? That's sort of the way McCrae writes. He tells you a story, content that you know what it's about, and you sit there smug and comfortable. Then, the "real" story begins to unfold and you find yourself with goose bumps: in shock that you didn't see "it" coming. So again, the question is, "Who is he really making a commentary on?" Is it the people he writes about, or those reading, or, are they one and the same? I must also recommend his first novel, which I'm now reading for the third time (yes, it's that good, and I'm still trying to put all the pieces together), called "The Bark of the Dogwood." After you read "Children's Corner," I highly recommend you try "Dogwood" if you haven't already.

You must buy this book, if for nothing else, the story titled "Christmas Comes but Once a Year." It's about a writer who lives in New York and receives, each year, one of those cheesy Christmas letters from the relatives in the Midwest-you know the ones I'm talking about: they go on and on about the kids, what everyone had for dinner, who is in the hospital and are generally a boring yearly inventory of not much and a foray into the land of "Who cares?" But McCrae crafts a wonderful story out of a series of these, and the goings-on of the family will keep you in stitches. Each letter becomes more and more outlandish, the entire time with the writer ignoring her famous cousin in New York who has won awards and really made something of his life. As the book description says, it's a wonderful portrait of denial. I was reminded of Sedaris at times, especially when McCrae uses humor as he does in the "Christmas" story and another titled "My Brother Neal in Pensacola"-a story of cross-dressing gone bad (can it go any other way?). Some of the tales in this book are more far-reaching into the psyche. For instance, one called "Early Sunday Morning" is harrowing in its dry, subtle, dead-pan telling of a small boy who practices self-mutilation. Another, "A Forest of Green" is equally riveting and you'll find yourself glued to your seat, anticipating what's coming. If you're not a fan of short stories, don't worry, these will definitely change your mind.

This book is loads of fun! I bought it for my third grader, who is taking a field trip to see "Romeo and Juliet." I wanted him to have some familiarity with the storyline so he wouldn't be yawning cluelessly by the end of Act I. He loved it so much he wanted to discuss it! Even my husband who hates to read the stuff enjoyed it.
In short, the book is well done. It shortens the plays into a very long story-summary without the dramatic language that can be somewhat of a distraction. We're not talking Cliff's Notes here folks. This is just a handful of pages per play written on a level anyone can understand and enjoy. The book is not long so it's not intimidating. (Have you seen any books containing Shakespeare's complete works, lately? Mine could be used for a doorstop! It's huge!)
We paired this book with the comedy of "The Reduced Shakespeare Company's" version of Romeo and Juliet. My son is actually looking forward to the trip!

Romeo and Juliet

Felipe Gravier and Lorenzo Schiavo review:

We think that Romeo and Juliet tells the story of two star-crossed lovers whose families are in a terrible fight which prevents them from coming together. How far the couple will go to be together becomes the focus of the story. Of his richest poetry. The opening and closing choruses are some of his most outstanding work. Romeo's It is a brilliant love story but not much more. It still possesses however some wooing of Juliet is fabulously written. The Friar gets the best lines. Mercutio is one the best friends of Romeo. It is not as good as Shakespeare has written but it's still a fabulous book and up there with his best work. One part of the play we didn't like was that for the tow families get arrange there two kids had to die.
The English language wasn't finally finished so Shakespeare had the liberty to create words and play with the language, as he liked. That's why It was so difficult to understand what each character wanted to express so the teacher had to explain us each of that words and teach us all the words in that age and told us which were the words in the English of today.

Shakespeare is for kids and adults in E. Nesbit's creative mind. I always liked fairy tales, but I couldn't read Shakespeare very well. In Children's Shakespeare E. Nesbit turned his work into fairy tales without changing the story and morals. This book is not much like Nesbit's other books because it was written by Shakespeare, but I bet there are some simularities.

This book was a overall well writen book and I beleive E. Nesbit put a lot of hard work into her books in her life-time. I'm sure if she were alive now she would still be writing good books to this day.

This book provides lots of Shakespeare's Storys like "A Midsummer's Night Dream" and "Hamlet" with a children's fairy tale twist. The storys are the same as Shakespeare's, but easier for children to understand. My favorite story was Hamlet because I had just seen the play. A while after we read Children's Shakespeare and it helped me to understand Hamlet better.

I read and reread this book as a youth. The stories read much like classic fairy tales with tragedy, irony, and moral lessons. The writing is very accessible and encouraged me to seek out the full length "stories" in their original (play script) form once I was old enough (6th/7th grade) to really read them.

For a child who has a love of literature, these retellings of the great plays may start a life-long interest in Shakespeare's art (as they did for me).

This whole series is such a sweet story of friendship. I purchased them for my little girl and have enjoyed them as much as she has.

The Clarence and Smokey books are some of the funnest children's books we have found. My 7-year-old daughter loves them and has been reading them regularly for years.

In this installment, we find our western horse and city pig travelling back home to the city. Along the way, they meet an old dog with a passion for dancing. My students loved reading about Clarence in the first book and flipped over this selection. Really is a must for any collection!

I am delighted that author/illustrator, Jean Ekman Adams, has returned Clarence to his devoted fans with a second book. Clarence stole our hearts with his first adventure, "Clarence Goes Out West and Meets a Purple Horse." Now he and Smokey are off on another adventure and they have taken a dancing doggie along with them. The same endearing illustrations are found throughout this second offering and "the great surprise"...well is a great surprise. Clarence and friends are gentle souls with silent lessons abounding throughout their stories and illustrations, all of which will delight readers of every age. I eagerly look forward to the next adventure.

When we last saw Clarence, the pig, and Smoky, the purple horse, they were about to leave the dude ranch and head back to the big city where Clarence lives. They've packed their bags and are ready to begin their long journey, over the mountains and across the desert. "Clarence can hardly wait. But first, Smoky is going to show Clarence a great surprise. Clarence loves surprises." They travel, and picnic, they sleep under the stars in a tent, go fishing, nap, watch the clouds roll by, and even get to stay in a hotel. "Clarence loves the hotel. He really loves room service. Smoky orders hay." But best of all, they meet a new and special friend along the way. Old Edgar, the dog, hums and dances. In fact, he is such an amazing and energetic dancer that Smoky warns Clarence, "You'll have to watch him to make sure he doesn't twirl away." And as the three friends travel on to see the great surprise, that's exactly what happens..... For those who loved Clarence Goes Out West And Meets A Purple Horse, Jean Ekman Adams is back with another Clarence and Smoky adventure that's sure to warm your heart and tickle your funny bone. Her engaging text, with its simple message of friendship, loyalty, and acceptance is filled with gentle humor and begs to be read aloud. But it's Ms Adam's marvelously bold and bright artwork, rich in witty western detail, that makes this picture book sparkle, and brings these endearing characters to life. With a satisfying, happily-ever-after ending to complete the story, Clarence And The Great Surprise is perfect for youngsters 3-7, and is a sweet little treasure of a book, you don't want to miss.

At first my daughter and I were not big fans of this book. It took me a few readings to learn how to incorporate my daughter's favorite sounds -- animal sounds and "clapping" to the clip-clop sounds. But now, my daughter LOVES this book! She cries when we get to the end of the book and I usually end up reading it to her more than once. The repetition is great in that she is learning to identify each of the five animals in the book. Sounds such as "plop-plop" are music to baby's ears. Highly recommend it.

We checked this book out from the library and it has become one of my two-year-old's favorites. Toddlers will love the farm animals, and parents will enjoy (maybe) coming up with different voices for each animal. The text is simple enough that your 2-year-old will soon be reading along with you, and most likely will be galloping around the house saying "Clip-Clop!"

My daughter just giggles everytime we read this to her. Great buy!

My little niece loves it when characters in books fall down and then get up again. So this book is very exciting because the children go for an exciting ride, bounce in some straw, get up, and start again. The rhymes are very fun to read out loud!

Friendly Mr. Horse offers rides to the other barnyard animals. One by one, cat, dog, pig and duck ask to be included, and then to go faster, FASTER!! They start to fall, Mr. Horse "skids to a halt"-- and over they fly, into a haystack. Mr. Horse is worried, but his friends are fine-- and want to go "AGAIN!"

From the familiar theme, to the simple but evocative art, to the demonstration of manners (many requests are accompanied by "please"-- frequently enough to reinforce the message), this book is wonderful. My 3 year old wants to hear it again and "AGAIN!" and loves to show me where each animal is going to be on the next page. I enjoy the art, and the suggestion of motion and emotion. This book is a big hit with us both!

Williams's ear for dialogue, his eye for character, his exploration of love, longing and loneliness are as powerful in these short stories as they are in his plays. On occasion, the glimmer of a future work rises out of the text, such as the line, "But the sweet bird of youth had flown from Pablo Gonzales..."

Rarely do we assimilate Williams with short fiction, but Williams rivals Hemingway as being the greatest American short story writer. Never have I enjoyed every story in a collection before. His descriptions are concentrated and explode visions in the mind. The characters are richly unique and completely human and explore all the details of life so many never see. Good for a big time read, a partner on the beach, and as a study guide for society. A must own!!

For a small price you get the best of Tennessee Williams with forty-nine stories packed into 570 pages of crisp oblique dialogue that will keep you awake at night as you laugh in bed with the turn of each page. His characters are so unusual that you can only describe them as cast of freeks that we all recognize at one time or another in our travels. Mr. Williams short stories are a wonderful contribution to his craft and the American reader. The only negative is that I could not buy this in hardcover so I could share it with my yet-to-be-born children and grandchildren!

During his career as one of America's most distinguished playwrights (The Glass Menagerie, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, A Strretcar Named Desire), Tennessee Williams also produced four volumes of short stories. The contents of these volumes are combined with Williams's unpublished stories.

As Gore Vidal, the author of the introduction, notes these stories are "the real autobiography of Williams's art and inner life."

The stories are arranged chronologically, beginning with a vignette about his father and the Williams family. Whether written early or late in his life, the prose is pure Williams, related in his distinctive voice.

Together these pieces form a mosaic of his life and work, splendid dramas and vignettes that puzzle, surprise and enrich us.

- Gail Cooke

Tennessee Williams: Collected Stories (1985) is a highly readable if frequently unpleasant volume by an author who, like the Scottish novelist Muriel Spark, is one of the uncelebrated masters of the short story form. Beginning with Williams' first published work and including stories written just before his death in 1983, most of the pieces, which originally appeared in literary journals, are very much of their time, and thus powerfully reflect the degree to which Williams internalized the shame and self hatred he experienced as a homosexual male in a predominantly heterosexual and anti-homosexual society.

Never less than forthright to the point of bluntness, several of the stories wantonly revel in the repulsive and the grotesque, and thus seem intended not merely to illuminate but to shock and repel. In essence, many of the pieces seem like both acts of revenge and blows against the empire, but Williams was awkwardly wielding a double-edged sword, one which did not by any means only reveal the hypocrisies of those he intended to mock and revile.

In 'Hard Candy,' for example, an obnoxious elderly man who has been a lifelong 'secret' homosexual dies by choking while on his knees during a sexual act with a young drifter he solicits. Thus the story's title refers not to the sweets the man carries in his pocket as a means of establishing an opening dialogue with attractive strangers, but to a portion of the drifter's anatomy. Williams clearly intends the irony of the title to be so blatant as to be unironic, and this doubling, reflexive quality unequivocally establishes 'Hard Candy' as a piece of dark, unabashed camp humor. But such humor will always find only a limited receptive audience, especially since most camp humor today seems like little more than a long and happily outmoded culture artifact.

Throughout Collected Stories, most of Williams' homosexual characters are depicted in caricatural fashion, whether as overly poised, somewhat brittle aesthetes or as shrill, irresponsible merrymakers whose singular goal is continual sexual interaction with as many partners as possible. Those that fit neither of these categories are poorly socialized and isolated, but never developed in other ways so that they become shadow-casting, three dimensional characters for whom homosexual responsiveness is but one factor in their existence.

Not surprisingly, it is the objects of these characters' desire whom Williams depicts sympathetically, but these men, who are usually young, handsome, muscular, and somewhat unintelligent if not brutishly stupid, are typically one dimensional caricatures as well. In his short stories, Williams was at his best when describing those "betwixt and between" men who are ostensibly heterosexual but nonetheless nonchalantly open to passive sexual intercourse with other men, especially if money is involved. Thus, 'One Arm,' the story of a boxer who loses a limb in an automobile accident and then drifts into hustling before finding himself on death row for murder, is one of the most fully realized works in the volume.

Collected Stories also includes a number of powerful stories which revolve around heterosexual characters, such as the Caldwellesque 'Kingdom of Earth' and 'Miss Conte of Green,' but in these, as in the others, brutality, coarseness, and lasciviousness are the order of the day, and qualities such as integrity, respect for others, and fundamental human decency are presented as little more than sham social hypocrisies that have little genuine presence in actuality. Also included is 'The Knightly Quest,' a brilliant, extended piece of sociological science fiction which hilariously examines governmental attempts at cultural control and world domination as Williams perceived it in the Cold War era.

This book is beautifully written. It creates wonder and humor in each tale that appeals to adults and childern. This is the perfect book to sit down and share with your childern and entire family. There are important morals embeded within the enlightening stories that the author creates. I recommend this book to any adult who enjoys intelligent humor and to any parent who would like to share sweet fabels with their childern.

This loving and inspirational story is all one needs to get themselves to follow their dreams and to take the risk for adventure.It expands your mind plus in this very seemingly scarey world we live in now a days,it is evidence that there exsists an intuitive and thoughtful individual,Theodore Nottingham,his books are uplifting and written for everyone to expand their insight and to live in love and with courage.

Forget the self help books,which many times are sexist and limiting,dare to expand your creativity and imagination by reading this book of imagination and just plain fun!

Theodore Nottingham has a gift I've seen in few people,writers or whomever.His words flow,they make your imagination roam to places you probably haven't been to before.

Get this book,great for a cold winter night, also releaves tension,if you've had a tough day at the office,you'll forget all about it!

This book is beautifully written. It creates wonder and humor in each tale that appeals to adults and childern. This is the perfect book to sit down and share with your childern and entire family. There are important morals embeded within the enlightening stories that the author creates. I recommend this book to any adult who enjoys intelligent humor and to any parent who would like to share sweet fabels with their childern.

In "The Color Of The Wind," Mr. Nottingham has done a delightful job at creating outstanding, entertaining stories that also offer great views on the values of life. I couldn't think of a better way to spend quailty time with children than sitting down with them and reading these delightful tales to them. The beautiful artwork by artist Susan Moore provides a wonderful way to visualize some of the fantastic scenes painted by Nottingham in this book. I highly recommend it to all, young and old alike.

An interesting look at a world through the eyes of a character who functions as a Deus ex Machina. I enjoyed it.

Very sadly long out of print, it's well worth it to track a copy down... An overlooked classic.

The book was extemely intresting in everyway. I think I would recommend it to anyone who wishes to "think" more about the world around them.

If you know John Brunner's other work, well, this isn't like that. Traveller in Black is a collection of several mid-length stories that fit together in a progression. The nameless eponymous traveller, an agent of order, goes about imprisoning various chaotic entities and granting certain wishes. This works on several levels to give you allegories for the unexamined life, as well as a gripping adventure yarn.

In some ways, this book is a bookend to Larry Niven's "The Magic Goes Away" (and various sequels, etc.). The flavor and style is similar, although this book is very different. In any event, this is one of those touchstone books of fantasy: you'll see where other writers (including Niven's works cited above!) have "borrowed" some of the dazzling images in Brunner's classic. This gem is a great read and I recommend it highly.

That's the job of the magical Traveller, to use his magic to end magic. That underlying paradox provides the premise of this connected set of short stories. He travels the world at intervals, surveying the realm of unreason on each trip, and taking satisfaction in watching it shrink. Where he can, he applies his subtle magic in support of Reason's expanding domain.

Brunner explores Chaos's control and degradation of humankind in several of its ways. The first story tweaks mindless religion. It might even show how one can choose atheism, after encountering a god face to face and finding him unworthy of belief. Another of these gentle stories undermines magical thinking - again, not because it fails, but because its success is not worth having. And so with the faith in luck that makes Las Vegas the holy city of Chance, and so the unwarranted sense of entitlement that demands ever-richer result for ever-poorer effort at earning it, and so for blind pursuit of power irrespective of the cost or of who pays it. Since these stories are built around layers of paradox, Brunner's mechanism is itself a paradox, the smallest of magics to achieve the largest of consequences.

Brunner was one of the best SF writers of the 70s and 80s, author of "Shockwave Rider" and other stories of chilling prescience. Among all of his writings, though, "Traveller in Black" may be his finest and most under-stated, under-rated achievements. These stories have held up well over the thirty years since they were written; since they pass in a distant place and age, there is little in them that can look dated. I recommend these stories to any thinking reader.

//wiredweird

There are so few of these, especially from an English original. Buy it for your kids to learn more Spanish.

my son loves this book. he is 3(going on 30) and asks me to read it atleast once a week. i find it easy to follow if your child is following along in the english version. he has a great memory so he remembers the pics and when i am reading he is associating what he remembers to what i am saying and can understand most of the book. the use of what is on the pages in image and the words are very useful in introducing the language to a beginner. it actually helped me in my spanish 2 class!!! it is a fun and easy read, even for the tongue tied.

Unlike with Dr. Seuss, P.D. Eastman's books are so simple that translating them into Spanish is generally pretty idiot-proof; my son enjoys this book every bit as much in Spanish as he does in English. I would recommend it not only for preschoolers being raised with both languages, but even for older kids who are starting out with the language and remember the book in English. This is just the kind of simple, entertaining repetition that is great for building up basic vocabulary, at any age.

Great beginner reader in English or in Spanish. I teach a Spanish class for our area homeschooler's children. This is just what the dogcatcher ordered. I am able to compare English to Spanish with no problem.If you use VIVA EL ESPANOL ! teaching series you will like this book for your class.

My 7 year old son enjoys this book in Spanish - he is in a Spanish immersion class - learning Spanish all day in elementary school for the next 5 years. It's a great beginner reader book with fun pictures (and I'm learning Spanish, too, from it!)

There are at most a handful of male writers whose honest portrayals of male psyches ring true, and Giardina is certainly one of them. What's special about these stories is that men reveal their lives with women and children as the measure of themselves. And though the stories revolve around one theme, the voices vary; there is a scarily ruthless loser; a couple of men looking back on adolescence; but best, men talking themselves toward deeper commitment. If I didn't have a wonderful husband, I'd be jealous of this writer's wife!

Ever since reading "Days with Cecilia" in Harper's , I have looked for stories by Anthony Giardina everywhere. The Country of Marriage has fulfilled my need for stories that are written as I think - but in an elegant and beautiful country of words. The truth in these stories, written without regard for sniveling needs for ostentations or pretensions, is a fine breath of air after all the smoggy stuff now available. These are stories about the human spirit and ALL relationships and likely to appeal to anyone with sensitivity.

The Country of Marriage was great. It had a good beginning middle and end

I was trying to figure out why I liked this book so much because subject matter and other things were so bourgeois and a little pretentious - poets and professional type people drinking wine, listening to Jazz, going to therapy, driving semi yuppie cars, reading classics and watching foreign flicks. Despite all of that, it occurred to me, on my third or fourth reading of the first story, "I live in Yonville," that Giardina transcends. Without committing the sin of profundity, he reaches so deep (especially the first story, which, in my opinion, outshines the run of the mill contemp. lit. found in magazines and journals today and even the stories in this collection). He's got IT, as a writer. Reading Gardina is like getting high. He santifies those precious things we merely feel, on that touch and go level, though, we know it to be worth so much more.

Just when I thought there was not one man in this world who understood themselves, let alone other men, I stumble onto this book. Giardina writes such truth. His voice hits the mark on every imaginable relationship. It is hard to except such weak, yet successful, crap fiction from say....Nicholas Sparks, when there is an intelligent writer like Giardina, in the wings, waiting to save us all. Read this and recomend the book to your friends who give a damn. You will not be disappointed.