# Best American short story ever **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 3, 2006, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037 "2006-07-03T13:51:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037/81 "2006-07-08T16:26:42Z")
[QUOTE=jackelope] Just wanted to mention that the author of “Paper Garden,” one of the stories included in _You’ve Gotta Read This!_, is a good friend and was a groomsman at my wedding. You should all read it immediately. My vote: “Paper Garden,” of course :), followed by Hemingway’s “The Snows of Kilimanjaro.” [/QUOTE] Wish “Paper Garden” appealed more to my taste, Jackelope. Has your friend published much since then? (Like him, I’ve been the youngest, least-published writer in a huge trade anthology featuring many famous short stories, but I haven’t been able to follow through so far. I’m still plugging away–is he? The same year I appeared in that collection, I also published a parody I called “The Nose of Killer Mangiaro.”) ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2006, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037/82 "2006-07-08T16:44:33Z")
[QUOTE=ddgryphon] I came back to mention “For Esme With Love And Squalor” by Salinger. I remember it as a short story, though it may actually be a novella. [/QUOTE] What’s the technical difference? I know some people say a short story should be read in one sitting. But I have read entire novels in one-to-two sittings. Is there a page number cut-off? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037/83 "2006-07-08T17:06:33Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] What’s the technical difference? I know some people say a short story should be read in one sitting. But I have read entire novels in one-to-two sittings. Is there a page number cut-off? [/QUOTE] Am I on your ignore list or something? Check post #71. > [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Novellas are considered stories. This is true in every genre, including literary. > > Esme is only about 10,000 words. You might call it a novelette, if you wanted to get technical. The sf world divides its awards into short story, under 7500 words; novelette, 7500-17,500 words; novella, 17,500-40,000 words; novel, over 40,000 words. These are pretty sound dividing lines for reference purposes. Anything under novel length gets referred to as a story, though. > > Short novel is a term sometimes used in the literary world for stories up around 40-50,000 words. They sometimes get published by themselves, more frequently in collections of “short novels,” and most often as stories in a collection. ---
**Author:** ![Foolonthehill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Foolonthehill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foolonthehill)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037/84 "2006-07-08T18:14:45Z")
Charles Bukowski; _This is an Evil Town_ Jim Harrison; _Woman Lit by Fireflies_ ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037/85 "2006-07-09T01:08:39Z")
[QUOTE=pseudotriton ruber ruber] Wish “Paper Garden” appealed more to my taste, Jackelope. Has your friend published much since then? [/QUOTE] He has, in fact; last year, he published a book of short stories featuring that one; the book is “Paper Garden and Other Stories.” Unfortunately, he went through what I consider a pretty shady publisher, and hasn’t seen a dime from it, even though it’s sold enough that he should have been paid by now. He’s working on a novel now, though he’s keeping it pretty close to the chest and won’t talk about it much, which frustrates my nosy self no end. He’s also gotten unsolicited nibbles both from a theater director in Vermont(?) who is interested in adapting some of the stories for the stage, and from someone with Lion’s Gate Films(!), who has expressed interest in adapting it for the screen. Both are pretty tenuous right now, but I have high hopes for it; of all the self-proclaimed “writers” I know, he’s clearly the one with no-shit Talent. Not to mention that he’s had a really tough couple of years and _damn_, I’d like to see something go his way for once. ---
**Author:** ![Sassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@Sassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sassy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037/86 "2006-07-09T16:50:42Z")
When I think short story, I think Arthur C. Clarke _ **The Star** _ ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037/87 "2006-07-09T16:52:40Z")
[QUOTE=Sassy] When I think short story, I think Arthur C. Clarke _ **The Star** _ [/QUOTE] It’s a wonderful SF-type O. Henry story. I don’t think he’s an American though by any stretch. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037/88 "2006-07-09T17:40:44Z")
_Heavy Set_ by Ray Bradbury, the scariest story ever written in which nothing happens. Hard to find anthologised - originally from Playboy October 1964. Aside - has anyone ever recognised Playboy’s contribution to short form fiction? I genuinely used to read it for the articles and short stories. _My Old Man_ by Ernest Hemingway. I get all teary whenever I think of the last few lines. The narrator’s father, a jockey, has died in an accident and Joey overhears a conversation about his father and Hemingway gives us this as the last lines: \*And George Gardner looked at me to see if I’d heard and I had all right and he said, “Don’t you listen to what those bums said, Joe. Your old man was one swell guy.” But I don’t know. Seems like when they get started they don’t leave a guy nothing.\* ---
**Author:** ![Ronck1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e47774/32.png) [@Ronck1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronck1)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037/89 "2012-08-12T23:27:17Z")
I believe the greatest American short story ever written is “Revelation” by Flannery O’Connor. I was so taken by the story the first time I read it that I kept rereading it. It is powerful and mezmerizing. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037/90 "2012-08-12T23:41:27Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien > . This should be axiomatic to any list of short stories. Fantastic. > [@Key\_Lime\_Guy](#): > > Cathedral by Raymond Carver I was surprised at how long it took to list this, bit I suspect Carver isn’t as canonical as he was 20 years ago. Still, it’s spectacularly smart writing. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037/91 "2012-08-12T23:52:41Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > Stephen King’s short story collection in \*\*Night Shift \*\* is arguably his finest writing. > > “Quitters Inc.” “The Ledge” and especially “Last Rung of the Ladder” are outstanding. > > Throw in “Sometimes They Come Back” and “I Know What You Need” and this makes for a must-have for your short story anthologies. I can’t remember if “The Mangler” is in that same collection, but that’s a great short story. ---
**Author:** ![MisterPeabody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@MisterPeabody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterPeabody)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037/92 "2012-08-13T02:26:34Z")
Haven’t seen these mentioned yet that I like. James Thurber “The Catbird Seat” Richard Connell “The Most Dangerous Game” Eudora Welty “A Worn Path” ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037/93 "2012-08-13T05:57:04Z")
John Steinbeck; “Flight” Richard Connell; “The Most Dangerous Game” Bret Hart; “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037/94 "2012-08-13T08:36:18Z")
Jeez, I thought I posted this six years ago: **White Gardens by Mark Helprin** (from his book [Ellis Island and Other Stories](http://www.amazon.com/Ellis-Island-Other-Stories-Helprin/dp/0156030608/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344846769&sr=8-1&keywords=ellis+island+and+other+stories)). Astounding. I read it thirty-five years ago and it still affects me. ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037/95 "2012-08-13T17:19:42Z")
There is no best, but I’ve never read anything I like better than Hemingway’s “Big Two-Hearted River.” It’s transcendently good, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037/96 "2012-08-13T17:25:22Z")
Yeah, “Cathedral” is superb. It’s really something. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037/97 "2012-08-13T18:20:31Z")
Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” gets its just praise but “Benito Cereno” needs props, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-american-short-story-ever/363037.md?page=4)