It’s not world class, probably, but I love The Djinn Who Watches over the Accursed, by Stephen R. Donaldson.
Add my votes to those for Hawthorne’s *Rappacini’s Daughter * and Bartleby the Scrivener.
Can’t believe I misspelled “Sredni Vashtar”. Anyway, it isn’t American.
I know we’re already heavy with “genre” stories, but “It’s a Good Life” is a masterpiece.
“Tomorrow” by William Faulkner. One of the best stories ever about what it means to love.
No love for “Brokeback Mountain,” by Annie Proulx?
couple comments & questions -
first, Thanks to the original poster & respondents - I am not well versed in the short story form and appreciate all the recommendations. The straight dope has already given me leads to more good books than I can get to in my lifetime…but at least these are short.
second - Tho, as I said I’m no short story afficianado (sp?) I stumbled across a collection of them edited by David Sedaris, called Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules . Dumb name, but boy were there a lot of great stories in it, most not yet mentioned in this thread. I guess my taste must be similar to Mr. Sedaris. Anyway, check it out.
third - Does it matter how we define “short story”? Probably not - but I think of “Flowers for Algernon” and “Brokebak Mountain” as novellas. And while I really like “Those who walk away from Omelas”, is it really a story?
I love that one. It’s worth reading several times.
I’ll second A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner. Although I loved the classic Sourthern gothic aspect of the story, Faulkner’s technical proficiency was stunning. I haven’t read it for a while, but the story is written in five non-linear time sections. Each section is necessary to tell the story, and in that order. The bridge between each section is seamless.
When I was toying with short story writing, this story more than anything else let me know that I would never be able to play with the big boys.
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.
I think there’s a very good reason for that. Different formats are suited for different types of stories, which correspond roughly to the various genres. A character-driven story (like most “literature”), for instance, needs space to develop the characters properly, which generally means a novel. Short stories are better suited for concept-driven stories, and concept-driven stories are by and large “genre” (SF and mystery especially).
It’s a short story. It’s in the book Nine Stories, so even Salinger and his publisher thought so.
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.
All props to “Brokeback Mountain”, but Proulx’ “The Bunchgrass End of the World” is even more amazing, in my completely uneducated opinion.
Thoroughly seconded. Or thirded. Or fourthededed. I’m not sure where we’re at on this. The aforementioned story is the best of her best collection which goes by the same name.
I’m a big fan of The Eighty-Yard Run by Irwin Shaw, and Why I Live at the P.O. by Eudora Welty.
Love Saki, Vonnegut, Bradbury and Proulx most of all, but Stephen King’s You Know They’ve Got A Hell Of A Band (from Nightmares and Dreamscapes) is delicious fun. Who doesn’t love trapped-in-a-creepy-small-town-stories with slow revelations and horrific endings?
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.”
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty James Thurber.
Lots of Poe and Lovecraft.
After my first experience with Annie and Ang and not getting over it for a couple of weeks, I’m scared to read any more of her stuff. 
(I don’t think BBM would be a novella - it’s really a very short story - surprisingly short for the punch it packs.)
I’m astonished we managed to go this far into the thread without a reference to one of the handful of the finest, most subtle and nuanced short stories ever written (and my personal favorite), Hemmingway’s A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.
James Joyce – James Joyce! – called it “one of the best stories ever written”.
I’m astonished you claim to have read the thread and yet missed post #58.