# Favorite short stories **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [May 31, 2026, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-stories/1030512 "2026-05-31T18:27:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2026, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-stories/1030512/101 "2026-07-15T00:01:23Z")
He said “member”, heh heh heh. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2026, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-stories/1030512/102 "2026-07-15T11:16:59Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > one of the things that got me reading the articles in _Playboy_ was a blind friend of mine, who quite enjoyed the articles and short fiction, and recommended them to me. > > Oh, and she was a woman. I don’t know if you are serious, but while I never read _Playboy_, I once purchased at a used bookstore, a collection of columns of Cynthia Heimel from _Playboy_. I loved her column in _The Village Voice_, so I thought I might like her work from _Playboy,_ despite the fact that it was for _Playboy_. And I did. Not enough to start buying _Playboy_s just for that column, but worth paying a used book dealer $2.95 + tax. I did find out through that book what kinds of things _Playboy_ did publish-- it even had some great cartoon, and not all of them were dirty. It was basically _The New Yorker_ with a few nude photos. ---
**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:** [July 15, 2026, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-stories/1030512/103 "2026-07-15T13:41:47Z")
Playboy interviews and articles were terrific for a young teen. The interview that always stuck in my head was a 1979 one with Wendy Carlos, who talked about transitioning while scoring a film for Kubrick. It was pretty mind-opening for a kid living in Texas, as were a lot of other interviews over the years. I also particularly liked Craig Vetter’s articles, where he would take on a dare (like biplane wing-walking) and write about it, and the short stories. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-stories/1030512/104 "2026-07-18T18:59:02Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I did find out through that book what kinds of things _Playboy_ did publish-- it even had some great cartoon, and not all of them were dirty. It was basically _The New Yorker_ with a few nude photos. I also finally understood finally, why there was occasionally-- less than once a year-- an issue of _Playboy_ in the bottom drawer of my parents’ study (what we’d now call a “home office,” I guess) desk, where my mother couldn’t have missed it, my brother was highly unlikely to find it, and they probably thought I’d never look either, but once I was hunting for onion-skin paper… ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-stories/1030512/105 "2026-07-25T22:47:30Z")
I believe his _Lifeline_ that you mentioned was his very first paid copy. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-stories/1030512/106 "2026-07-25T22:52:03Z")
I long ago gave up trying to stick to five. Although my OP has five I’m making a list for more. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-stories/1030512/107 "2026-07-26T00:10:49Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > [@teelabrown](#): > > > > Guy du Maupassant - _Boule de Suif_. > > I read his story The Necklace in school and still remember it. Wasn’t that one by Daphne? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-stories/1030512/108 "2026-07-26T00:24:27Z")
I’m referring to the story by Guy de Maupassant. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-stories/1030512/109 "2026-07-26T00:43:59Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > When I was a teenager, I read a terrific story in Omni Magazine called “Sandkings”. Only much later did I realize that it was written by George RR Martin. Wiki also says it’s a novelette, whatever that means, so I’m not sure if it counts here. When it appeared in _Omni_, it counted as a short story. I was gobsmacked when I learned that he had expanded it. But I guess GRR Martin’s gotta GRR Martin. > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > The original Omni had a lot of good stories. For some reason, I occasionally think about a scenario (from faulty memory) in which a time traveler presents Newton with a pocket calculator and he freaks out. I remember that one! Then Newton tried to safeguard his soul by only researching religious crap for the rest of his life. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-stories/1030512/110 "2026-07-26T00:57:26Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > There was a Braille version of _Playboy_, so someone was reading it for the articles. **Kaylasmom** , for one. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-stories/1030512/111 "2026-07-26T01:00:59Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’m referring to the story by Guy de Maupassant. Sorry, you’re right. I’m thinking of Daphne Du Maurier. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-stories/1030512.md?page=5)