More favorite short stories of mine, in other categories:
Western: “The Cowboy’s Christmas” by Jack Schaefer.
Sports: “The Maltese Cat” by Rudyard Kipling.
Ghost: “Ghoulies and Ghosties” by Patricia Bridgman
More crossovers here. Both “The Cowboy’s Christmas” and “The Maltese Cat” have elements of fantasy. (The latter features animals speaking to each other. It’s about polo ponies.)
“Ghoulies and Ghosties” features one of my favorite opening lines: “Death did nothing to improve Will Lugg.”
I haven’t read the whole thread. Has anyone mentioned Edward P. Jones? He has produced two superior collections of short stories, called “All Aunt Hagar’s Children,” and “Lost In The City.”
Many of them are based in Washington DC, which especially appeals to me as that’s where I grew up.
If there is such a thing as the “African-American Experience,” Mr. Jones has nailed it.
Jack Finney’s The Third Level was in one of my English textbooks and I’d read it whenever I got bored in class.
I had never heard of it before, but having just skimmed it, in addition to saying it isn’t science fiction, I would also say it isn’t a story. Has the definition of the word “story” been stretched by now to include pieces of writing that contain no plot, characters, or events?
On another note, no love for Philip K. Dick in this thread? “The Golden Man” and “Paycheck” are two of my favorites.
My difficulty lies in my insistence on choosing only one story, per the thread title. I’d like to name The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by LeGuin, but that means I can’t nominate Eurema’s Dam by R. A. Lafferty.
Plus, there’s a whole passel of Maugham stories, such as The Verger, Jane, and The Vessel of Wrath.
I guess I’ll just have to settle on Asimov’s Death of a Foy.
Yes - great story, which builds to a perfect ending.
Another great story which makes me tear up: “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty.
Man, I ought to check in more often, to contribute to a thread before it’s over a week old. Anyway, I love short stories (mainly SF and horror), and could name a ton of favorites. But the top of the list is Stephen King’s The Last Rung on the Ladder which, interestingly, is neither SF or “horror.” It is, however, the biggest punch in the gut I’ve ever had reading a short story.
Other favs:
Adam and No Eve – Alfred Bester (SF)
Bullhead – David Drake (humor)
The Idol of the Flies – Jane Rice (horror)
Born of Man and Woman – Richard Matheson (horror)
Small Assassin – Ray Bradbury (horror)
The New Mother – Lucy Clifford (fantasy horror)
Tobermory – Saki (humor)
The Tunnel Under the World – Poul Anderson (SF)
Descending – Thomas Disch (SF/horror)
N Day – Philip Latham (SF)
I Am Become Poe – Kevin Quigley (horror/humor)
…and just about anything by “Lewis Padgett” (Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore) (SF/humor)
If I don’t stop now, I’ll list 50 more.