The first authorised selected collection of the twentieth-century's most influential short story writer. Selected and Introduced by Julian Barnes Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, John Cheever - variously referred to as 'Ovid in Ossining' and the 'Chekhov of the suburbs' - forever altered the landscape of contemporary literature. In a career that spanned nearly fifty years, his short stories, often published in the New Yorker, gave voice to the repressed desires and smouldering disappointments of 1950s America as it teetered on the edge of spiritual awakening and sexual liberation in the ensuing Sixties. Up until now, John Cheever's stories have only been available in Collected Stories, but with Julian Barnes' selection we have the first fully authorised introduction to Cheever's work. Satirical, fantastical, sad and transcendent, these are stories that speak directly to the heart of human experience, and remain a testament to the wit and vision of one of the most important and influential short story writers of the twentieth century.

John Cheever - the 'Chekhov of the suburbs' - forever altered the landscape of contemporary literature. In a career that spanned nearly fifty years, his short stories, often published in the New Yorker, gave voice to the repressed desires and smouldering disappointments of 1950s America as it teetered on the edge of spiritual awakening and sexual liberation in the ensuing decades. Selected for the first time, these satirical, fantastical, sad and transcendent stories show Cheever in all his brilliance and continue to speak directly to the heart of human experience.

John O’Hara is widely credited with inventing the New Yorker short story, and remains the most-published short story writer in the history of the magazine. Selected from his vast collection of short fiction written over forty years, these refreshingly frank, sparely written stories show him at his best. Exposing a world of bartenders and 'b-girls', car washers and criminals, O'Hara dissects the subtleties that bind humans together and the pressures that separate them.

This outstanding collection by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist John Cheever shows the power and range of one of the finest short story writers of the last century. Stories of love and of squalor, they include masterpieces such as 'The Swimmer' and 'Goodbye, My Brother' and date from the time of his honourable discharge from the Army at the end of the Second World War.

The collected stories by one of the greatest short-story writers in the world. These slow, beautiful stories - resolute and resonant - are small masterpieces: apparently simple but actually crafted with enormous skill and precision. Set against the unforgiving landscape of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, they are all concerned with the complexities and mysteries of the human heart, the unbreakable bonds and unbridgeable chasms between man and woman, parent and child. Steeped in memory and myth and washed in the brine and blood of the long battle with the land and the sea, these stories celebrate a passionate engagement with the natural world and a continuity of the generations in the face of transition, in the face of love and loss. As John McGahern says in his eloquent foreword: 'the work has a largeness, of feeling, of intellect, of vision, a great openness and generosity, even an old-fashioned courtliness. The stories stand securely outside of fashion while reflecting deep change'. Bringing together all Alistair MacLeod's short fiction, and including two previously uncollected stories, Island represents the great achievement of one of the world's finest storytellers.

A stunning collection of short stories by the three-times Costa prizewinner Not the End of the World is Kate Atkinson's first collection of short stories. Playful and profound, they explore the world we think we know whilst offering a vision of another world which lurks just beneath the surface of our consciousness, a world where the myths we have banished from our lives are startlingly present and where imagination has the power to transform reality. From Charlene and Trudi, obsessively making lists while bombs explode softly in the streets outside, to gormless Eddie, maniacal cataloguer of fish, and Meredith Zane who may just have discovered the secret to eternal life, each of these stories shows that when the worlds of material existence and imagination collide, anything is possible.

Contains the short story, 'The Daughter of Odren', published in print for the first time, and the brand new story 'Firelight'. Now for the first time ever, all together in one volume, The Books of Earthsea, contains the early short stories, Le Guin's 'Earthsea Revisioned' Oxford lecture, and new Earthsea stories, never before printed. With a new introduction by Le Guin herself, this essential edition will also include over fifty illustrations by renowned artist Charles Vess, specially commissioned and selected by Le Guin, to bring her refined vision of Earthsea and its people to life in a totally new way. - 1,008 pages - 56 illustrations (including seven lavishly coloured plate sections) - maps of Earthsea - stunningly beautiful endpapers - Six novels - 4 short stories - An essay Stories include: 'A Wizard of Earthsea', 'The Tombs of Atuan', 'The Farthest Shore', 'Tehanu', 'Tales From Earthsea', 'The Other Wind', 'The Rule of Names', 'The Word of Unbinding', 'The Daughter of Odren', and 'Earthsea Revisioned: A Lecture at Oxford University'

Take a bite of the Hellboy universe with the creators hand-picked essential stories in this new jumping-on point collection! Confront the undead, swim to strange places, and encounter powerful fey in this introduction to the world of Hellboy. Newcomers to the series neednt have read the original stories to jump right in and see what Hellboy is all about thanks to this collection of short stories, selected by Mike Mignola himself as the perfect introduction to his most famous comic book character! Featuring stories and art by Mike Mignola, with colors by longtime collaborator Dave Stewart, curious fantasy, horror, and occult readers looking for a taste of something different will love this new gateway into the Hellboy universe. Collects essential short stories from the world of Hellboy, as chosen by Mignola: The Chained Coffin, The Third Wish, Pancakes, The Nature of the Beast, The Corpse, The Baba Yaga, A Christmas Underground, The Ghoul, and The Troll Witch.

Take a bite of the Hellboy universe with the creators hand-picked essential stories in this new jumping-on point collection! Confront the undead, swim to strange places, and encounter powerful fey in this introduction to the world of Hellboy. Newcomers to the series neednt have read the original stories to jump right in and see what Hellboy is all about thanks to this collection of short stories, selected by Mike Mignola himself as the perfect introduction to his most famous comic book character! Featuring stories and art by Mike Mignola, with colors by longtime collaborator Dave Stewart, curious fantasy, horror, and occult readers looking for a taste of something different will love this new gateway into the Hellboy universe. Collects essential short stories from the world of Hellboy, as chosen by Mignola: The Chained Coffin, The Third Wish, Pancakes, The Nature of the Beast, The Corpse, The Baba Yaga, A Christmas Underground, The Ghoul, and The Troll Witch.

While F. Scott Fitzgerald was writing the novels we remember him for today, he was also publishing short stories in popular magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post and Esquire. Although many of Fitzgerald's short stories are celebrated and anthologised today, more remain out of print than would be expected for a writer of his stature. Some of these forgotten stories deserve to be rediscovered by the many readers who love Fitzgerald's work. Sarah Churchwell, author of the acclaimed Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and the Invention of The Great Gatsby, has selected eleven forgotten stories from throughout Fitzgerald's career that refract, in different ways, his most familiar motifs: the changing meanings of America in the first decades of the twentieth century, and the desire to reconcile rich and poor through a romantic search for glamour, hope and wonder. Each of these stories offers a riff on the theme of America, a world we have lost, but can hear echoes of in Fitzgerald's characteristically rich, vivid prose.

A stunning new collection of short stories about motherhood, selected and introduced by Candice Brathwaite. The story of motherhood is an endlessly rich one: it's one of love - and all the highs and lows that come with that world-turning emotion - and, in the purest sense, of life itself. Within these pages, some of the finest writers in the world explore motherhood in wildly varying modes, from single parenthood to sisters coparenting, from the deepest hardships to the biggest celebrations. Selected and introduced by Candice Brathwaite, author of I Am Not Your Baby Mother. Stories by Lydia Davis, Anita Desai, Mary Gaitskill, Tessa Hadley, Jamaica Kincaid, Toni Morrison, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Irenosen Okojie, Casey Plett, Tabitha Siklos, Helen Simpson, Ali Smith

A best-of story selection by the master of horror manga. This volume includes nine of Junji Ito’s best short stories, as selected by the author himself and presented with accompanying notes and commentary. An arm peppered with tiny holes dangles from a sick girl’s window… After an idol hangs herself, balloons bearing faces appear in the sky, some even featuring your own face… An amateur film crew hires an extremely individualistic fashion model and faces a real bloody ending… An offering of nine fresh nightmares for the delectation of horror fans. An exciting addition to VIZ's Junji Ito library, containing Ito's best short stories as selected by the author himself.

Short Fictions and Disturbances. A collection of short fiction by Gaiman, including previously published pieces of short fiction - stories, verse, a Doctor Who story, and a new tale that revisits the world of American Gods.

Short Fictions and Disturbances. A collection of short fiction by Gaiman, including previously published pieces of short fiction - stories, verse, a Doctor Who story, and a new tale that revisits the world of American Gods.

Faber Stories, a landmark series of individual volumes, presents masters of the short story form at work in a range of genres and styles. 'My only concern', John McGahern once said, 'is that I get the sentence right and describe my world clearly and deeply.' 'The Country Funeral' witnesses three brothers, John, Philly and Fonsie Ryan, as they travel west from Dublin to Gloria Bog - the heart of the territory where so many of McGahern's stories take place - to attend the funeral of their uncle. Depicting the customs and rituals of the day, McGahern exquisitely traces how the brothers react to the area in unexpected and tender ways, and face their own feelings about the transience of life. Bringing together past, present and future in our ninetieth year, Faber Stories is a celebratory compendium of collectable work.

This remarkable volume brings together all of John McGahern’s short fiction, fully revised, in a definitive text. McGahern has long been recognized as a contemporary master of the short story; The Collected Stories confirms his reputation as Ireland’s leading prose writer.