The #1 Best Short Story of All Time/Favorite Short Story

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pangalactic

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His first published book was Dark Carnival, a collection of short stories. It was reprinted later, with some of the stories left out as The October Country.

A writer of immense talent, and every story in that book is a gem. Reps to anyone who can identify the story whose last line is "But when the jellyfish calls you by name. . ." (Or something close -- it's been a while.)

That story is Skeleton, and it's got one of the best final paragraphs of any story I've read. The actual line is "It was when the jellyfish called you by name...", though it means nothing out of context.

As far as best short stories? I'll second The Yellow Wallpaper, and add October In The Chair or The Price by Neil Gaiman and put in another vote for Pop Art by Joe Hill. There's a story I read a long time ago, too, about a man who finds himself stuck on eternally descending escalators, but I can't remember who wrote it or what it was called, which is infuriating. Reps for anyone who can point me in the right direction.
 
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euclid

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My nomination for best SF story is (*drum roll*):

Seven-Day Terror by R A Lafferty
 
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alleycat

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Since others have mentioned a few of the ones I might consider (Owl Creek, Poe), I'll offer one by Hemingway: The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.

Has anyone suggested The Lottery by Shirley Jackson? It was a staple to be read when I was in school.

There are so many great short stories, it's impossible for me to really pick a favorite. I think of Stephen Crane, Raymond Chandler, Jesse Stuart, Twain, London, and a host of others.
 
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ElisabethF

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For me, it's got to be by O. Henry. Admit that, and then we can start debating which one is his best. :) (By the way, nobody's mentioned 'The Gift of the Magi' yet?)

And don't forget Saki. I loved 'The Schartz-Metterklume Method.'
 

rugcat

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That story is Skeleton, and it's got one of the best final paragraphs of any story I've read. The actual line is "It was when the jellyfish called you by name...", though it means nothing out of context.
Correct, and thanks for the correction.


ElisabethF said:
And don't forget Saki. I loved 'The Schartz-Metterklume Method.'
And "The Open Window," a short short, and clever indeed. How to set a tone, make characters seem real, give a sense of place, and a have great twist -- all in three pages.
 

Chris P

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Bookmarking this thread as well! There's so much good stuff, and it's inspired me to read more modern stuff too.

Oh, I thought of O Henry and Gift of the Magi, but sometimes good stories get too much exposure and become cliche, even if they are the ones that started the cliche!
 

Alchemenos Prausti

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Don't know that it's under 20,000 words, but "The Dead" by Joyce. If that's too long, then "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" by Salinger. Or one of a dozen or so by Hemingway.
 

Sarah Madara

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It might not be the best (though it's darn good), but the short story that has stuck with me the most through the years is "All Summer in a Day," by Ray Bradbury.
 

Colin L

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"A Study in Emerald" by Gaiman

"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Garcia Marquez

"Conscience" by Italo Calvino

Among my favorites.
 

Soccer Mom

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Awesome thread. The first thing I thought of was "has to be a Bradbury." Not sure which one. "All Summer in a Day," ranks right up there. Owl Creek and Yellow Wallpaper also belong in the discussion.
 

Tienci

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Oh, I thought of O Henry and Gift of the Magi, but sometimes good stories get too much exposure and become cliche, even if they are the ones that started the cliche!

Exactly; I felt the same.

Meanwhile, I'll go ahead and back up "The Monkey's Paw" as well; read it in tenth grade or so and don't really remember all the details, but the fact that I remember the general story and its name considering all the stories I used to read (although probably because of having to do a school assignment based on it) makes it a standout as well.

Hmm...most of the top nominated stories seem to be pretty dark...are there any recommendations for super, lighter ones? Maybe a few of those I didn't recognize in this thread are...

*Off to find Bradbury's "Skeleton" and "All Summer In A Day"*
 

RobJ

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*Off to find Bradbury's "Skeleton" and "All Summer In A Day"*
Yeah, me too. Looks like being a beautiful day here, and I have a copy of them both in Volume 1 of his collected stories, so I'll sit out in the garden with a beer and give them a read in the sunshine.
 

feeblepizza

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I'm just going to say anything by Stephen King. He's one of the best short story writers of all time, IMHO.
 

Chris P

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I've been printing out some of these to read on the treadmill.
 

Haggis

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Awesome thread.
Totally awesome thread. Somebody (other than me) ought to stick these selections into a spreadsheet and rank them so we can come up with our own AW's Top 100 List of Short Stories.

You know, so many of these are available for free on line that it almost seems like a sin not to read them.
 

whacko

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No Sherlock Holmes I deduce. So I'll pitch in The Boscombe Valley Mystery.
 

Summonere

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"'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman", by Harlan Ellison. This was the first story I ever read that was so full of energy it seemed alive and bouncing on the page.
 

SJp

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"Candide" by Voltaire, "The Metamorphosis" by Kafka, "2 B R O 2 B" by Vonnegut, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Conner, "The 400-Pound CEO" by George Saunders, "The Man who Became Himself" by Charles Yu...

I tend to enjoy (dark) satire in my short stories, but I regret that I'm not as fluent as many of you are in reading short stories. There are a number of stories posted in this thread that I'm not familiar with. Thank you for restocking my reading list. :)

How could I have forgotten this one? They're Made out of Meat, by Terry Bisson:

http://www.terrybisson.com/page6/page6.html

Love that.

I saw a student film based on the story a few years ago. Actually, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaFZTAOb7IE
 
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