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Lists of celebrated short fiction by author and region and curated collections you should add to your home library.

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Ernest Hemingway

List of the best short story writers of all time. From Voltaire to George Saunders, a complete list of the greatest short story authors who have written works in English or whose works have been translated into English.&nbsp;Usually, short fiction features a small cast of characters and is focused on one incident or anecdote and one overall mood, such as <a href="https://commaful.com/tags/romantic/" target="_blank">romance</a>, <a href="https://commaful.com/tags/funny/" target="_blank">humor</a>, or <a href="https://commaful.com/tags/sad%20love/" target="_blank">sadness</a>. Complex stories with sweeping timelines and superfluous characters are not often written in the short story medium, because there is simply not enough time to develop more than one or two cohesive thoughts. The best short story writers think that writing short-fiction is a completely&nbsp;separate art form than writing a novel, but some would argue that <a href="https://commaful.com/writers/" target="_blank">writing short stories</a> is great practice for writing a full length work of fiction.&nbsp;Because of the constraints of page length, great short story writers have to use language that is descriptive and quickly sets the scene or develops their characters. Hemingway is notoriously good at short, pithy stories. One of his most famous is the world's shortest short story: “For Sale, Baby Shoes, Never Worn.” Very short stories are also known as flash-fiction.Like Hemingway, the best short story authors can paint a picture with their words in a short amount of time. If you like books but don't have time to read novels, reading short stories could be a great option for you. Many of <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-novelists-of-all-time/ranker-books">the best novelists of all time</a>&nbsp; have also written good short stories. Often, this type of fiction is sold in short story collections or anthologies. Use this list to discover new authors of short-fiction and vote on your favorites.

Ficciones

List of the best collections of short stories with most written by one author or stories edited into a compilation that have the same theme. The list is categorized by the first publication date for these short story collections. &nbsp;This list asks, “What is the best collection of short stories?” with authors ranging from all time periods and covering various topics. Authors included are James Joyce, Anton Chekhov, David Sedaris, Stephen King and many more. Some authors show up on the list multiple times, so be sure to vote on the author’s work and not just the author themselves. These short story collections will be ordered depending on their ranking by voters. Short stories have started to become more popular as the internet has given more opportunities for creativity and exposure through digital options. Short stories and the collections of them can be more popular as readers are busier and only have time to devote to a short story instead of a novel. If your favorite short story collection does not appear on the list to vote on then be sure to add it to the list so that other readers can share their opinion on whether it is the best by voting on it.

Books

List of the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-short-story-writers-of-all-time/ranker-books?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best short stories</a> from Russian writers that exemplify the Romanticism, Silver Age and 20th century of Russian literature. Topics covered in these Russian short stories range from political ideologies to realism principles. Works on this list were written by short story Nobel Prize winner Ivan Bunin, as well as other renowned authors that may be more recognizable for the novels they produced during the time, like Vladimir Nabokov and F. Dostoyevsky.This lists asks the question, “What is the best Russian short story?” with plenty of stories to choose from to cast your vote on. Authors such as Alexander Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy, Nikolai Gogol and Maxim Gorky appear on the list of the best Russian short stories. The stories listed are in no particular order until votes start coming in, then the most popular stories will be toward the top. If your favorite Russian short story is not on the list with these best titles, then add the title to the list so that others can vote, as well. The titles have the authors listed along with photographs of the authors.

The absolute best Franz Kafka short stories of all time, ranked by the votes of the community. This list has the most popular Franz Kafka short stories. Kafka, born in 1883 in Prague, is most widely known for his masterpiece short story &quot;The Metamorphosis&quot; (&quot;Die Verwandlung&quot;). Kafka's work often focuses on themes of alienation and brutality. What are the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-short-story-writers-of-all-time/ranker-books?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best short stories</a> ever written by Franz Kafka? &nbsp; This list features the absolute best Franz Kafka short stories. The titles are listed based on the community's votes and include &quot;The Metamorphosis,&quot; &quot;In The Penal Colony,&quot; and &quot;Description of a Struggle.&quot; Cast your votes below for the best short stories Franz Kafka wrote, and see how he ranks among the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-novelists-of-all-time/ranker-books">best novelists of all time</a>.

The Killers

The absolute best Ernest Hemingway short stories of all time, ranked by the votes of the community. This list has the most popular Ernest Hemingway short stories. One of the most famous authors in literature, Hemingway was born in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois, and is known for his many iconic novels, and he even won the Novel Prize in Literature in 1954. However, he also published six short story collections. What are the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-short-story-writers-of-all-time/ranker-books?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best short stories</a> written by Ernest Hemingway?This list features the absolute best Ernest Hemingway short stories. The titles are listed based on the votes cast by the community and include &quot;The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,&quot; &quot;The Capital of the World,&quot; &quot;The Snows of Kilimanjaro,&quot; &quot;Old Man at the Bridge,&quot; and &quot;A Very Short Story.&quot; Cast your votes for the best short stories by Hemingway below and be sure to vote for your favorite <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-ernest-hemingway-books/reference">Hemingway books</a> as well!

Everything That Rises Must Converge

The absolute best Flannery O’Connor short stories of all time, as ranked by the community. This list has the most popular Flannery O’Connor short stories. O'Connor was a novelist, short story writer, and essayist, born in Savannah, Georgia in 1925. She often wrote in the Southern Gothic style and the American South featured prominently in her works. In 1972, her collection Complete Stories won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction, but what are the best Flannery O’Connor short stories ever written?This list features the best of Flannery O’Connor's short stories. The titles are listed based on the community's votes and include works such as &quot;The Geranium,&quot; &quot;The Barber,&quot; &quot;Judgment Day,&quot; and &quot;Good Country People.&quot; Cast your votes below for which Flannery O'Connor short stories are the best and be sure to see where she ranks on the list of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-short-story-writers-of-all-time/ranker-books">best short story writers of all time</a>.

The Wild Swans

Hans Christian Andersen has written some of the most iconic and well known children stories of all time. His stories have spanned generations, teaching good morals and life lessons with his timeless tales. Which Hans Christian Andersen story is the best?Vote up which of Andersen's stories you like the most, and vote down the ones you think aren't so great. Are you surprised to see that he's written so many great stories?

Literature

The Third Man

Some of the greatest movies in the history of film were based on a short story. Authors like Edgar Allan Poe have inadvertently shaped the film industry with their literary classics that were eventually turned into movies. What are the best movies based on short stories? Vote up the best films below and see where your favorites rank! &nbsp; The movies on this list were all based on short stories or novellas and have been ranked by users as the best. The genres featured here range from classic black and white films to more recent box office hits. You might have read the short fiction or novella these films were based on, or maybe you are just learning that these movies were based on one. &nbsp; This list features the best movies based on short stories including, The Shawshank Redemption, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Million Dollar Baby, Brokeback Mountain, and Minority Report. Vote up the best movies below or add one you love that isn't already on the list.

The absolute best J. D. Salinger short stories of all time, ranked based on the community's votes. This list has the most popular J. D. Salinger short stories, and includes related images and publishing information as well. Jerome David &quot;J. D.&quot; Salinger was an American writer <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-people-from-new-york-city/reference?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">born in New York City</a> in 1919. Most well known for his novel The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger also wrote a number of short stories that received much critical acclaim. What are the best short stories written by J. D. Salinger?This list features the absolute best J. D. Salinger short stories. The titles are listed based on the number of votes cast for each story, and your votes can help determine the order as well! Included among the best Salinger short stories are &quot;A Perfect Day for Bananafish, &quot;For Esme – with Love and Squalor,&quot; &quot;Teddy, &quot;The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls,&quot; &quot;The Laughing Man,&quot; and &quot;Just Before the War with the Eskimos.&quot;Cast your votes for the best J. D. Salinger short stories below and be sure to check out some of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/j-d-salinger-quotes/speakeasy">best Salinger quotes</a> as well!

The absolute best Anton Chekhov short stories of all time, ranked by the community. This list has the most popular Anton Chekhov short stories. Chekhov was born in Taganrog, Russia in 1860. He is known for his plays as well as his short stories, and was also a practicing medical doctor throughout his literary career. His works often asked many more questions than they answered, and he was one of the first writers to use the stream-of-consciousness technique. What are the best Anton Chekhov short stories ever written?This list features the absolute best and most famous Anton Chekhov short stories. The titles are listed based on the votes of the community and include "The Death of a Government Clerk," "The Chameleon," "Small Fry," "The Huntsman," and "A Living Chattel." Cast your votes for the best Chekhov short stories below and see where he ranks among the other <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-short-story-writers-of-all-time/ranker-books">best short story writers of all time</a>.

Berenice

The absolute best Edgar Allan Poe stories of all time, ranked by the community. This list has the most popular Edgar Allan Poe stories. Poe, born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1809, is one of the most famous authors of all time, known for his short stories and poems. Part of the American Romantic Movement, his writing often featured mystery and macabre, and he is widely credited as the inventor of the genre of detective fiction. What are the best Edgar Allan Poe stories ever written? &nbsp; This list features the absolute best Edgar Allan Poe stories. The titles are listed based on the votes cast by the community and include. &quot;The Black Cat,&quot; &quot;The Fall of the House of Usher, &quot;The Sphinx,&quot; &quot;The Murders in the Rue Morgue,&quot; and &quot;The Tell-Tale Heart.&quot; Cast your votes for the best Edgar Allan Poe stories below - stories written by one of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-short-story-writers-of-all-time/ranker-books">best short story writers</a> and <a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/best-crime-authors">best crime authors of all time</a>.

One of <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-american-authors/ranker-books?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">the greatest American writers</a> of all time, William Faulkner has written countless novels, poems, screenplays, and short stories. Both a Pulitzer Prize and a Nobel Prize winner, Faulkner is known for his stories taking place in the rural South, a place where he spent the majority of his life.This list focuses on all of Faulkner's short stories. Vote up the stories you like the most, and vote down the ones you think aren't so great. If you've never read William Faulkner's writing, we suggest you do!

The absolute best Raymond Carver stories of all time, ranked by the community as the greatest. This list features the most popular Raymond Carver stories. Carver was an author, short story writer, and poet, born in Clatskanie, Oregon in 1938. His works helped to revitalize th short story format in American literature, and he is noted as one of the best authors of the 1980s. But what are the best Raymond Carver stories of all time? &nbsp; This list features the absolute best Raymond Carver stories, and ranked based on the opinions of voters. It includes popular Raymond Carver stories such as: &quot;Cathedral,&quot; &quot;What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,&quot; and &quot;A Serious Talk.&quot; Cast your votes below for the best stories by Raymond Carver, one of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-short-story-writers-of-all-time/ranker-books">best short story writers of all time</a>.

The Enormous Radio

The absolute best John Cheever short stories of all time, ranked by the community. This list has the most popular John Cheever short stories. Cheever was a novelist and short story writer, boring in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1912. Often called &quot;the Chekov of the suburbs,&quot; Cheever's work looked at the dualities of human nature and was often set in Manhattan, Massachusetts, and Italy. What are the best John Cheever short stories ever written? &nbsp; This list features the absolute best John Cheever short stories. The titles are listed based on the community's votes and include &quot;The Enormous Radio,&quot; &quot;Goodbye, My Brother,&quot; &quot;The Country Husband,&quot; &quot;The Five-Forty-Eight,&quot; and &quot;The Cure.&quot; Cast your votes below for John Cheever's best short stories and see where he ranks among the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-short-story-writers-of-all-time/ranker-books">best short story writers of all time</a>.

The absolute best O. Henry stories of all time, ranked by the community's votes. This list has the most popular stories written by American writer O. Henry, and includes related images and first published information as well. O. Henry, the pen name of William Sydney Porter, was born in 1862 in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is widely known for his distinct short story style, including wordplay and twist endings. What are the best of O. Henry's stories?This list features the absolute best O. Henry stories. The titles are listed based on the number of votes cast for each story, and your votes can affect the order as well! Included among O. Henry's best stories are&quot; The Gift of the Magi,&quot; &quot;The Ransom of Red Chief,&quot; &quot;Cabbages and Kings,&quot; &quot;After Twenty Years,&quot; and &quot;Whirligigs.&quot; Cast your votes for the best O. Henry stories below and see where he ranks among the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-short-story-writers-of-all-time/ranker-books">best short story writers of all time</a>.

The Art of the Short Story

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Best O Henry Stories | List of Stories Written By O Henry

The Best O. Henry Stories

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The Gift of the Magi

"The Gift of the Magi" is a short story, written by O. Henry, about a young married couple and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. As a sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving, it has been a popular one for adaptation, especially for presentation at Christmas time. The plot and its "twist ending" are well-known, and the ending is generally considered an example of comic irony. It was allegedly written at Pete's Tavern on Irving Place in New York City.
The story was initially published in The New York Sunday World under the title "Gifts of the Magi" on December 10, 1905. It was first published in book form in the O. Henry Anthology The Four Million in April 1906.

The last leaf

After Twenty Years

The Ransom of Red Chief

The Cop and the Anthem

A Retrieved Reformation

Cabbages and kings

Cabbages and Kings is a 1904 novel written by O.Henry, set in a fictitious Central American country called the Republic of Anchuria. It takes its title from the poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter", featured in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass.

Calloway&#39;s Code

Roads of destiny

The Skylight Room

The Princess and the Puma

Money Maze

Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen

Options

A Cosmopolite in a Cafe

The Harbinger

The Harbinger is a 2012 best-selling Christian novel by Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, a Messianic Jew. It suggests that the 9/11 terrorism attack was a divine warning to the United States. Cahn ties the 9/11 attacks to Isaiah 9:10, which reads: "The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars".
Cahn was a speaker at the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Prayer Breakfast - not to be confused with the National Prayer Breakfast - in Washington, D.C.

Blind Man&#39;s Holiday

The Voice of the City: Further Stories of the Four Millions

Aristocracy Versus Hash

Furnished Room

The furnished room, and other stories

By Courier

Conscience in Art

Heart of the West

Extradited from Bohemia

While the Auto Waits

The absolute best O. Henry stories of all time, ranked by the community's votes. This list has the most popular stories written by American writer O. Henry, ...