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

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euclid

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I'm looking for nominations for the number 1 best short story of all time, any genre. Let's say under 20,000 words.

Maybe if we get enough nominations we might hold a poll.

To get it started, I nominate:

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber
 
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RobJ

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Hard to pick a best of all time. Favourites include Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Fat by Raymond Carver, and Reunion by John Cheever. I could probably come up with a much longer list of candidates, though, if I thought about it.
 

Nathaniel Katz

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I can't see us coming to a consensus on this. My answer will no doubt change six times before bedtime tonight, but some of the stories that are consistently among my favorites: Thomas Ligotti's Gas Station Carnivals, HP Lovecraft's The Colour Out of Space, Leonid Andreyev's The Seven Who Were Hanged, Joe Hill's Pop Art, George RR Martin's With Morning Comes Mistfall, and Jeff VanderMeer's The Transformation of Martin Lake. No doubt forgetting at least a dozen tales on that superb level.
 

euclid

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I've read Flowers for Algernon. Brilliant story, but wasn't it a full novel?
 

Aaron Wilder

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Frederic Brown "Knock"

"The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door..."

Awesome, old school stuff.
 

Smish

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The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin.

I love it for its brevity.
 

Ari Meermans

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Number 1 best of all time? I have too many favorites to call any a number one but, hey, here are three of my favorites:

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge - Ambrose Bierce

The Jilting of Granny Weatherall - Katherine Anne Porter

A Jury of Her Peers - Susan Glaspell


Another, not nominated for "best", is one I love to re-read when I'm in the mood for a bit of hilarity:

Past Lives Club - Margaret Atwood
 

shelleyo

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Might be able to pick a best short story about love, and a best short story about the Nazis, and a best short story about dogs or death or whatever, but picking one out of a huge, diverse pile is kind of futile for me.

Still, lots of stories introduced to people who've never read them!

I can't pick favorites, but I can recommend these highly:

The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien

The Ledge, Lawrence Sargent Hall

The Lottery, Shirley Jackson

The Silver Dish, Saul Bellow

Too many more to name, but these always spring to mind when I think best because they still resonate with me, and I reread them with enthusiasm every few years.

Shelley
 

GreenRoom

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I think coming to a consensus on an overall best would be impossible - it's way too subjective.

My favorite story's The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It holds its place as my favorite because I love it, but even more, because of the sheer length of time I've liked it for.
 
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Chris P

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Another vote for "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," followed by "Tell-Tale Heart."

Honorable mentions: "The Happy Prince" by Oscar Wilde, "The Bottle Imp" by Robert Louis Stevenson, and "The Commandant's Desk" by Kurt Vonnegut. I do like modern stuff too, especially Dave Eggers, but the exact titles and authors of recent stuff escape me at the moment.
 

Tienci

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How silly of me to come in here and think I'd be the first to nominate Bierce's "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Ridge"! Needless to say, I fourth (or fifth) that piece, followed by Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart"...which actually might be tied with Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains."

In fact, if I was more well-read in Bradbury's shorts (the previously mentioned is the only one I've read), I suspect I'd be nominating a host of them; something about the way he wrote chapters of "Something Wicked This Way Comes" tells me his short-story writing must be stellar.

ETA- Another vote for "The Yellow Wallpaper."
 
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rugcat

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In fact, if I was more well-read in Bradbury's shorts (the previously mentioned is the only one I've read), I suspect I'd be nominating a host of them; something about the way he wrote chapters of "Something Wicked This Way Comes" tells me his short-story writing must be stellar.
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.)
 

dgaughran

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Oh,

Too many to list. I just read What We Talk About When We Talk About Love for the first time the other day, and that's got to get a vote for the title alone.

I stumbled across a great article in The New Yorker where you can see Carver's original submitted text and Gordon Lish's corrections; it's eye-opening. Really shows you the value of a good editor. You can read it here.

Dave
 
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RobJ

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Oh,

Too many to list. I just read What We Talk About When We Talk About Love for the first time the other day, and that's got to get a vote for the title alone.

I stumbled across a great article in The New Yorker where you can see Carver's original submitted text and Gordon Lish's corrections; it's eye-opening. Really shows you the value of a good editor. You can read it here.

Dave
If you're interested, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love has recently been published in its original form as Beginners.
 

shelleyo

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Oh,

Too many to list. I just read What We Talk About When We Talk About Love for the first time the other day, and that's got to get a vote for the title alone.

I stumbled across a great article in The New Yorker where you can see Carver's original submitted text and Gordon Lish's corrections; it's eye-opening. Really shows you the value of a good editor. You can read it here.

Dave

That is eye-opening. I seem to labor under the impression that people like Carver are brilliant all on their own. I would never have imagined there'd be that much red pen on a submitted story.

That makes me feel very, very good. Reading it carefully is also a good writing and editing lesson. Several.

Thanks for that link!

Shelley
 

Alvah

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All That You Love Will be Carried Away.

This is among Stephen King's best work, in my opinion.
 

MattJ

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Flowers for Algernon was the first thing to pop into my head.

Hard to pick a best of all time. Favourites include Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Fat by Raymond Carver, and Reunion by John Cheever. I could probably come up with a much longer list of candidates, though, if I thought about it.
 

MattJ

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Great. So now we have to be as brilliant as Carver AND Gordon Lish! :e2writer:

I stumbled across a great article in The New Yorker where you can see Carver's original submitted text and Gordon Lish's corrections; it's eye-opening. Really shows you the value of a good editor. You can read it here.
 

JoNightshade

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I am totally bookmarking this thread.

I'd also nominate a number of stories already named here, but to add another to the pile:

Edward Bear and the Very Long Walk, by Ken Scholes.
 
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