Fiction > Short Stories

In this collection, Michel Faber revisits the world of his best- selling novel, briefly opening doors onto the lives of it characters to give us tantalising glimpses of where they sprung from and what happened to them.

Deft and lyrical, fearless and human, Michel Faber's new collection is his first in seven years and will seal his reputation as one of Britain's most arresting and important authors. Renowned for his pitch-perfect prose and brilliant characterisation, Faber is also celebrated for his mastery of wildly different styles. Within these seventeen stories he levels his gaze at humanity in all its despair, joy and mundanity. From the achingly sad lost lives of 'The Safehouse' through moments of exquisitely distilled happiness in 'V... read more

Published in early May, just in time for summer reading, Granta 106 is a special issue devoted to fiction. Look out for the best short stories of the year, extracts from the most exciting autumn books and an exclusive interview with critically acclaimed short-story writer Mavis Gallant by the Pulitzer Prize-winning and "New York Times" bestselling author Jhumpa Lahiri. First published May 2009.

A collection of ten stories about marriage and adultery, passion and infidelity, disappointment and revenge. Ford looks at commitment, boredom, responsibility and the cruel things people do to themselves and others through the need for and the fear of love.

Richard Ford, one of the finest American novelists and short story writers, introduced the first Granta Book of the American Short Story, which Granta published in 1992. It became the definitive anthology of American short fiction written in the last half of the twentieth century. In the fourteen years since, Ford has been reading new stories and re-reading old ones and selecting new favourites. This new collection, again of more than forty writers, expands Ford's original choice to include stories that he regretted overlooking fir... read more

Master thriller writer and worldwide Number 1 bestseller John Grisham takes you into the heart of America's Deep South with a collection of stories connected by the life and crimes of Ford County: a place of harsh beauty where broken dreams and final wishes converge. A mercy mission that is hilariously sidetracked by human weakness; a manipulative death row inmate with one last plea; a small town divorce attorney who suddenly hits pay dirt; a man that sets out to break a casino to revenge a broken heart; a kidnapped lawyer who is c... read more

As one of Britain's foremost poets, Ben Okri is rightly acclaimed for his use of language. And as a Booker Prize winning novelist, this skill was shown to particular effect in both "Starbook" (his most recent work) and in "The Famished Road". In "Tales of Freedom" he brings both poetry and story together in a fascinating new form, using writing and image pared down to their essentials, where haiku and story meet. Thus we discover Pinprop, the slave to an old couple lost in a clearing, who holds the keys to the universe in his quirk... read more

"The Museum of Doubt" is a new collection of surreal and unnerving short stories from award-winning writer James Meek. The array of characters who populate Meek's vague and elusive worlds are driven by paranoia and doubts, as well as hopes and fears of things only half-glimpsed. First publishd 2000.

"Written with such a lightness of touch that it seems miraculous, these stories are a further revelation of Tove Jansson's heart warming genius." - Ali Smith. "As smooth and odd and beautiful as sea-worn driftwood, as full of light and air as the Nordic summer. We are lucky to have these stories collected at last." - Philip Pullman. Following the widely acclaimed and bestselling "The Summer Book", here is a "Winter Book" collection of some of Tove Jansson's best loved and most famous stories. Drawn from youth and older age, and spa... read more

Twenty-one stories that, once again, open wide the window on what women really want.

A stunning book of short stories by the acclaimed fantasy writer. The distinctive genius of Neil Gaiman has been championed by writers as diverse as Norman Mailer and Stephen King. With THE SANDMAN Neil Gaiman created one of the most sophisticated, intelligent and influential graphic novel series of our time. Now after the recent success of his latest novel ANANSI BOYS, Gaiman has produced FRAGILE THINGS, his second collection of short fiction. These stories will dazzle your senses, haunt your imagination and move you to the very ... read more

The cowboys, strippers, labourers and magicians of Pilgrims are all on their way to being somewhere, or someone, else. Some are browbeaten and world-weary, others are deluded and naive, yet all seek companionship as fiercely as they can. A tough East Coast girl dares a western cowboy to run off with her; a matronly bar owner falls in love with her nephew; an innocent teenager falls hopelessly for the local bully's sister. These are tough heroes and heroines, hardened by their experiences, who struggle for their epiphanies. Yet hope... read more

'Tobias Wolff's first two books, "In the Garden of the North American Martyrs" and "Back in the World", were a powerful demonstration of how the short story can 'provoke our amazed appreciation" - ("New York Times Book Review"). In the years since he's written a third collection, "The Night in Question", as well as a pair of genre-defining memoirs ("This Boy's Life" and "In Pharaoh's Army"), the novella "The Barracks Thief", and, most recently, a novel, "Old School".Now, he returns with fresh revelations about biding one's time, or... read more

This rich story collection will be a reminder to Nadine Gordimer's countless admirers, and a taster for the uninitiated, of her enduring imaginative power. A woman gauges the state of her marriage by the tone of her husband's cello; a wife reads her husband's mood by the scent in the nape of his neck; a newly emigrated couple are divided by visual obsession, he with his native Budapest, she with South African suburbia. With consummate artistry, Gordimer illustrates the show downs, standoffs and highlights of human intimacy while pe... read more

Funny, moving and sharply observed, these stories are confirmation of Boyd's status as one of English fiction's finest writers. Here are twenty-four gripping tales told in bold, distinct voices from Brazil to Africa and from Nice to Hollywood. This eclectic collection by the acclaimed author of "Restless and Brazzaville Beach" is a must-read for any lover of the short story.

Senses play a telling part in three of the stories in Nadine Gordimer's magnificent new collection. In one we meet a woman who can gauge the stability of her marriage by the tone of her husband's cello, and in another by the scent in the nape of her husband's neck. For one couple who emigrate to South Africa, the husband's gaze remains firmly fixed on their native Budapest, while his wife is spellbound by the visual pleasures of their new homeland. There is lively conversation amongst recently departed literary luminaries in the Ch... read more

Selected stories from her previous books Sandpiper and Aisha collected together for the first time. In these selected stories from her collections Aisha and Sandpiper, Ahdaf Soueif writes about love and displacement in prose that is delicately nuanced and acutely observed. These are achingly lyrical stories, resonant and richly woven. But they always retain an edginess as they explore areas of tension - where women and men are ensnared by cultural and social mores and prescribed notions of 'love', where the place you are is not ... read more

Dazzling short fiction from Booker Prize winner, Margaret Atwood. One of the world's most celebrated authors, Margaret Atwood has penned a collection of smart and entertaining fictional essays, in the genre of her popular books Good Bones and Murder in the Dark, punctuated with wonderful illustrations by the author. Chilling and witty, prescient and personal, delectable and tart, these highly imaginative, vintage Atwoodian essays speak on a broad range of subjects, reflecting the times we live in with deadly accuracy and knife-edge... read more

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Following in the footsteps of the late great Lester Bangs -- the most revered and irreverent of rock 'n' roll critics -- twenty-four celebrated writers have penned stories inspired by great songs. Just as Bangs cast new light on a Rod Stewart classic with his story "Maggie May," about a wholly unexpected connection between an impressionable young man and an aging, alcoholic hooker, the diverse, electrifying stories here use songs as a springboard for a form dubbed the lit riff. Alongside Bangs's classic work, you'll find storie... read more