Showing results by publisher "Simply Media" in Anthologies

A hilarious Dickens story, with his masterly story-within-a-story format, about a sideshow and the various characters who inhabit it - especially a dwarf who seeks to gain property and go into society. He gets the money by winning a lottery and does enter into society, with hilarious and sad results. A rollicking good time, "Going into Society" is reminiscent of O'Henry and Mark Twain, too. One of Dickens' best humorous stories. Read by an American voice, per listener request.

Ambrose Bierce's "One Kind of Officer" is a story of the heartache of orders given without discretion in the field. Like so many of his Civil War stories, it is a thoughtful look at the problems facing soldiers during wartime. An abuse of power leads to a needless death in this classic American tale.

A Charles Dickens Christmas story about remembering the poor, forgotten, and overlooked once a year by the Christmas fire. This grand story sets up the bickering Big Wig family as a guide to the laboring Nobody family, led by a man named Legion, and nothing good comes of it. Legion's master discusses his losses in term of the poor and their habits and diseases. Legion points out it is one world: "What happens to us happens to you."

Spoon River has 244 accounts of the lives of people in the town that explain its goings on over a couple of centuries. Each free form verse is presented as an epitaph of one of the citizens delivered themselves, often criticizing the words said about them on their tombstone or the monument or stone left above them. The stories build on one another as well as reference various family members and others mentioned in other stories.

This is a Dickens Christmas story of remembrance, in the tradition of people remembering their past. In this case, the poor relation at a holiday feast given by a rich relation tells the story of his life, dominated by his being his own worst enemy through being soft and credulous as opposed to hard and sharp. The rich relation funds him in a meager amount and Michael, the poor relation, thinks he should not go first in anything, including telling stories around the Christmas fire, but is encouraged to do so.

A story that blends practical joking with death; the irony of the Devil's Dictionary is a live and well in this story. A jewel.

"A Dark Brown Dog" is an unexpected Stephen Crane jewel. Crane is best known for three short stories, "The Open Boat", thought by many to be the best short story ever written; "The Blue Hotel"; and "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky". "A Dark Brown Dog" is the first cousin of Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, in being set in the rough, tough world of the New York Bowery of the late 19th century.

The Man Without a Country is a short story by American writer Edward Everett Hale, first published in The Atlantic, during the height of the Civil War. It is the story of American Army lieutenant Philip Nolan, who gets entangled with Aaron Burr in 1807 and renounces his country during his trial for treason, saying he never wants to hear about the United States again.

This story wonderfully combines a murder trial and apparitions - or more plainly, ghosts. It describes a moment in the life of a bored bank official who has an alarming experience. A great story, smoothly presented by the pen of Dickens. (American accent narration.)

"The Signal Man" is a magnificent, tightly focused ghost story. Dickens' charm pervades this mysterious and ominous tale. Various grim events occur but feel somewhat calm - not bloody or appalling, but enthralling and other worldly. Dickens invests the signal-man with education beyond his station. This adds to the credibility of the story as well as impressing the narrator. A must-listen for Dickens fans. An American voice at the request of our listeners.

This classic collection includes Hemingway’s best short stories: "Indian Camp", "My Old Man", and "Big Two Hearted River", and less appreciated ones such as "Mr. and Mrs. Elliot".

A Bret Harte Western story about an interesting child, seven-year-old Melons, and his goings-on.

Enjoy 20 short literary stories from Coleridge & T S Eliot to The Wizard of Oz....

These are the 13 best known and respected short works of Stephen Crane. George's "Mother and The Monster" are particularly highly regarded but rarely read and almost never listened to. In addition, this audiobook includes "A Dark Brown Dog", "A Great Mistake", "An Experiment in Luxury", "An Experiment in Misery", "An Ominous Baby", "Flanagan", "His New Mittens", "The Five White Mice", "The Knife", "The Men in the Storm", and "The Veteran".

"The Nose" is the second best known story of Gogol, after "The Overcoat". A military major discovers his nose is missing and works to recover it. He finds the nose but it pretends to have a life of its own, as a fellow human. It in fact has a higher rank than the Major himself. The Major is perplexed, goes back to his apartment, and has the nose returned to him. With great joy he recovers his nose, only to find it won't reattach to his face. After much going on, he finds the nose reattached to his face.