Showing results by publisher "Audible studios" in Short Stories

Stories can be both entertaining and educative. They can also be insightful and illuminating, especially when they have travelled down the generations, through the centuries, taking on and eliding new meanings with each retelling. In this genre-bending book, the first of a series, Amish and Bhavna dive into the priceless treasure trove of the ancient Indian epics, as well as the vast and complex universe of Amish's Meluha (through his Shiva Trilogy and Ram Chandra Series), to explore some of the key concepts of Indian philosophy.

Mario and Luciano are twin brothers trying to scratch a dishonest living in the slums of Palermo. Mario is wild, dangerous, and a natural leader; Luciano is his brother's nervous shadow, reluctantly following him in all things. When the twins rob and kill a shopkeeper, Mario thinks they are going up in the world. He longs to be recognized by the Mafia hierarchy and will do anything to achieve his aim. The brothers move on to an ambitious bank heist and a bloody shootout in the streets of Palermo.

Trapped in a London flat, Beth remembers a transgressive love affair in 1960s Paris. The most famous writer in Russia takes his last breath in a stationmaster’s cottage, miles from Moscow. A father, finally free of his daughter’s demands, embarks on a long swim from his Canadian lakeside retreat. And in the grandest house of all, Danni the Polish housekeeper catches the eye of an enigmatic visitor.Rose Tremain awakens the senses in this diverse collection of short stories.

These interconnected stories are set in an opulent quasi-historical world of magick and high manners called the Republic of Califa. The Republic is a strangely familiar place - a baroque approximation of Gold Rush era-California with an overlay of Aztec ceremony - yet the characters who populate it are true originals: rockstar magicians, murderous gloves, bouncing boy terrors, blue tinted butlers, sentient squids, and a three-year-old Little Tiny Doom and her vengeful pink plush pig.

Irreverent and entertaining stories which Jameson describes as 'easy to pick up and more tantilising for one's bedside table than a novel'. This selection of Winifred Holtby's short stories is drawn from her two volumes, "Truth is not Sober" and "Pavements of Anderby", published two years after her death. The stories are irreverent and many are autobiographically based, focusing on the Yorkshire farming community.

Keep Your Friends Close is the third story in Granelli's hard-hitting series of Mafia tales. Using the vibrant backdrop of Palermo, old characters reappear to continue the internecine struggles of the Tomasso Cruci Family, where double-dealing, treachery, and violent retribution seem the norm. Granelli also brings in a police element for the first time in the form of Carlo 'CC' Carpanini and his memorable sidekick Leo Bracchi. It seems they are up against insurmountable odds.

Lucas will nichts als seine Ruhe in einer Welt, die ihn einfach nicht in Ruhe lässt. Eine Kurzgeschichte vom internationalen Bestsellerautor Fredrik Backman Videospiele, Wein und Pad Thai – das ist der perfekte Abend für Lucas. Andere Menschen? Muss nicht sein. Warum denn, wenn er auch alleine glücklich sein kann? Als der dreiköpfige Vorstand der Bewohnervertretung überraschend an seiner Tür klingelt und eine Inspektion seiner Bratpfanne verlangt, ist Lucas alles andere als begeistert. Doch Abwimmeln ist nicht.

A woman falling out of sync with the world; a king’s servant hypnotized by his murderous horse; a transplanted ear with a mind of its own—the characters in these 25 stories live as interlopers in a world shaped by mysterious disappearances and unfathomable discrepancies between the real and imagined, revealing the breadth and depth of Evenson’s uncanny vision.

A stand-up with writer's block embarks upon his last gig as a Rodney Dangerfield impersonator. Reflecting on a childhood holiday, a father is faced with the limit to which he can keep his daughters safe. These characters search without knowing what they seek. At the heart of this work is Eva, whom we meet in childhood, locked in an enigmatic relationship with her mother; as a woman stumbling from youth into middle age; and in later life as the mother to a daughter of her own. Each story lays bare the emotional and psychic damage of life, love and abandonment.

Evenson's first collection of 25 short stories and one novella, Altmann's Tongue (1994), garnered comparisons to Paul Bowles, Poe, and Kafka and is considered by many an existential masterpiece.

Chris Beckett's thought-provoking and wide-ranging collection of contemporary short stories is a joy to listen to, rich in detail and texture. From stories about first love, to a man who discovers a labyrinth beneath his house, to an angel left alone at the end of the universe, Beckett displays both incredible range and extraordinary subtlety as a writer. Every story is a world unto itself - each one beautifully realized and brilliantly imagined.

When five college friends cross America in a minivan to find themselves, they chance upon a road that isn’t on any map. They can’t resist exploring it. The van breaks down. They find a town, a massive trailer park steeped in squalor. The town isn’t on any map either. They find people in town. They’ll wish they hadn’t. The only sanctuary is the Big House - a giant mansion at the center of town that appears to be abandoned, only all the lights come on at night. Inside the Big House is the secret of the town. Inside, they’ll finally find themselves. They won’t like what they find.

During the American Civil War, rebel soldier Peyton Farquhar stands with a noose around his neck, about to be hanged. His mind is in turmoil; he must escape. If only he can free his hands....a chilling tale of terror.

This is a mini-sequel to The Other Son, a little gift for all those listeners who have been begging to know what happens next. Alice has been lying to herself for years, holding fast to the belief that the needs of her family far outweigh her own. But her outwardly successful marriage hides dark secrets, and for much of her life, the children were the only reason she stuck around.

In “The Pleasure of Her Company,” a lonely, single woman befriends the married couple next door, hoping to learn the secret of their happiness. In "Long Distance," a man finds himself relieved of the obligation to continue an affair that is no longer compelling to him, only to be waylaid by the guilt he feels at his easy escape. And in the incandescently wise and moving title novella, a dentist, aware that his wife has fallen in love with someone else, must comfort her when she is spurned....

A tourist becomes prey in this surprising journey into the secrets of a small town.

"The dull ones would never understand Cass. To the men she was simply a sex machine and they didn't care whether she was crazy or not." Bukowski's alter ego finds himself in a slow dance with the most beautiful girl in town, who also happens to be its saddest; a tale of loss and what might have been.

Meri Priya Kahaniyaan contains the favourite stories by the fierce and celebrated poet Amrita Pritam, selected by her. Amrita Pritam, the first female Punjabi poet, novelist, and essayist, and the leading voice of 20th-century Indian literature, was awarded Jnanpith in the year 1982. She authored more than a hundred compositions and has left a special mark in the stories, just like her poems, which are about female sexuality, self-realisation and the pain of loss at a time when women mostly wrote on conservative themes.

Satyajit Ray is well known for his contributions to Indian literature. His short stories often explore the macabre and the supernatural and are often marked by keen characterization. This collection brings together Ray’s best short stories - including such timeless gems as ‘Professor Hijibijbi’, ‘Ratan Babu aur Veh Admi’ and ‘Bhakt’. A collection of 12 short stories.

The 21 stories in this book are the greatest pieces of fiction written by Ruskin Bond. Chosen by the author himself, from a body of work built over 50 years, this collection includes well-known masterpieces like 'The Night Train at Deoli', 'The Woman on Platform No 8', 'Rusty Plays Holi' (from The Room on the Roof), 'Angry River', 'The Blue Umbrella', 'The Eyes Have It', 'Most Beautiful' and 'Panther's Moon' as well as newer stories.