Showing results by publisher "Penguin Audio" in Short Stories

Written immediately before Ágota Kristóf's acclaimed Notebook trilogy, the works here oscillate between parables, surrealist anecdotes, and stories animated by a realism stripped to the bone. By turns harrowing and whimsical, cruel and sharply funny, Kristóf’s world shifts our gaze to a shared reality, past and present. Here exile and existential alienation are undeniable – as is the force of every sentence, making for extraordinary and essential reading.

In these eight stories, Barrett takes us back to the barren backwaters of County Mayo, via Toronto, and illuminates the lives of outcasts, misfits and malcontents with an eye for the abrupt and absurd. A quiet night in the neighbourhood pub is shattered by the arrival of a sword-wielding fugitive. A funeral party teeters on the edge of this world and the next, as ghosts won't simply lay in wake. A shooting sees an everyday call-out lead a policewoman to confront the banality of her own existence.

In these seven stories of People from Bloomington, our peculiar narrators find themselves in the most peculiar of circumstances and encounter the most peculiar of people. Set in Bloomington, Indiana, where the author lived as a graduate student in the 1970s, this is far from the idyllic portrait of small-town America.

At first glance, the stories in Sweet and Low seem grounded in the everyday: they paint pictures of idyllic Southern landscapes, characters fulfilling their roles as students, wives, boyfriends. But they are not what they seem. In these stories, Nick White deconstructs the core qualities of Southern fiction, exposing deeply flawed and fascinating characters - promiscuous academics, aging podcasters, woodpecker assassins, and lawnmower enthusiasts, among others - all on wildly compelling quests. White's honest and provocative prose will jolt listeners awake with its urgency.

The unabridged, digital audiobook edition of "Someone Like You", a short, sharp, chilling story from Roald Dahl, the master of the shocking tale, read by the actor Julian Rhind-Tutt. In "Someone Like You", Roald Dahl, one of the world's favourite authors, tells of two wartime pilots arguing over the fickle hand of fate (and the airman).... "Someone Like You" is taken from the short story collection Over to You, which includes nine other dramatic and terrifying tales of life as a wartime fighter pilot.

Winged demonesses, otherworldly lovers, and a dragon with an enormous sexual appetite collide with spoilt princesses, spell-weavers, and wicked ancestors in Janine Ashbless' fantastic tales of lust and magic. Cruel Enchantment is a stunning collection of unique and breathtakingly beautiful erotic fairy tales.

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of “Mr Hoddy,” a short, sharp, amusing story from Roald Dahl, the master of the macabre tale. Read by the actress Jessica Hynes. In “Mr Hoddy,” Roald Dahl, one of the world’s favourite authors, tells a comic story of human folly. Here, a man trying to convince the father of his beloved of his good prospects unwisely brings up his new career . . .Mr Hoddy is taken from the short story collection Someone Like You, which includes seventeen other devious and shocking stories, featuring the wife who serves a dish that baffles the police; a curious machine that reveals the horrifying truth about plants; the man waiting to be bitten by the venomous snake asleep on his stomach; and others.

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Pig, a brilliant gem of a short story from Roald Dahl, the master of the sting in the tail. Read by the actress Stephanie Beacham. In Pig, Roald Dahl, one of the world’s favourite authors, tells a sinister story about the darker side of human nature. Here, a boy who grows into an accomplished cook goes in search of a final, elusive recipe.

The unabridged, digital audiobook edition of 'The Way Up to Heaven', a brilliant gem of a short story from Roald Dahl, the master of the sting in the tail, read by the actress Stephanie Beacham. In 'The Way Up to Heaven', Roald Dahl, one of the world’s favourite authors, tells a sinister story about the darker side of human nature. Here, a woman obsessed with punctuality makes a fateful decision.... 'The Way Up to Heaven' is taken from the short story collection Kiss Kiss.

The unabridged, digital audiobook edition of "Nunc Dimittis", a short, sharp, thrilling story from Roald Dahl, the master of the shocking tale, read by the legendary Derek Jacobi. In "Nunc Dimittis", Roald Dahl, one of the world’s favourite authors, tells a dark story about the sinister side of human nature. Here, a slighted old man takes an elaborate and chilling revenge on his tormentor.... "Nunc Dimittis" is taken from the short story collection Someone Like You.

The unabridged, digital audiobook edition of "The Visitor", an amusing and chilling story from Roald Dahl, the master of the twist in the tale, read by actors Derek Jacobi and Richard E. Grant. In 'The Visitor', Roald Dahl, one of the world’s favourite authors, tells a funny, fruity story about one of his favourite characters, adventurer and seducer Oswald Hendryks Cornelius. Here, Uncle Oswald gets more than he bargained for in Arabia.... 'The Visitor' is taken from the short story collection Switch Bitch.

The unabridged, digital audiobook edition of "Man from the South", a short, sharp, chilling story from Roald Dahl, the master of the shocking tale, read by the actor Stephen Mangan. In "Man from the South", Roald Dahl, one of the world’s favourite authors, tells a sinister story about the darker side of human nature. Here, a man takes part in a very unusual bet, one with appalling consequences.... "Man from the South" is taken from the short story collection Someone Like You.

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of “Mr Feasey,” a short, sharp, cunning story from Roald Dahl, the master of the twist in the tale. Read by the actress Jessica Hynes. In “Mr Feasey,” Roald Dahl, one of the world’s favourite authors, tells a story about the darker side of human nature. Here, two dog owners hope to make a killing at the racetrack.

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of 'Yesterday was Beautiful', a short, gripping story of life in wartime from Roald Dahl, the master of the shocking tale. Read by the actress Juliet Stevenson. In 'Yesterday Was Beautiful', Roald Dahl, one of the world’s favourite authors, tells of a bailed out pilot in Greece looking for assistance from the natives.

The unabridged, digital audiobook edition of "Poison" a short, sharp, frightening story from Roald Dahl, the master of the shocking tale, read by the actor Richard E. Grant. In "Poison", Roald Dahl, one of the world’s favourite authors, tells a sinister story about the darker side of human nature. Here, a man waits in paralysing fear for the venomous snake asleep on his stomach to awaken.... "Poison" is taken from the short story collection Someone Like You.

The unabridged, digital audiobook edition of "Rummins", a short, sharp, chilling story from Roald Dahl, the master of the shocking tale, read by the actress Jessica Hynes. In "Rummins", Roald Dahl, one of the world’s favourite authors, tells a macabre story about the darker side of human nature. Here, the men building a hay rick one summer find that the heat and rats are the least of their worries.... "Rummins" is taken from the short story collection Someone Like You.

The unabridged, digital audiobook edition of "Neck", a short, sharp, frightening story from Roald Dahl, the master of the shocking tale, read by the actor Julian Rhind-Tutt. In "Neck", Roald Dahl, one of the world’s favourite authors, tells a sinister story about the darker side of human nature. Here, a sculpture comes between a scheming wife and her put-upon husband.... "Neck" is taken from the short story collection Someone Like You, which includes 17 other devious and shocking stories.

Each of these eight remarkable stories by Danzy Senna tightrope-walks tantalizingly, sometimes frighteningly, between defined states: life with and without mates and children, the familiar if constraining reference points provided by race, class, and gender. Tensions arise between a biracial couple when their son is admitted to the private school where they'd applied on a lark. A new mother hosts an old friend, still single, and discovers how each of them pities - and envies - the other. A young woman responds to an adoptee in search of her birth mother, knowing it is not she.

No one has a better perspective on life on both sides of the channel than Julian Barnes. In these exquisitely crafted stories spanning several centuries, he takes as his universal theme the British in France: from the last days of a reclusive English composer, the beef consuming 'navvies' labouring on the Paris-Rouen railway to a lonely woman mourning the death of her brother on the battlefields of the Somme.

A vitally alive and ever-surprising collection of stories from the Man Booker Prize-shortlisted and Baileys Prize-winning author of How to Be Both and the critically acclaimed Seasonal quartet. Individually lucid and luminous, these tales resonate subtly together. In examining the distances and connections between ourselves and others, expertly inching us closer to the bone, Ali Smith's storytelling has never seemed so necessary, so moving or so joyous.