Ocean State Libraries

In a recent interview, when asked how he saw the role of the writer, Saunders said "To me, the writer's main job is to make the story unscroll in such a way that the reader is snared -- she's right there, seeing things happen and caring about them. And if you dedicate yourself to this job, the meanings more or less take care of themselves." In Tenth of December, the reader is always right there, and the meanings are beautiful and profound and abundant....

"A gentle Eastern European immigrant arrives in New York City after his family and his life have been torn apart by his country's civil war. A man who loves to bowl rolls a perfect game--and then another and then another and then many more in a row until he winds up ESPN's newest celebrity, and he must decide if the combination of perfection and celebrity has ruined the thing he loves. An eccentric billionaire and his faithful executive assistant...

"A master storyteller at his best--the O. Henry Prize winner Stephen King delivers a generous collection of stories, several of them brand-new, featuring revelatory autobiographical comments on when, why, and how he came to write (or rewrite) each story. Since his first collection, Nightshift, published thirty-five years ago, Stephen King has dazzled readers with his genius as a writer of short fiction. In this new collection he assembles, for the...

A collection of short stories by the "Queen of Suspense" features her first published short story, "Stowaway."

"A long time ago, people used to tell magical stories of wonder and enchantment. Those stories were called Fairy Tales. Those stories are not in this book. The stories in this book are Fairly Stupid Tales. In this fourth wall-breaking picture book, young readers will delight in the strange twists on familiar tales. From "The Stinky Cheese Man" to "Cinderumpelstiltskin" these unique, hilarious retellings poke fun at classic stories and characters....

Heart of the West is a collection of 19 short stories highlighting the complicated relationship between men and women, law and order, honor and obligation. These compelling tales are filled with memorable characters and fascinating conflicts. In Heart of the West, O. Henry explores the illustrious region featuring cowboys, outlaws, rangers and sheepherders. It consists of 19 short stories celebrating the unique culture and happenings in the Old West....

"Award-winning author Elizabeth McCracken is an undisputed virtuoso of the short story, and this new collection features her most vibrant and heartrending work to date"-- In these stories, the mysterious bonds of family are tested, transformed, fractured, and fortified. A recent widower and his adult son ferry to a craggy Scottish island in search of puffins. An actress who plays a children's game show villainess ushers in the New Year with her deadbeat...

A collection of more than twenty-five short fictional works follows a theme of the intersections between life and death, perception and reality, and darkness and light. The distinctive storytelling genius of Neil Gaiman has been acclaimed by writers as diverse as Norman Mailer and Stephen King. Fragile Things, Gaiman's second collection of short fiction, contains approximately twenty previously published pieces of short fiction -- stories, verse,...

Mansfield's finest work, and the last collection of her stories to be published during her lifetime. She died of tuberculosis at the age of 35 in 1923.

Paul had just come in to dress for dinner; he sank into a chair, weak in the knees, and clasped his head in his hands. It was to be worse than jail, even; the tepid waters of Cordelia Street were to close over him finally and forever. The grey monotony stretched before him in hopeless, unrelieved years; Sabbath-school, Young People's Meeting, the yellow-papered room, the damp dish-towels; it all rushed back upon him with sickening vividness.

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