Fourteen stories on a variety of subjects. In Firelight, a woman and her son visit apartments for rent even though they have no money to rent them, in A Bullet in the Head a bystander gets shot for heckling a robber, and in Chain a man revenging himself for a dog biting his daughter starts a chain of violence.

A collection of sixty-three of Shaw's short stories, written over the last fifty years.

American journalist and satirist Ambrose Bierce is probably best known for his short stories about the American Civil War. The author's craft for story-telling is exemplified by his famous "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge," which is the story of Peyton Farquhar, a Confederate sympathizer condemned to die by hanging upon the Owl Creek Bridge. That great short story along with 96 others forms this exhaustive edition of The Complete Short Stories of...

"We all know bad manners when we see them," the author observes at the beginning of his new book. But what, he asks, do good manners look like in our day and age? When someone answers their cell phone in the middle of dining with you, or runs you off the sidewalk with their doublewide stroller, or you enter a post apocalyptic public restroom, the long-revered wisdom of Emily Post can seem downright prehistoric. Troubled by the absence of good manners...

Andrew Lang (1844-1912) was a prolific Scots man of letters, a poet, novelist, literary critic and contributor to anthropology. He now is best known as the collector of folk and fairy tales. He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy, St Andrews University and at Balliol College, Oxford. As a journalist, poet, critic and historian, he soon made a reputation as one of the ablest and most versatile writers of the day. Lang was one of the founders of the...

From the author of The Great Fire, a collection of stories about love and acceptance, expectations and disappointment Shirley Hazzard's stories are sharp, sensitive portrayals of moments of crisis. Whether they are set in the Italian countryside or suburban Connecticut, the stories deal with real people and real problems. In the title piece, a young widow is surprised and ashamed by her lack of grief for her husband. In "A Place in the Country,"...

This collection assembles Carson McCullers' best stories, including her study of love and longing "The Ballad of the Sad Café." A haunting tale of a human triangle that culminates in an astonishing brawl, the novella introduces readers to Miss Amelia, a formidable southern woman whose café serves as the town's gathering place. Among other works, the collection also includes "Wunderkind," McCullers' first published story, written when she was only...

James's subtle mastery of the art of fiction is nowhere more evident than in "The Beast in the Jungle," regarded by many as his greatest achievement in short fiction, a gripping portrait of a man alienated from life and love. The author's uncanny ability to communicate the inner lives of his characters is also richly evident in "The Jolly Corner" and "The Altar of the Dead," two superbly crafted tales that explore the complex interlacings of loss,...

Examines the ways in which birthdays are celebrated in various countries around the world.

A look at some of the customs people around the world have for lost teeth.