Lucy's bar is the setting for love and longing and too much drinking and hilarious misadventures of its hapless, perhaps hopeless patrons. Full of wit and charm and many endearing qualities.

From ice fishing on a couch to dogs that are angels to modern-day fertility rites, these stories will thrust you into the deep messiness of life and yet somehow leave you feeling hopeful.

Edgy stories that are both humorous and satiric. Definitely worth reading.

Exotic locations, cool characters, voodoo, and deep personal portraits. This guy is one of my favorite short story writers.

These stories span the palette. But all are rewarding. Return to them again and again and you’ll always find something new.

Flannery O’Connor may be the Empress of Southern gothic writing, but Welty is certainly the queen. Full of symbolism, they’ll leave you thinking, for days.

These stories don’t rely heavily on plot, but Gaitskill is skilled at making you feel what her characters feel.

I’m not sure anyone does the short story better than Munro.

When I’m looking for humor on the page Sedaris is my go-to guy.

A collection about understanding our relationships with one another from Canada’s greatest writer.

Ten new stories along with twenty-one classics display his mastery of the short story over a quarter of a century.

Stories about growing up in an alcoholic family on an alcoholic reservation. This collection put Alexie on the map.