For the short story reader. Updated every Monday.

The Short Form

Timeline

Watch our timeline grow as we add more stories.

2010s
2013
“Illuminati”Jim Gavin
“A Brief History of Fire”Jennifer Vanderbes
“All She Had”Jessica Richardson
“Cash to a Killing”Manuel Gonzales
“I Want This Always”Jon Steinhagen
“Fun Camp”Gabe Durham
“The One-Eyed TV”Mushin al-Ramli
“All of Me”Manuel Gonzales
“Point 121”Mia Alvarado
“Smoke”Giovanna Rivero
2012
“Greenland”Patrick Somerville
“Urban Planning: Case Study Number One”Tim Horvath
“American Tall Tale”Steven Millhauser
“Bewildered Decisions in Times of Mercantile Terror”Jim GavinRecommended by
Roxane Gay
“Quail Haven, 1989”Andrew Malan Milward
“As Above, So Below”Rudy RuckerRecommended by
Steve Aylett
“Tosca”Stuart Dybek
“Meditations on Green”Toh EnJoe
“Rondine Al Nido”Claire Vaye WatkinsRecommended by
Roxane Gay
“An Arrangement of Light”Nicole Krauss
“Born Again”Leah Bailly
“Clear Over Target, the Whole Town in Flames”Fiona Maazel
“Found”Sallie Bingham
“The Shadows Behind the Trees”Sam Weller
“Not Right at All”Jeffrey Rotter
“Shambhala”Marie MunkaraRecommended by
Jennifer Mills
“Titty Anne and the Very, Very Hairy Man”Margo LanaganRecommended by
Jennifer Mills
2011
“The Old Mechanic”Frank Bill
“The Need”Frank Bill
“King of the Rats”David Peak
“Summer of the Flesh Eater”Zsuzsi Gartner
“Hurricane with Neon-Colored Rocks”Shane Jones
“The Sorrows of Idiot Augustus”Janusz Rudnicki
“Look, Ma, I'm Breathing”Suzanne RiveccaRecommended by
Jim Gavin
“The Mill Pond”xTx Recommended by
Roxane Gay
“My Chivalric Fiasco”George Saunders
“ Buddy's Body”Kyle Beachy
“Divorcer”Gary LutzRecommended by
Kyle Beachy
“Going For a Beer”Robert Coover
“North Country”Roxane Gay
“How We Fall”Shann RayRecommended by
Alan Heathcock
“Cross Thieves”Miroslav Penkov
“Reverting to a Wild State”Justin TorresRecommended by
Chad Simpson
“That's My Bike!”Paul Murray
“Murphy Bed”William Walsh
2010
“My Brother Walter”Samanta Schweblin
“Oh, Little So-And-SO”Christian TeBordo
“The Ice People”Gerður Kristný
“It Sounds Like You're Feeling”Suzanne Rivecca
“Man-O-War”Claire Vaye WatkinsRecommended by
Tim Horvath
“The Worm in Philly”Sam LipsyteRecommended by
Jim Gavin
“Betty and Veronica”Luke GeddesRecommended by
Roxane Gay
“Look! Look! Feathers”Mike YoungRecommended by
Kyle Beachy
“Rhoda”David Vann
“The New Year”Michael Jeffrey Lee
“Ice, Mating”Uzma Aslam Khan
“The City in the Light of Moths”Tim HorvathRecommended by
Rebecca Makkai
“To the Measures Fall”Richard PowersRecommended by
Rebecca Makkai
“Leila in the Wilderness”Nadeem Aslam
“Blow In”Rebecca GiggsRecommended by
Jennifer Mills
“Something in My Eye”Michael Jeffrey Lee
“That Baby”Lindsay Hunter
“The Dungeon Master”Sam Lipsyte
2000s
2009
“The Redfish”Skip HorackRecommended by
Jim Gavin
“Rosaleen, If You Know What I Mean”Eugene CrossRecommended by
Chad Simpson
“Space Man”Kathy FishRecommended by
Chad Simpson
“Sheri-Sade”Rosa Beltrán
“Circulation”Tim Horvath
“Furry White Noise”Christen Enos
“Mariachi”Juan Villoro
“The Bees, Part 1”Aleksandar Hemon
“Lukin's Bed”Vivian Abenshushan
“The Noble Truths of Suffering”Aleksandar HemonRecommended by
Manjushree Thapa
“Sometimes You Break Their Hearts, Sometimes They Break Yours”Marie-Helene Bertino
“True Friendship”Jorge F. Hernández
“The Universe in Miniature”Patrick SomervilleRecommended by
Marie-Helene Bertino
2008
“The Inventor, 1972”Bonnie Jo CampbellRecommended by
Frank Bill
“Rubiaux Rising”Steve de Jarnatt
“Fort Apache”Alan Heathcock
“The Numbers”Clare Wigfall
“You Have Us All Late and Follow”Kuzhali Manickavel
“The Briefcase”Rebecca Makkai
“The Fish”Lydia DavisRecommended by
Kyle Beachy
“Incoming Tide”Elizabeth StroutRecommended by
Samanta Schweblin
“Cattle Haul”Jesmyn Ward
“The Temp”Amelia KahaneyRecommended by
Marie-Helene Bertino
“goodbye Hills, hello night”Kyle MinorRecommended by
Frank Bill
“Fostering”Chad Simpson
“Cats with Pitiful Mystiques”Christen EnosRecommended by
Marie-Helene Bertino
“The Sugargun Fairy”Kuzhali ManickavelRecommended by
Steve Aylett
2007
“Two Back, 1973”Andrew Malan Milward
“Courtesy for Beginners”Jim Shepard
“Bar Joke, Arizona”Sam AllinghamRecommended by
Marie-Helene Bertino
“I Am a Souvenir”Tom GrattanRecommended by
Marie-Helene Bertino
“Crow Season”Jennifer Mills
2006
“The Grub”Roberto BolañoRecommended by
Michael Jeffrey Lee
“Man at Wall, Attempting A Certain Chore”Bob ComenoleRecommended by
Kuzhali Manickavel
“Cassandra’s Hands”Kim WestwoodRecommended by
Jennifer Mills
“Terminal”J. Erin Sweeney
“How To Be a Real Ballerina”Jane BerenstonRecommended by
Christen Enos
“Hagia Sophia, a Wall Painting”Ismail Kadare
“from Children's Reminiscences of the Westward Migration”Karen RussellRecommended by
Clare Wigfall
2005
“Outside Work Detail”Scott WolvenRecommended by
Frank Bill
“Executors of Important Energies”Wells Tower
“Peacekeeper”Alan Heathcock
“Friends”Manjushree Thapa
2004
“Afraid of the Dark”Percival Everett
“Tricks”Alice MunroRecommended by
Clare Wigfall
“AIYO!!! An Evil Group of Ninjas is Entering and Destroying a Call Centre!!!”Tom ChoRecommended by
Jennifer Mills
“Stone Animals”Kelly LinkRecommended by
Shane Jones
“My Hand Is Exhausted”Patricia de Martelaere
2003
“Extra”Yiyun LiRecommended by
Clare Wigfall
“Sharp Objects”Victoria Larsson
“City of Clowns”Daniel Alarcón
“The Apology”Brock ClarkeRecommended by
Suzanne Rivecca
“Glut Your Soul On My Accursed Ugliness”Jim ShepardRecommended by
Suzanne Rivecca
“The Goddess Parka”Ludmilla Petrushevskaya
“The Town Manager”Thomas LigottiRecommended by
David Peak
2002
“Likely Lake”Mary Robison
“Understand”Ted ChiangRecommended by
Steve Aylett
“The Caretaker”Anthony DoerrRecommended by
Alan Heathcock
2001
“Good Old Neon”David Foster WallaceRecommended by
Andrew Malan Milward
“I Tried to be a Beacon”Sam Lipsyte
“Missing Kissinger”Etgar KeretRecommended by
Samanta Schweblin
“Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage”Alice MunroRecommended by
Manjushree Thapa
“The Ceiling”Kevin BrockmeierRecommended by
Alan Heathcock
“Islands”Aleksandar HemonRecommended by
Fiona Maazel
“Love and Hydrogen”Jim ShepardRecommended by
Fiona Maazel
“Sir Karl LaFong or Current Resident”Christie HodgenRecommended by
Andrew Malan Milward
“Wild Flower”Amrita Pritam
2000
“The Raft”Peter OrnerRecommended by
Fiona Maazel
“The Apple Tree”Trevanian Recommended by
Rebecca Makkai
“The Story of Mats Israelson”Julian BarnesRecommended by
Rebecca Makkai
“Metropolis”Christine SchuttRecommended by
David Peak
1990s
1999
“Otravida, Otravez”Junot DiazRecommended by
Roxane Gay
“Nilda”Junot DiazRecommended by
Chad Simpson
1998
“The Old Man Slave and the Mastiff”Patrick ChamouiseauRecommended by
Uzma Aslam Khan
“The Mud Below”Annie ProulxRecommended by
Fiona Maazel
1997
“Ganjefa”Naiyer MasudRecommended by
Muhammad Umar Memon
“Railroad Incident, August 1995”David MeansRecommended by
Andrew Malan Milward
“Everything in This Country Must”Colum McCannRecommended by
Uzma Aslam Khan
1996
“A Creature in the Bay of St. Louis”Barry Hannah
“Demonology”Rick MoodyRecommended by
Tim Horvath
“Mermaids”Deborah EisenbergRecommended by
Manuel Gonzales
1995
“Bullet in the Brain”Tobias Wolff
“Beyond the Fog”Qurratulain HyderRecommended by
Muhammad Umar Memon
“La Veneziana”Vladimir Nabokov
1994
“The Behavior of the Hawkweeds”Andrea BarrettRecommended by
Tim Horvath
“The Drowning”Edward J. DelaneyRecommended by
Tim Horvath
1993
“The Great Wall”Ismail Kadare
“Scandale D'Estime”Barry HannahRecommended by
Hunter Kennedy
“Tales of the Wing”Hunter Kennedy
“Cold Snap”Thom JonesRecommended by
Frank Bill
“The 400 Pound CEO”George SaundersRecommended by
Shane Jones
1992
“CivilWarLand in Bad Decline”George SaundersRecommended by
Manuel Gonzales
“Vacancy for the Post of Jesus Christ”Kojo Laing
1991
“Emergency”Denis JohnsonRecommended by
Manjushree Thapa
“Chike's School Days”Chinua Achebe
1990
“Jim Train”A.M. Homes
“Goodbye to All That”Joan DidionRecommended by
Sam Weller
“Learning to Be Me”Greg EganRecommended by
Steve Aylett
“The Most Girl Part of You”Amy HempelRecommended by
Fiona Maazel
“Hitchcock's Tale”Frank StanfordRecommended by
Hunter Kennedy
“Canal Street”Ian FrazierRecommended by
Manuel Gonzales
“Waiting for the Ladies”Larry BrownRecommended by
Frank Bill
1980s
1989
“The Yellow Sugar”William T. Vollmann
1988
“Gigantic”Steve Aylett
1987
“Nights at the Alexandra”William TrevorRecommended by
Clare Wigfall
1986
“Once a Very Stupid Man”Lydia Davis
“Converging City”Ben Okri
1985
“In a Tub”Amy HempelRecommended by
Shane Jones
“Sportsmen”Thomas McGuane
“The Lover”Joy WilliamsRecommended by
Christen Enos
“No One's a Mystery”Elizabeth TallentRecommended by
Chad Simpson
1984
“Obscure Domains of Fear and Desire”Naiyer MasudRecommended by
Muhammad Umar Memon
“The Gentleman and the Moon”Mercé RodoredaRecommended by
Jeffrey Rotter
“Horace and Margaret's Fifty-second”Charles Baxter
“The Red Convertible”Louise ErdrichRecommended by
Sam Weller
“Everything I Know”Gordon Lish
1983
“In the Cemetery where Al Jolson is Buried”Amy HempelRecommended by
Manjushree Thapa
“Hiding”Susan MinotRecommended by
Christen Enos
“Human Moments in World War III”Don DeLilloRecommended by
Kyle Beachy
1981
“Lizzie's Tiger”Angela CarterRecommended by
Suzanne Rivecca
“Akhnilo”James SalterRecommended by
Alan Heathcock
1980
“Typhoid Quarantine”Varlam Tikhonovich Shalamov
“The Baghdad Clock”Cristina Fernández Cubas
“The Breast Giver”Mahasweta DeviRecommended by
Kuzhali Manickavel
1970s
1978
“Subtle Invasion”Pere Calders
“Love Too Long”Barry HannahRecommended by
Shane Jones
1977
“Elbow Room”James Alan McPhersonRecommended by
Andrew Malan Milward
“Trilobites”Breece D'J Pancake
1976
“The Moslem Wife”Mavis Gallant
1975
“Eating Out”Leonard MichaelsRecommended by
Jeffrey Rotter
1974
“Tatlin!”Guy DavenportRecommended by
Andrew Malan Milward
1973
“A Stranded Railroad Car”Intizar Husain
1971
“Knall”Primo LeviRecommended by
Kyle Beachy
1960s
1969
“Views of My Father Weeping”Donald BarthelmeRecommended by
David Peak
1968
“Am Strande von Tanger”James Salter
1966
“Upon the Sweeping Flood”Joyce Carol OatesRecommended by
Alan Heathcock
1965
“The Guest”Stanley Elkin
1964
“The Swimmer”John CheeverRecommended by
Manuel Gonzales
“Everything That Rises Must Converge”Flannery O'ConnorRecommended by
David Vann
1963
“Colder Than Ice”Saadat Hasan Manto
1962
“Reunion”John Cheever
1961
“The Partridge Festival”Flannery O'ConnorRecommended by
Jim Gavin
1960
“The Smallest Woman in the World”Clarice Lispector
1950s
1959
“Titus Hoyt, I.A. ”V. S. Naipaul
“An Irrevocable Diameter”Grace Paley
1958
“The Saucer Has Landed”Dino Buzzati
“The Conversion of the Jews”Philip Roth
1956
“The Bus To St. James's”John CheeverRecommended by
Christen Enos
“The Night Face Up”Julio CortázarRecommended by
Tim Horvath
“A Christmas Memory”Truman CapoteRecommended by
Kuzhali Manickavel
“End of the Game”Julio Cortázar
1955
“The Beau Monde of Mrs. Bridge”Evan S. Connell
1951
“The Fog Horn”Ray BradburyRecommended by
Sam Weller
“Evening Primrose”John CollierRecommended by
Sam Weller
“The Healthiest Girl in Town”Jean StaffordRecommended by
Jim Gavin
1940s
1948
“A Perfect Day for Bananafish”J.D. SalingerRecommended by
Clare Wigfall
“Previous Condition ”James BaldwinRecommended by
Suzanne Rivecca
“Signs and Symbols”Vladimir NabokovRecommended by
David Vann
1947
“Battle Royal”Ralph EllisonRecommended by
Samanta Schweblin
1945
“Preacher's Legend”Truman Capote
1944
“House Taken Over”Julio CortázarRecommended by
Samanta Schweblin
1942
“Ghostly Father, I Confess”Mary McCarthyRecommended by
Suzanne Rivecca
1941
“Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”Jorge Luis Borges
1930s
1939
“Barn Burning”William FaulknerRecommended by
David Vann
1936
“Orpheus and his Lute”Frank O'Connor
1934
“August”Bruno Schulz
“Tailors' Dummies”Bruno SchulzRecommended by
David Peak
1933
“The Supremacy of Uruguay”E. B. White
“Slave on the Block”Langston HughesRecommended by
Uzma Aslam Khan
1920s
1929
“A Difference in Temperament”Daphne Du Maurier
1927
“Piccadilly”Daphne Du Maurier
1926
“The Eatonville Anthology”Zora Neale Hurston
1925
“Lalla's Interests”Vera Mikhailovna Inber
1924
“Cross-Country Snow”Ernest HemingwayRecommended by
Christen Enos
1921
“On the Prairie”Knut HamsunRecommended by
Hunter Kennedy
1920
“The Egg”Sherwood AndersonRecommended by
Uzma Aslam Khan
1910s
1914
“Tender Buttons”Gertrude SteinRecommended by
Manuel Gonzales
1910
“The Secret Sharer”Joseph ConradRecommended by
Hunter Kennedy
“The Eyes”Edith WhartonRecommended by
Jeffrey Rotter
1900s
1907
“Good Morning, Giantess!”Robert Walser
1890s
1898
“The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky”Stephen CraneRecommended by
Michael Jeffrey Lee
1880s
1888
“Four Days in Dixie”Ambrose Bierce
1881
“The Inn”Guy de Maupassant
1860s
1867
“The Gambler”Fyodor DostoyevskyRecommended by
Hunter Kennedy
1850s
1854
“The Fiddler”Herman Melville
1840s
1842
“The Overcoat”Nikolai Vasilievich GogolRecommended by
Rebecca Makkai
1830s
1835
“Diary of a Madman”Nikolai Vasilievich GogolRecommended by
David Peak
1810s
1810
“St. Cecilia or The Power of Music”Heinrich von KleistRecommended by
Michael Jeffrey Lee
0s
“The Back Room”Intizar HusainRecommended by
Muhammad Umar Memon