American Short

All Valentina ‘Valley’ Diallo wanted for Valentine’s Day was to celebrate with the two men in her life. Javel Marley and Nico Galley have been together with Valley for years and had never missed a day, but this year, her two men were away on business. Find out if Valley will be spending Valentine’s Day alone or if her men will find their way back to her before the day ends.

As a 41-year-old man confronts his own mortality in this collection's title story, he recalls his Spokane Indian father's chilling death from alcoholism and diabetes. Another tale features an eccentric salesman pursuing a married woman from airport to airport. And then there's the film editor who sees nothing wrong with altering footage to fit preconceived views - until he becomes the target of media distortion.

Opal Chen reunites with her Chinese sisters after forty years; newly cosmopolitan Lulu Koo wonders why Americans “like to walk around in the woods with the mosquitoes”; Hong Kong parents go to extreme lengths to reestablish contact with their “number-one daughter” in New York; and Betty Koo, brought up on “no politics, just make money,” finds she must reassess her mother’s philosophy. With their profound compassion and equally profound humor, these eleven linked stories trace the intimate ways in which humans make and are made by history.

Hot Water Music is a collection of short stories by Charles Bukowski, published in 1983. The collection deals largely with: drinking, women, gambling, and writing. It is an important collection that establishes Bukowski's minimalist style and his thematic oeuvre.

Returning to the city that inspired his first prize-winning book, Lost in the City, Jones has filled this new collection with people who call Washington, D.C., home. Yet it is not the city's power brokers that most concern him but rather its ordinary citizens.

Many black artists nowadays, whether in rap, hip pop, pop, or another genre, have caused American teens and many others to be influenced by their slang, fashion, and their way of entertainment.

For Jack Cho, a fortysomething gay man, being able to marry someone he loves is so unfamiliar it’s terrifying. Then a wedding invitation from a college friend brings about a collision with those fears--and his own secret history. Jack and his new boyfriend, Caleb, are attending the wedding of Jack’s estranged straight friend Scott. No sooner do the guests start to mingle than questions arise

Una saga épica a través del tiempo y las eras. Una década. Luego un siglo. Y así, hasta el fin de los tiempos. Crónicas de una leyenda te sumerge en una serie de cuentos que narran momentos clave en la historia de una civilización y sus personajes. Cada etapa transforma el mundo, pero su esencia permanece inalterable. Descubre los hitos que forjan el destino de una civilización. Vive las historias de personajes que trascienden el tiempo. Reflexiona sobre tu lugar en la historia: ¿En qué época vives tú? Ideal para amantes de la fantasía épica y las narrativas históricas. ...

With the same unforgettable and distinctive prose on display in his other books, Airtight Willie & Me is further evidence that Iceberg Slim was an expert at capturing the language of the streets. Always compelling, sometimes funny, and often bleak, Slim gives us six slices of city life that will leave you thirsting for more.

When power, magic, and betrayal collide, survival isn’t just instinct—it’s strategy. Shadows of Miami: A Short Story by Renee Tarot: A Gripping Urban Fantasy of Power, Secrets, and Survival Step into the dark, alluring world of Shadows of Miami, where ancient Yoruba secrets collide with the pulse of a thriving city. Nefah Pantera, a fiercely determined woman with mid-back locs and the ability to shift into a sleek black panther, is on a mission to protect the sacred knowledge of her Nigerian ancestors. But her quest to stop an influential and enigmatic clan, led by the magnetic Jeph ...

Originally published in 1938, Uncle Tom's Children, a collection of novellas, was the first book from Richard Wright, who would go on to win international renown for his powerful and visceral depiction of the Black experience. Set in the American Deep South, each of the powerful and devastating stories in Uncle Tom's Children concerns an aspect of the lives of Black people in the post-slavery era, exploring their resistance to white racism and oppression. The collection also includes a personal essay by Wright titled "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow."

From the bustling streets of America to the quiet mountain towns in rural China, this captivating collection of short stories spans continents and cultures, weaving a tapestry of universal human experiences. Each tale offers a unique glimpse into lives shaped by love, betrayal, and the search for identity. These stories, by turns humorous and poignant, explore the intricate threads that connect us all—the joy of friendship, the pain of betrayal, the challenges of coming of age, and the bittersweet realities of leaving one's homeland. With its rich diversity of settings and emotions, this ...

From the universally acclaimed author of Breath, Eyes, Memory and Krik? Krak!, a brilliant, deeply moving work of fiction that explores the world of a "dew breaker", a torturer, a man whose brutal crimes in the country of his birth lie hidden beneath his new American reality.

Short Story 21 Pages: A sensitive overweight boy from Texas becomes the champion sumo wrestler of Japan.

Examining the borders between one nation and another, between one person and another, Urrea reveals his mastery of the short form. This collection includes the Edgar-award winning "Amapola" and his now-classic "Bid Farewell to Her Many Horses," which had the honor of being chosen for NPR's "Selected Shorts" not once but twice.

Young, impressionable Aubrey is fascinated by the enigmatic Lord Ruthven, and accompanies him on a tour to Europe. But Aubrey develops a growing distaste for Lord Ruthven’s sinister and grotesque conduct - especially as it concerns human blood. This novella, penned during that tempestuous night in Switzerland amongst such notables as Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and Mary Shelley, served as the great inspiration for Bram Stoker to create Dracula.

When Cohn Holland sets his sights on Eliza Allen, he’s captivated and is drawn to her dark beauty. The new divorcée is hurting from her ex-husband’s betrayal and trying to build a new life of independence; finding love again is the last thing on Eliza’s mind. Sensing Eliza’s pain and mistrust, Cohn tries to prove that he can be all the man she will ever need— in and out of the boardroom, even if he is younger. Cohn doesn’t give up easily and will annihilate Eliza’s doubts and fears one by one until he makes her his for good. This is an older woman and younger man romance with...

"Echoes of the Grand Majestic" follows Susan Vance, an ambitious architect grappling with the pressures of her career while designing a new city library that she feels lacks soul. Despite the project's technical perfection and encouragement from her business partner Mark Brewer, Susan is plagued by a sense of emptiness and a longing for inspiration. As she works late one night, she stumbles upon the old blueprints of the Grand Majestic Theatre, a cherished place from her past that evokes powerful memories of her teenage love, Julian. The discovery of the theatre sparks a journey of ...

Ivy desires to be loved unconditionally. Asher does not. Maybe they can come to a compromise to make a relationship work—or perhaps not. When Ivy and Asher meet by chance at the airport, they never realized what was in store for their future. Ivy's career path led her to New York because of her job. She's happy because she gets to hang out with her friends Madison, Noelle, and Shelby, but on the other hand, Ivy is sad to leave Georgia, a place consistent in her life and the only place she has ever known. A change is good right? The move could be perfect. It could be the beginning of ...

Henry Dumas' fiction is a masterful synthesis of myth and religion, culture and nature, mask and identity. From the Deep South to the simmering streets of Harlem, his characters embark on surreal and mythic quests armed only with wit, words, and wisdom. Championed by Toni Morrison, Walter Mosley, and Quincy Troupe, Dumas' books have long been out of print. All of his short fiction is collected here, for the first time, and includes several previously unpublished stories.