Asian Short Stories

From the remarkable Ha Jin, winner of the National Book Award for his celebrated novel Waiting, comes this collection of comical and deeply moving tales of contemporary China that are as warm and human as they are surprising, disturbing, and delightful. In the title story, the head of security at a factory is shocked, first when the handsomest worker on the floor proposes marriage to his homely adopted daughter, and again when his new son-in-law is arrested for the "crime" of homosexuality.

The reward of pure pleasure… Alone in Tokyo on business, a tired Europa has a free weekend. She wants to forget about business and fill that time with pure pleasure. But how? She craves a chance to be pampered and pleasured and restored. Paris, a friend and lover, connects her with a woman who offers her the use, the indescribable pleasure of a weekend at a small and enchanting Japanese spa she has built for her own pleasure. Deciding to take a gamble, she allows herself to be whisked away in luxury to a place where erotic massage is the order of the day and sexually alluring men and ...

A luminous collection of heartbreaking, startling, and gloriously unique stories set among the Filipino communities of California and the Philippines - now with a new preface by the author, Monstress stands as a landmark of American multicultural short fiction. Lysley Tenorio's tales are framed by tense, fascinating dichotomies: tenderness and power, the fantastical and the realistic, pop culture and high culture, the American and the Filipino.

Maurice Carlos Ruffin has an uncanny ability to reveal the hidden corners of a place we thought we knew. These perspectival, character-driven stories center on the margins and are deeply rooted in New Orleanian culture. These stories are intimate invitations to hear, witness, and imagine lives at once regional but largely universal, and undeniably New Orleanian, written by a lifelong resident of New Orleans and one of our finest new writers.

Former felon, Kelly Rhee works as a confidential informant with LAPD officer Jason Smith. The two had a romantic past, but Jason ended things early as he was afraid of being judged by his fellow officers for dating a felon. Months later, Kelly gives Jason a tip about a local drug deal in K-town. Afraid of gang blow back, Jason promises to Kelly that he would protect her. When the gang finds out that Kelly ratted, Jason saves her, only realizing his true love for her. To Protect and Serve an interracial AWBM short romance. It is for mature readers only.

Based on Japanese literature and foldlore, Kwaidan contains 17 stories. The story of Loichi, the blind biwa player who was called to perform for the dead; of Muso, the journeying priest who encountered a man eating goblin; of the samurai who outwitted the ghost of a dead man. All these plus 14 other spooly tales are included in this collection.

Lamar Brown and Kimberly Zhang are the best pair figure skaters in the US. When they get paired together, the execution on their technical skills are flawless, however what they are lacking is the sexy romance that pair skaters usually display. After being challenged by their coach, the pair go for a night of drinking and dancing to connect, but what they didn’t expect was to end up in the same bed together! The Figure Skaters is an AWBM interracial erotic romance. At 3,800 words, this steamy short story is for mature readers only.

Trapped in the clutches of a Zombie apocalypse, the City of Chicago, the murder capital of the U.S., unleashes the ultimate weapon, capitalism, by paying $1,000 for every Re-Killed Zombie brought to city hall, ushering in "The Great Zombie Gold Rush". Zombies never have a chance in a world where people realize 75 Zombies pays off their student loans, 40 Zombies buys them a Tesla, 5 Zombies wipes out their Visa debt...

From Middle Eastern storyteller, Hussin Alkheder, comes a collection of short stories influenced by the four major cities he’s lived in: Damascus, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, and Shanghai. These four grand ladies have played important roles in his life journey. In the Four Ladies, we find three stories based in Damascus, the cradle of history: Hand Made Crutches makes us feel the suffering of a mother with four daughters and a disabled son; The Green Bus gives a glimpse of Damascus both before and after the war; Love in the Time of Corona portrays the way some Middle Eastern deal with the virus....

Xuan Juliana Wang's remarkable debut introduces us to the new and changing face of Chinese youth. From fuerdai (second-generation rich kids) to a glass-swallowing qigong grandmaster, her dazzling, formally inventive stories upend the immigrant narrative to reveal a new experience of belonging: of young people testing the limits of who they are, in a world as vast and varied as their ambitions. In stories of love, family, and friendship, here are the voices, faces, and stories of a new generation never before captured in fiction.

This book is about one of my childhood friends; it is a tribute to him.

Based on traditional Vietnamese folk tales told to Violet Kupersmith by her grandmother, these fantastical, chilling, and thoroughly contemporary stories are a boldly original exploration of Vietnamese culture, addressing both the immigrant experience and the lives of those who remained behind. Lurking in the background of them all is a larger ghost—that of the Vietnam War, whose legacy continues to haunt us.

In these 11 stories, the individuals who lift the curtains of their orderly homes and workplaces are confronted with the bizarre, the grotesque, the fantastic, the alien - and through it, find a way to liberation. The Lonesome Bodybuilder is the English-language debut of one of Japan's most fearlessly inventive young writers.

Compelling and perceptive, Tomb Sweeping probes the loyalties we hold: to relatives, to strangers, and to ourselves. In stories set across the US and Asia, Alexandra Chang immerses us in the lives of immigrant families, grocery store employees, expecting parents, and guileless lab assistants.

Lamar wins a contest to film a movie with popular adult movie star Mia Ling. To film with the popular adult star is a dream come true for Lamar, but what he didn’t know was that film led to the start of his amazing career. Fan Service is apart of the Confessions of an Adult Film Star series. This is book one of the series, and this steamy story can be read standalone or apart of the series. This interracial AWBM is 3,500 words long and is for mature readers only.

It's just supposed to be for one night--EnJOY, the biggest K-Pop band in the world, is playing in New York and they need a make-up artist STAT. Like any good YouTuber, I need juicy content, and Desiree, the best assistant in the world, figures this will drag me out of the emotional slump I've been stuck in. But when Taemin and I meet, sparks fly... I don't want to jeopardize my career, so how can I say yes? And how could anyone in their right mind say no? This short erotic story features consenting adults doing the following: dubcon with D/s play, some S/M, front and back penetration with ...

A breathtaking short story for kids. Perfect for bettime reading.

We have all taken a rollercoaster ride on the ebb and flow of emotions. Moving on after leaving behind a crumbling relationship, a deceased partner or the forsaken past entails the fortitude nobody is born with. Janet James' new collection of short stories deal with liberation of the souls - freedom from the encased circumstances and the realization that every agony that beset us is orchestrated to teach us a lesson in life. The process through which we navigate the hostile circumstances chisels our personality and blooms us into an impeccable creature that we are destined to become.

In The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories, you can dine at a restaurant at the end of the universe, cultivate to immortality in the high mountains, watch roses perform Shakespeare, or arrive at the island of the gods on the backs of giant fish to ensure that the world can bloom. Written, edited, and translated by a female and nonbinary team, these stories have never before been published in English and represent both the richly complicated past and the vivid future of Chinese science fiction and fantasy.

When nothing’s going right, someone’s gotta give. Three unusual stories of perseverance, tenacity and cleverness, with surprising endings. Dignity Formerly published in Writer's Guild. A journalist has a chance encounter with a young woman in a government office. The woman's disturbing past makes the journalist question everything she believes in and stands for. Paper Cut Formerly published in The Junction. In a rich neighbourhood of Mumbai, two scrap dealers are facing destitute times. Supply is limited, costs are rising, and they’re competing against each other on the same turf. But...