The Best American Short Stories
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Narrated by:
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Cathy Dobson
About this listen
A wonderful collection of short stories" by some of the all-time great American writers.
1. "The Diamond Lens" by Fitz James O’Brien
2. "Titbottom’s Spectacles" by George William Curtis
3. "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe
4. "The Eyes of the Panther" by Ambrose Bierce
5. "The Lightning Rod Man" by Hermann Melville
6. "Seeds" by Sherwood Anderson
7. "Who Was She?" by Bayard Taylor
8. "The Man who stole a Meeting House" by John Townsend Trowbridge
9. "Memoirs of a Yellow Dog" by O. Henry
10. "The Tell-tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
11. "The Lady or the Tiger" by Frank Stockton
12. "The McWilliamses and the Burglar Alarm" by Mark Twain
13. "William Wilson" by Edgar Allan Poe
14. "The New Englander" by Sherwood Anderson
15. "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
16. "The Stolen White Elephant" by Mark Twain
17. "The Unknown Quantity" by O. Henry
18. "My Favorite Murder" by Ambrose Bierce
19. "One Thousand Dollars" by O. Henry
20. "The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe
21. "The Belated Russian Passport" by Mark Twain
22. "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry
23. "American Sir!" by Mary Raymond Freeman Andrews
24. "Curried Cow" by Ambrose Bierce
25. "An Egyptian Cigarette" by Kate Chopin
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George Orwell’s 1984
- An Audible Original adaptation
- By: George Orwell, Joe White - adaptation
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
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It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
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A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
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He's Gone
- By: Rebecca Collomosse
- Narrated by: Victoria Blunt, Cicely Whitehead, Joe Eyre
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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My fiancé brought me tea and scrambled eggs in bed that morning, and we snuggled together, talking about buying our rings, and about our perfect wedding next year. Then we headed into town. He held my hand and gazed at the ring I liked best, a smile spreading slowly over his face. Then a glass of bubbly to celebrate. I felt flushed, excited and ready for the rest of my life with the man I loved. We race to get on the train home. It screams to a halt and I run towards its open doors. Made it. I think he’s right behind me — but when I turn around, he’s gone.
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Disappointing plot
- By TerriSweeta on 12-04-24
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The Plight Before Christmas
- By: Kate Stewart
- Narrated by: Joe Arden, Maxine Mitchell
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Clark Griswold was onto something...at least with his annual holiday meltdown. And since the last three weeks of my life have been riddled with humbug—another breakup, a broken toe, an office promotion I deserved and didn’t get—I’m not at all in the mood to celebrate nor have the happ, happ, happiest Christmas EVER.
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Gaslighting and games
- By FMC on 12-22-22
By: Kate Stewart
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The Answer Is No
- A Short Story
- By: Fredrik Backman, Elizabeth DeNoma - translator
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
- Length: 1 hr and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.
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Narrator doesn’t get Backman’s satire or rhythm
- By joey1603 on 12-01-24
By: Fredrik Backman, and others
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Say No More
- By: Caroline Overington
- Narrated by: Anna Skellern
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Original Recording
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Who is Audrey Hoedemaker? It's a question her sister Maureen has heard more times than she can count, and she doesn't know what the short answer would be. Little sister, troubled teen, backpacker, musical theatre coach, con artist, childcare worker. Murderer. A tragic, traumatic childhood casts a long shadow on the Hoedemaker sisters. Maureen has worked hard to move beyond the violence of the past and build a good, honest life for herself. Audrey, however, just can't seem to do the same, careening from one state of chaos to another.
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Great Characterization
- By dovermoyer on 12-14-24
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Starship Troopers
- By: Robert A. Heinlein
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Johnnie Rico never really intended to join up—and definitely not the infantry. But now that he’s in the thick of it, trying to get through combat training harder than anything he could have imagined, he knows everyone in his unit is one bad move away from buying the farm in the interstellar war the Terran Federation is waging against the Arachnids. Because everyone in the Mobile Infantry fights. And if the training doesn’t kill you, the Bugs are more than ready to finish the job.
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The definitive version!
- By Kristopher G. Hesson on 10-03-24
What listeners say about The Best American Short Stories
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Dennis
- 12-01-21
voice is too rough and raspy.
unfortunately I could not finish. narrator's voice does not work for me. not recommded.
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- S. Russell
- 08-28-16
Difficult to listen to
Would you try another book from the authors and/or Cathy Dobson?
no
Would you ever listen to anything by the authors again?
yes
Would you be willing to try another one of Cathy Dobson’s performances?
no
Any additional comments?
I found the narrator difficult to listen to because of her accent. (Maybe others wouldn't have the same problem.) It was also very challenging to choose a story and skip straight to it. The stories themselves don't deserve a low rating, but I did not even finish listening to one and I could not leave the rating blank.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Henry
- 06-07-15
A few good stories and several duds.
As always, Mark Twain rules the day. The other stories don't rise to a memory.
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