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Both stories on this week’s program were part of SELECTED SHORTS’ growing touring program. Edith Wharton’s classic tale of character, loyalty, and cutting edge science (the work is almost a Darwinian roman a clef), “The Debt,” was read at her own home, The Mount, in the Berkshire Hills. The reader was SHORTS regular James Naughton, a Tony Award-winner for his roles in Chicago and City of Angels among many other theatre credits. And Maile Meloy’s poignant “Acqua Boulevard” was read in her own former high school in Helena, Montana, by host Isaiah Sheffer. Meloy is the author of the story collection Half in Love and the novels Liars and Saints and A Family Daughter. Her stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Ploughshares, and The Paris Review, and have been awarded the Aga Khan Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Malamud Award among other distinctions.

“The Debt,” by Edith Wharton, read by James Naughton “Acqua Boulevard,” by Maile Meloy, read by Isaiah Sheffer For additional works featured on SELECTED SHORTS, please visit Symphony Space