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Selected Shorts Archive

August 2009

Overwhelmed

Sunday, August 30, 2009



“A charity performance was staged in town. I went into the Governor's box, having been invited in the interval, and there was Ann Lugonavich, sitting by the Governor's wife. Again, I was struck by that same irresistible, vibrant beauty, by that charming, friendly expression in her eyes….”—Anton Chekhov, “Concerning Love.”
A woman consumed by grief has an epiphany; Chekhovian lovers suffer.


Figuring it Out

Sunday, August 23, 2009

“This was his last experimental journey for the firm. If it worked, he was going to be able to go on and on— towards the edge.”—Ron Carlson, “Towel Season.”
A brilliant mind finds its way home, and two peasants rock a Communist regime.


Tales in Verse, and a Chiller.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

“He dozed fitfully until a sudden wild cry from his wife woke him. ‘The paw,’ she cried wildly. ‘The monkey’s paw!’—W.W. Jacobs, “The Monkey’s Paw.”
Guest host John Lithgow’s favorite story-poems, and a chilling classic.


It’s Love

Sunday, August 09, 2009

“Elizabeth was loaded for bear. Her first step was the purchase of a black velvet dress that was low in the back, low in the front, and sleeveless. Next was the gardenia she wore in her hair. She looked quite beautiful." – Laurie Colwin, “An Old-Fashioned Love Story.”
Two stories about love when it’s least expected.


Best Friends: Dog Tales

Sunday, August 02, 2009

“I told him, about the way they get to know you. Not the way people do, the way people flatter you by wanting to know every last thing about you, only it isn’t a compliment, it’s just efficient—a person getting more quickly to the end of you... Dogs do want to know every last thing about you. They take in the smell of you. They know from the next room, asleep, when a mood settles over you. The difference is, there’s not an end to it." – Amy Hempel, “The Dog of the Marriage.”
A program celebrating canine muses, and the stories they inspire.