The Best Short Stories 2024
The O. Henry Prize Winners
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About this listen
“A diverse and glorious selection . . . a gift of imagination, wit, and wonder. The collection is filled with miniature masterpieces. . . . This must-have anthology is a treasure trove not to be missed.” —Library Journal (starred review)
The prestigious annual story anthology, featuring prize-winning stories by Kate DiCamillo, Jess Walter, Dave Eggers, Allegra Goodman, Jai Chakrabarti, Francisco Gonzalez, and more.
Continuing a century-long tradition of cutting-edge literary excellence, this year's edition contains twenty prizewinning stories chosen from the thousands published in magazines over the previous year. Guest editor Amor Towles has brought his own refreshing perspective to the prize, selecting stories by an engaging mix of celebrated names and emerging voices. The winning stories are accompanied by an introduction by Towles, observations from the winning writers on what inspired them, and an extensive resource list of magazines that publish short fiction.
THE WINNING STORIES
“Roy,” Emma Binder
“The Soccer Balls of Mr. Kurz,” Michele Mari (translated from the Italian by Brian Robert Moore)
“Orphans,” Brad Felver
“The Home Visit,” Morris Collins
“The Import,” Jai Chakrabarti
“Didi,” Amber Caron
“Serranos,” Francisco González
“Hiding Spot,” Caroline Kim
“Junior,” Katherine D. Stutzman
“My Good Friend,” Juliana Leite (translated from the Portuguese by Zoë Perry)
"The Castle of Rose Tellin,” Kate DiCamillo
"Rain,” Colin Barrett
“Marital Problems,” Robin Romm
“The Last Grownup,” Allegra Goodman
“The Honor of Your Presence,” Dave Eggers
“The Paper Artist,” E. K. Ota
“The Room-Service Waiter,” Tom Crewe
“Seeing Through Maps,” Madeline ffitch
“The Dark,” Jess Walter
“Mobilization,” Allegra Hyde
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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
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Fahrenheit 451
- By: Ray Bradbury
- Narrated by: Tim Robbins
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Story
Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family."
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Wish I Hadn't Cliff Noted This in High School
- By Joel on 03-27-17
By: Ray Bradbury
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The Mistake
- By: K. L. Slater
- Narrated by: Lucy Price-Lewis
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
You think you know the truth about the people you love. But one discovery can change everything.... Eight-year-old Billy goes missing one day, out flying his kite with his sister Rose. Two days later he is found dead. Sixteen years on, Rose still blames herself for Billy's death. How could she have failed to protect her little brother? Rose has never fully recovered from the trauma, and one of the few people she trusts is her neighbour Ronnie, who she has known all her life.
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How much do we really know about the ones we love?
- By T. West on 12-03-17
By: K. L. Slater
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Brain Damage
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
As Charly struggles to recover from her brain injury, she begins to realize that the events of that fateful night are trapped in the damaged right side of her brain. Now, she must put the jigsaw pieces together to discover the identity of the man who tried to kill her...before he finishes the job he started.
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Who Else Laughed, Cried, and Shuddered?
- By Jennifer Chichester on 09-16-22
By: Freida McFadden
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Mary Jane
- By: Amy Herzog
- Narrated by: Rachel McAdams, April Matthis, Brenda Wehle, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 16 mins
- Original Recording
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Story
Academy Award nominee Rachel McAdams stars in Mary Jane, a poignant and intimate drama following a single mother’s journey caring for her chronically ill young son. Set in New York City, the play unfolds in two parts—Mary Jane's small Queens apartment and a pediatric hospital. With unflinching honesty and unexpected humor, we witness Mary Jane's tireless devotion, her interactions with medical professionals, and her struggle to maintain her sense of self.
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Amazing performance
- By Andrew Reynolds on 12-28-24
By: Amy Herzog
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Ghost Stories: Stephen Fry's Definitive Collection
- By: Stephen Fry, Washington Irving, M.R. James, and others
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
As the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, Halloween approaches. Come, brave listener, pull up a chair, and spend some time with master storyteller Stephen Fry as he tells us some of his favourite ghost stories of all time, in truly terrifying spatial audio. From the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow to the tortured spirits of M.R. James, from Edgar Allan Poe’s terrifying tale of a doppelganger to Charlotte Riddell’s Open Door that should definitely stay shut, join Stephen as he tells you some truly terrifying tales.
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Wonderful narration. Mediocre stories.
- By Michael Fuchs on 11-07-23
By: Stephen Fry, and others
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Excellent Collection
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In her introduction to this year’s The Best American Essays, guest editor Vivian Gornick states that her selections “contribute materially to the long and honorable history of the personal essay by way of the value they place on lived experience.” Provocative, daring, and honest at a time when many writers are deliberately silencing themselves in the face of authoritarian and populist censorship movements, the twenty-one essays collected here reflect their authors’ unapologetic observations of the world around them.
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Loved It
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This group of four classic stories from the 19th century includes works that appear in many collections of European literature. Offering tantalizing revelations and unforgettable characters, these tales have delighted readers ever since they were first published. These classic short stories are narrated by two of the most critically-acclaimed readers in the audiobook field: George Guidall and Frank Muller. Their performances bring fresh emotional nuances to the tales while highlighting the wonderful strands of irony.
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Wonderful Bedtime Stories
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You Have Arrived at Your Destination
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When Sam’s wife first tells him about Vitek, a twenty-first-century fertility lab, he sees it as the natural next step in trying to help their future child get a “leg up” in a competitive world. But the more Sam considers the lives that his child could lead, the more he begins to question his own relationships and the choices he has made in his life.
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Excellent
- By RueRue on 10-19-19
By: Amor Towles
What listeners say about The Best Short Stories 2024
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Andre
- 10-12-24
Superb!
This is a most enjoyable read. The short fiction quality and diversity entertains and delights. I will listen to it again to pick up anything I missed the first time. I highly recommend it.
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