# The greatest short story writers



## mmurphy (Aug 14, 2014)

I often come across conversations about the finest novelists out there, but who do you think are the best exponents of the short story?


----------



## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

In no particular order (I like them all) _O. Henry_, _Saki_, and _Isaac Asimov_. They have all written stories that I remember vividly long after I finished them. I love the sweetness of _O. Henry's_ *The Gift of the Magi* and his other vignettes of old-time Americana, the terror of _Saki's_ brilliant little horror stories, among which are *The Interlopers* and *Sredni Vashtar*, and anything by _Isaac Asimov_, with my own personal faves being the poignant *The Ugly Little Boy* and the haunting *Nightfall*. Great writers all of them, who could evoke a world and create unforgettable characters with so few words in stories that still resonate.


----------



## Bryn (Aug 22, 2014)

Straight off the top of my head I'd like to add:

Roald Dahl
Ernest Hemingway


----------



## deckard (Jan 13, 2011)

Also, Mark Twain


----------



## AngryGames (Jul 28, 2013)

Sherman Alexi 
Philip K. Dick


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Harlan Ellison. After that, I'd have to think a bit.


----------



## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Certainly I'd include Mark Twain and Isaac Asimov.

I'd add Edward D. Hoch, Clifford D. Simak, Fredric Brown, and Chad Oliver.

I think Arthur Conan Doyle would qualify, also.

Mike


----------



## mmurphy (Aug 14, 2014)

AngryGames said:


> Sherman Alexi
> Philip K. Dick


Agree with you about Philip K Dick. I'd also throw Ramsey Campbell into the mix.


----------



## Tony Rabig (Oct 11, 2010)

In no particular order and no doubt I'm forgetting some and I'll mention those later.

Ernest Hemingway, Harlan Ellison, Roald Dahl, Roger Zelazny, Stanley Ellin, Rudyard Kipling, Irwin Shaw, Gerald Kersh, Charles Beaumont, Ray Bradbury, Jorge Luis Borges, Fritz Leiber, Henry James, Anton Chekhov, V S Pritchett, and THEODORE STURGEON.

Also think quite highly of Joseph Epstein, Richard Yates, and John O'Hara.  Ditto Dennis Etchison, Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King, and Charles L. Grant.


----------



## alawston (Jun 3, 2012)

Guy de Maupassant - "Boule de Suif" is probably his best known short story, but "Le Lit 29" and "La Parure" are also brilliantly twisted short tales that were the spark for pretty much every short tale I've ever written. Absolute legend.


----------



## alawston (Jun 3, 2012)

And I've just noticed his complete short stories are available on Kindle for free, so don't just take my word for it: Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant


----------



## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

NogDog said:


> Harlan Ellison. After that, I'd have to think a bit.


Ellison was a fantastic short story writer. I put Orson Scott Card on my short list of favorite short story writers as well - simply superb.


----------



## bobbic (Apr 4, 2011)

Can't help it--I have to throw two WOMEN into the mix.  Patricia Highsmith and Daphne du Maurier.


----------



## Corvida (Aug 10, 2014)

And another woman: Alice Munro.


----------



## devalong (Aug 28, 2014)

Anais Nin. She changed my life  .


----------



## PaulLev (Nov 2, 2012)

I'd add John Varley.


----------



## deanblake (Jun 10, 2013)

Bret Easton Ellis, JD Salinger, Bukowski and Haruki Murakami have written a few short stories that I've really enjoyed.


----------



## alawston (Jun 3, 2012)

In terms of contemporary short story writers, Robert Shearman is brilliant.


----------



## MissingAlaska (Apr 28, 2014)

My favorite - Flannery O'Connor.

Shirley Jackson comes to mind too (if only for The Lottery alone).


----------



## Hilary Thomson (Nov 20, 2011)

Seconding Ray Bradbury.  There aren't many writers who specialize in short stories who are consistently good at it.  Bradbury's one of the few.


----------



## alawston (Jun 3, 2012)

Hilary Thomson said:


> Seconding Ray Bradbury. There aren't many writers who specialize in short stories who are consistently good at it. Bradbury's one of the few.


I love Bradbury, particularly the Martian Chronicles.

For science-fictioneers, I think between them Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and Philip K Dick pretty much cornered the market several decades ago.


----------



## Adaman14 (Mar 20, 2013)

Don't forget Larry Niven for short stories.


----------



## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

Aliette de Bodard


----------



## Jash (Apr 4, 2013)

Robert Sheckley should top the science fiction list IMO. Doesn't get nearly as much recognition as he deserves.


----------



## Paul Reid (Nov 18, 2010)

William Trevor. His stories are so evocative.


----------



## UnicornEmily (Jul 2, 2011)

Isaac Asimov should make the list.


----------



## hs (Feb 15, 2011)

UnicornEmily said:


> Isaac Asimov should make the list.


Agreed. I'll also add Neil Gaiman to the list.


----------



## pmac (Sep 22, 2014)

michaelsnuckols said:


> My favorite - Flannery O'Connor.


Agree strongly with this.

Also add Carson McCullers and Nelson Algren.


----------



## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

_I, Robot_ is a work of utter brilliance, agreed.

But for my money, no one writes a short story better than Ray Bradbury. His _The Scythe_ is a true American Classic.


----------



## Douglas E Wright (Mar 11, 2011)

I'd also include Charles Grant.


----------



## J.T. Williams (Aug 7, 2014)

Edgar Allen Poe.


----------



## E. Christopher Clark (May 1, 2014)

As a professor of short fiction, I'm so glad to see this thread pop up. Some of the greats have already been mentioned—Alice Munro, Ernest Hemingway, William Trevor—but my personal obsession, Andre Dubus, is well worth mentioning. Dubus, aside from one early novel, wrote all of his fiction in the short form. He did a novella here or there, but the short story was his thing and he perfected it.

Also check out:
- Roxane Gay
- Robert Olmstead
- Julie Orringer
- Lorrie Moore
- Jennifer Egan
- Italo Calvino

to name just a few.


----------



## Smarte (Oct 1, 2014)

Don't know if I saw these names mentioned and they're among my favorite short story authors:

John Updike
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Joyce Carol Oates
Raymond Carver
James Thurber


----------



## scifi365 (Sep 12, 2014)

Good to see the love for Ray Bradbury. I saw the post title and immediately thought 'Ray Bradbury'.

A bit surprised, but equally impressed, to see someone has already mentioned Charles Bukowski, too. What fine taste the good people of KBoards have.


----------



## A.G. Richards (Sep 28, 2014)

How many people still read O. Henry these days? He was a very big deal in his day, and his best stories are still wonderfully evocative.


----------



## going going gone (Jun 4, 2013)

In lit fic, Raymond Carver, Amy Bloom, Francine Prose.

I loved Saki as a kid. 

One of the best s-f short stories I ever read was one called "Personal Silence" by Molly Gloss. I read it back when I subscribed to all the paper s-f mags and it is still fresh in my mind.


----------



## bobbic (Apr 4, 2011)

A.G. Richards said:


> How many people still read O. Henry these days? He was a very big deal in his day, and his best stories are still wonderfully evocative.


And twisty! I love twisty.


----------



## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Putting my vote in for HP Lovecraft and Richard Matheson who wrote mostly short stories and novellas.


----------



## Daniel Harvell (Jun 21, 2013)

Ray Bradbury is my personal favorite. I'll never quite understand how he packed so much into so little.


----------



## Guest (Oct 10, 2014)

Off the top of my head, my favorite short story writers are: Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ray Bradbury, Issac Asimov, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, and Mark Twain. I believe I've read every short story they ever wrote.


----------



## Scott Daniel (Feb 1, 2011)

I'm not widely read in terms of short stories - so I'm loving this thread and learning about all of the great authors. I read and enjoyed Hemingway's Nick Adams stories. I've also enjoyed Stephen King's shorts.


----------



## KateEllison (Jul 9, 2011)

Already been mentioned, but Flannery O'Connor and Shirley Jackson. Also Raymond Carver and Joyce Carol Oates. Fantastic writers.


----------

