Short fiction forces writers to exercise economy. Guy de Maupassant’s novels are worth reading, but few would dispute the ...

My wife saw a plate of cupcakes on Instagram and freaked out. It was our first week of social distancing, and to her, the little cakes, covered in promiscuous sprinkles, seemed far too close together ...

One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today. Listen 0:00 In 1975, the year I turned ...

The Universal Story Generator exists. He lived in France in the second half of the nineteenth century, and Sandra Smith’s fine new selection and translation of his stories has just been published. The ...

Envy comes easily. Nevertheless, while envy eats away at the human soul, gratitude nourishes it, filling the soul with the wonderful blessings which life affords. In his short story “The Diamond ...

Diamonds are a girl's best friend. Until they teach an unfortunate lesson about superficiality. Guy de Maupassant's short story, "The Necklace," is read by Fireside Al. Mathilde Loisel lives a simple ...

It is market day in Goderville, and Maitre Hauchcorne of Breaute makes his way into town. As he walks along, he notices a piece of string in the road and, “economical like a true Norman,” picks it up.

Having now read 98 of the 290 short stories written by Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893), from four English translation anthologies with many repeats between them, I am convinced that he was the best ...

We knowGuy de Maupassant (1850-93) as France’s greatest practitioner of the short story. He is as widely anthologized as O. Henry and is known, in the U.S. at least, for much the same thing: the ...