21 Great Stories

by Abraham H. Lass

The masterpieces of some of the finest writers ever to make words come alive on paper, the stories in this volume have been selected to represent the full spectrum of the storyteller's art. Here are works of chilling mystery, far-out fantasy, superb highly charged symbolism and enthralling human drama. Given sharpened focus through insightful editorial commentary, each of these tales stands distinctive in style and vision— and all are totally memorable reading experiences.
Includes:

- War by Luigi Pirandello
- Eve in darkness by Kaatje Hurlbut
- There will come soft rains by Ray Bradbury
- Tobermory by Saki
- The two bottles of relish by Lord Dunsany
- Footfalls by Wilbur Daniel Steele
- Hook by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
- Wine on the desert by Max Brand
- The lady or the tiger? by Frank Stockton
- An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce
- The cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
- The tell-tale heart by Edgar Allan Poe
- So much unfairness of things by C. D. B. Bryan
- The necklace by Guy de Maupassant
- The adventure of the speckled band by Arthur Conan Doyle
- To build a fire by Jack London
- Leiningen versus the ants by Carl Stephenson
- Eveline by James Joyce
- The secret life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber
- What stumped the bluejays by Mark Twain
- The pearl by John Steinbeck

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1969

Reviews

[Dona's Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent collection of timeless classics. In this volume, I first encountered Carl Stephenson's wonderful and terrifying "Leiningen Versus the Ants" 🐜 in which a farmer tries to protect his land from an oncoming wave of ravenous ants more destructive than a sea of acid. If you grab this anthology, don't do it for the titles on the front that you've probably already read, but for the hidden gems like this one!

Rating 5 stars
First reading, Finished winter 2019
Recommended for fans of short fiction, short classics, modern literary fiction

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent collection of favorite shorts for light reading. Some classic titles will be familiar ~ "Tobermory" (Saki), "The Lady or the Tiger" (Stockton), "The Cask of Amontillado" (Edgar Allan Poe). Most are excellent, and of a piece with these; but, I'll draw attention to some lesser-known, fine works in this batch: "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury (clever and ironic); "To Build a Fire" by Jack London (the author doesn't disappoint); "Leiningen Versus the Ants," (Carl Stephenson), a tale of man against nature guaranteed to make one flinch; and an unusual story of strong emotional impact, "Hook," by Walter Van Tilburg Clark, a tale of a hawk, as told from an omniscient point of view that includes the hawk's own perspective. That last one rivals Jack London's stories, I think. Easy to pick up, browse, pick and choose, or read through. Good read!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection.

[Connie Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short stories are a gap in my body of reading, so I chose this book because I thought it might plug some holes in my knowledge base. This book did NOT disappoint. How have I, as a lifelong avid reader, lived to the ripe old age of 56 and never read “The Necklace”, by Guy de Maupassant; “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, by Ambrose Bierce; “To Build a Fire”, by Jack London; “Leiningen Versus the Ants”, by Carl Stephenson; “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, by James Thurber; and “The Pearl”, by John Steinbeck? Well, I have read them now, and they already feel like old friends. This book has stories I’d already read (Poe, Twain, Sir AC Doyle) and rereading them was a pleasure. Long story short (ha,ha), if classic short stories are lacking in your reading repertoire, this book is a good place to start fixing that glaring omission.

[Xavier Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read 21 Great Stories when I was just fifteen, at a summer prep school called Taft in Watertown, Connecticut. I can still picture the dorm room, the quiet hours between classes, and that sense of awe when a story could reach out and grab hold of me in a way no lesson ever had before. This collection was my real introduction to literature — not as an assignment, but as a living, breathing force.

I’ll never forget An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce. The shock of its ending and the strange, dreamlike pull of its “preternatural dreaming” stayed with me for years. It was the first time I realized how a story could distort time and consciousness, how fiction could slip into another dimension.

Then came Mark Twain’s What Stumped the Bluejays — my first real encounter with his wit and the deep human comedy beneath it. I fell in love instantly with Twain’s voice, that blend of mischief and wisdom, as though he could make the simplest observation into a revelation.

John Steinbeck’s The Pearl marked another turning point. It was the beginning of what would become a lifelong relationship with his work — his empathy for ordinary people, his moral intensity, his lyricism. That story planted something permanent in me.

And Jack London’s To Build a Fire — unforgettable. The cold, the dog, the man’s struggle against nature. Years later, when I learned London was a radical, a socialist, a Wobbly like me with the Industrial Workers of the World, I felt an even deeper kinship. It felt like meeting an old friend who had walked the same road all along.

And of course, who could forget the first time hearing Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart or The Cask of Amontillado — those rhythms of madness and guilt, that claustrophobic brilliance that set the standard for psychological horror.

Looking back, 21 Great Stories wasn’t just an anthology; it was a gateway. Every story was a doorway into a different world, a different way of seeing. It introduced me to the power of fiction to disturb, to awaken, to transform. I owe this little paperback more than I can say — it started a lifelong love affair with great writing.

[blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a delaying tactic (because my next book is Portnoy's Complaint and I have a very poor track record with books that Baby Boomers really love), and it was a joy to remember how good writing can be.

They are, very much, 21 great stories in here. Not a stinker in the lot. When I got to the Joyce one, I thought, "Well, it's been a good run, I suppose it's okay if there's one dud in there," but the story is "Eveline" which is actually a very tight (3-4 pages) piece of work without Joyce's grammatical/punctuation affectations, so even that fits well.

Among the stories I'd read, many were favorites: "Tell-Tale Heart" and "Cast of Amontillado" (Poe), "There Will Come Soft Rains" (Bradbury), "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (Thurber), but there were more than a few that I hadn't read, like London's "To Build A Fire" and Steinbeck's "The Pearl", and some authors I didn't know very well, like Saki and W.V.T. Clark.

The writing, as mentioned, was top-notch.

I haven't read Steinbeck in a while, but "The Pearl" is terrific and tragic in that Steinbeck of ways. It's remarkable I haven't read it before.

Did I mention how good the writing was?

Lord Dunsany! I haven't read enough of him. I'd also never read Stephenson's "Leiningen vs. the Ants", which is funny because I use a tool named "lein" (after this story)...

It's all great. Check it out.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although the cover of this book displays "The Pearl" as its tour de force, most of the other stores are not nearly as long and, in my opinion, not nearly as sluggish. There are horror and suspense stories such as "The Two Bottles of Relish" and Poe's two contributions, "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Cask of Amontillado" along with "Leiningen Versus the Ants." Then there are stories about simple living that goes wrong like "Wine on the Desert" and "Eveline." Some cusp the edge of satire like "Tobermory" while others question our truths such as "The Lady or the Tiger?" Quite the spattering of contributions to make this collection fit for anyone who wants to read a quick little something.

[Mehdi Sheikh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories in the book were individually great. I had already read the Poe and Sherlock stories.
The new ones that particularly the ones that really stood out for me were:
War by Luigi Pirandello
Wine on the desert by Max Brand
The necklace by Guy de Maupassant
To build a fire by Jack London and
What stumped the bluejays by Mark Twain

But the gem of this book was Steinbeck's "The Pearl". Its my first time reading anything by Steinbeck and his prose is just beautiful. The writing is so crisp and heavy. It was after this that I resolved to read his "The Grapes of Wrath".

[Sanjukta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant curation of great short stories. As the preface reads, "a short story demands only our time and attention. In return for these, it shows us our world and our own lives in ways we may not have seen them before..."
Edgar Allen Poe, Mark Twain, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ray Bradbury, Luigi Pirandello, James Thurber to name a few.

[Gus Lackner]

Varied

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd read some of the stories years ago, it was good to revisit them! And read some from authors I was either unfamiliar with or hadn't read much of.

[Luis Grandson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would save this in a housefire.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Did not care for "The Two Bottles of Relish," "Footfalls," "Hook," "Eveline," and "The Pearl." The rest are excellent.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I worked on this for about eight months, picking through at my leisure whenever I was in the mood for something short and different. I started by reading the stories I did not know, and ended by re-reading the ones that I did. Some of them, such as "So Much Unfairness in Things," inspired me to seek out other books; others, such as "Tobemory," offered moments of interest and entertainment before joining the ranks stretching through my memory. There were a few misses, and some neat surprises. One that stands out the most is "Lenington vs the Ants," a bizarre story about a plantation owner who decides to take on the seasonal feeding frenzy of the local ant population by engineering various obstacles and countermeasures.

According to the descriptive bios provided, the editors of this book worked in public education in New York City. I can easily see this book being assigned in the classroom--and I can just as easily see young people resenting nearly every word assigned. I am glad that I picked this up on my own.

One more note: I saved "The Pearl" for last, as my recollection of it from--of course--high school was less than favorable. This time I enjoyed reading it--though now I wonder if Steinbeck goes too far in his portrayal of the pearl diving community as downtrodden and cowed by the city folk.

[Alexina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up after being mandated to read it ages ago in high school.

As a more appreciative and mature reader, I thoroughly enjoyed many of the stories included. "The Cask of Amontillado" is still my favorite...it's just so morbid. But, "So Much Unfairness of Things" is a close second.

For a long time I've been reading young adult literature so I could recommend books to my 7th and 8th graders (they HATE reading). Though I've read many great books, I can't say any of them have really made me THINK or analyze what I'm reading.

So, I do recommend this book though you have to be willing to read stories that really make you think.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met some new new writers such as Guy de Maupassant and Ambrose Bierce. There were genre's from horror to comedy, and of course plenty of drama. The short story communicates the author's vision in a tight, three-punch combination. The beginning can be anywhere from a paragraph long, the middle a few pages, and POW...an end that seems to come from nowhere, but was lurking in the shadows from the first word.
This book would be the ideal recommendation for someone who would like an introduction to short stories, or who wants their favorites in one volume.

[Karin A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved every one of the short stories in this book. Some I had read in highschool and she I never heard of. The authors were born in the last two centuries. Their words are classic for their era. It is a pleasure to find masterpieces of Joyce, Poe, Twain, London, Doyle, Steinbeck and more in one place. Stephenson's story of Leiningen versus the Ants was amazing. The reader felt Leiningen's terror, as if you were battling the marauding ants yourself.

[Rebekah Goode-Peoples · Rating 1 out of 5]

This boring and uninspiring short story collection is very outdated for use in an upper school classroom.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finally finished this...what, 3 years on the shelf? Wheww.

[Belinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE this book. With authors like Steinbeck, Jack London, Ray Bradbury and James Joyce there is no going wrong. Every story is alive and thought provoking. Highly recommended.

[Frightful_elk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, a few classics, a lot of morbidity. hit and miss.

[Honey Hawthorne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read some of the stories, but they were all good.

[Laura Kealey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not a huge fan of short ficiton.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was our inexpensive text for either 7th or, more likely, 8th Grade English class.

[Farrah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hate Jack London. Like, a lot.

[Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a bad story in the lot.

[Michael Blaylock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wouldn't call them all great, but there are some solid stories in here. Definitely worth a read to see which ones you like. I can at least recommend most of them for a read if not several reads.

[Lord Humungus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never finished all of it, but the stuff I read was pretty good.