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Selected Shorts: Falling in Love
Fans of the extremely popular Selected Shorts NPR radio program will fall in love with this three-CD compilation featuring six love stories written by authors such as Rick Bass, Laurie Colwin, and Edna O'Brien and read by acclaimed actors including William Hurt and Hope Davis. Great literature is regularly brought to life in this hour-long radio program of classic and new stories recorded live at New York's Symphony Space.
3 pages, Audio CD
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 12, 2015
Rick Bass's "Fires" - In the Rockies, a woman sets fire to a parched field to take the plunge into the pool of love. (3 stars)
Padgett Powell's "The Winnowing of Mrs. Schuping" - An eccentric southern dame cleans up her act and finds love. (4 stars)
Laurie Colwin's "The Lone Pilgrim" - A New York artist longs for love and marital domesticity. (5 stars)
E. Nesbit's "Melisande" - A delicious fairy tale about a princess with a terrible curse. (4 stars)
Edna O'Brien's "Violets" - A subtle portrait of a woman caught in an impossible affair. (5 stars)
Maile Meloy's "Travis, B." - A Western love story between a lonesome cowboy and a city gal. (4 stars)
Padgett Powell's "The Winnowing of Mrs. Schuping" - An eccentric southern dame cleans up her act and finds love. (4 stars)
Laurie Colwin's "The Lone Pilgrim" - A New York artist longs for love and marital domesticity. (5 stars)
E. Nesbit's "Melisande" - A delicious fairy tale about a princess with a terrible curse. (4 stars)
Edna O'Brien's "Violets" - A subtle portrait of a woman caught in an impossible affair. (5 stars)
Maile Meloy's "Travis, B." - A Western love story between a lonesome cowboy and a city gal. (4 stars)
July 6, 2012
This is a lovely addition to the Selected Shorts collection. My favorite of the collection (and there were several I really liked) was The Lone Pilgrim by Laurie Colwin. Like all anthologies, it was a bit hit and miss.
March 17, 2018
Fires
The Winnowing Of Mrs. Schuping
The Lone Pilgrim
Melisande
Violets
Travis B
The Winnowing Of Mrs. Schuping
The Lone Pilgrim
Melisande
Violets
Travis B
March 27, 2023
I used to love "Selected Shorts" when hearing it over the weekend on NPR...so was thrilled to borrow the audio version of this collection from my library.
Perhaps nostalgia colored my perception of it...or maybe its placement near more serious NPR programs made it particularly appealing...but this one was a bit meh to me.
My favorite was actor William Hurt's reading of Maile Meloy's "Travis, B." - the last story in this collection. Slow-moving but relatable.
Perhaps nostalgia colored my perception of it...or maybe its placement near more serious NPR programs made it particularly appealing...but this one was a bit meh to me.
My favorite was actor William Hurt's reading of Maile Meloy's "Travis, B." - the last story in this collection. Slow-moving but relatable.
July 30, 2024
I listened to this collection of six short stories from a radio program read by a variety of notable narrators. I found a couple of the stories humorous; three or so were forgettable and unexciting. I loved hearing Jane Curtin read Melisandre, which felt like a very classic fairy tale filled with fairies, curses/wishes, rapid hair growth and a clever solution.
August 12, 2017
My favorites are:
Disc 1 - Padgett Powell's "The Winnowing of Mrs. Schuping" - read by Christina Pickles (#2)
Disc 2 - E. Nesbitt's "Melisande" - read by Jane Curtin
Disc 3 - Maile Meloy's "Travis, B." - read by William Hurt (#1)
Disc 1 - Padgett Powell's "The Winnowing of Mrs. Schuping" - read by Christina Pickles (#2)
Disc 2 - E. Nesbitt's "Melisande" - read by Jane Curtin
Disc 3 - Maile Meloy's "Travis, B." - read by William Hurt (#1)
November 26, 2019
This is a collection of short stories read with brillance by a variety of readers. I love short stories and how in a small space they can create a new world. This is a mix of love stories that captivate.
December 23, 2017
I enjoyed listening to these short stories. The different readers made them come alive!
June 17, 2021
Uhhh, just not good
May 10, 2022
Maile Melody’s Travis, B. … amazing.
February 27, 2024
Worth it for the lovely Rick Bass short story alone.
April 2, 2025
The collection didn't work as a collection. The only half decent story is the Rapunzel-like fairytale. The others are absolutely awful.
June 17, 2026
Would you enjoy reading it again (if you forgot everything about this story):
No. The stories (besides the first story) were boring, didn't have a clear structure, the humor was very British-focused/dry (which isn't entertaining/funny) and there was no true romance. - 1
SUMMARY: *SPOILERS* There are six 'love' stories. Most of them deal with gradually falling in love with someone in a slow manner while simply living their lives, but them 'falling in love' is detailed in such a way where it is unclear if they even like each other. The only good story in the entire collection was the first story where a woman sets her woods on fire to flirt with a police officer, but even that seems illogical. The stories would jump from random idea to random idea without connecting it all together and it felt like they ended at a random point with no genuine conclusion.
Did you enjoy the plot:
It was bad; this is the type of book that you listen to on your commute or use as background noise (which is what I did). Most of the stories were forgettable or portrayed in such a manner where it was confusing if the characters truly had anything of value to say or do. - 2
Did you enjoy the writing style:
Not really. The way their inflections were on the audiobook, and the random laughter (at points where there didn't seem to be a joke), was entertaining but if it was written then it wouldn't have been good. The first two stories and the Tangled-like story did a decent job describing the setting and alike, despite not being the best, whereas the others failed to truly evoke any sort of imagery- 2
Good ending?
Terrible. None of the stories truly had a fulfilling or meaningful ending and it felt like the story simply stopped at a random word count - 1
Format: audiobook (1x while driving)
Average rating: 1.5 stars. Round up: 2 stars.
No. The stories (besides the first story) were boring, didn't have a clear structure, the humor was very British-focused/dry (which isn't entertaining/funny) and there was no true romance. - 1
SUMMARY: *SPOILERS* There are six 'love' stories. Most of them deal with gradually falling in love with someone in a slow manner while simply living their lives, but them 'falling in love' is detailed in such a way where it is unclear if they even like each other. The only good story in the entire collection was the first story where a woman sets her woods on fire to flirt with a police officer, but even that seems illogical. The stories would jump from random idea to random idea without connecting it all together and it felt like they ended at a random point with no genuine conclusion.
Did you enjoy the plot:
It was bad; this is the type of book that you listen to on your commute or use as background noise (which is what I did). Most of the stories were forgettable or portrayed in such a manner where it was confusing if the characters truly had anything of value to say or do. - 2
Did you enjoy the writing style:
Not really. The way their inflections were on the audiobook, and the random laughter (at points where there didn't seem to be a joke), was entertaining but if it was written then it wouldn't have been good. The first two stories and the Tangled-like story did a decent job describing the setting and alike, despite not being the best, whereas the others failed to truly evoke any sort of imagery- 2
Good ending?
Terrible. None of the stories truly had a fulfilling or meaningful ending and it felt like the story simply stopped at a random word count - 1
Format: audiobook (1x while driving)
Average rating: 1.5 stars. Round up: 2 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 30, 2010
I used to get up at 6:45am on Sunday mornings so I could make a cup of tea, get my knitting all set and be ready to listen to this on the radio at 7am. Then somebody told me you could get the stories on CD.
The shows were always a mixed bag, and for me, there were more misses than hits as time went on. So I am grateful there's a "best of" such as this one, which still only hit true a couple times, but the energy of hearing a live reading is high and I still love that.
(One thing: William Hurt -- what's the deal? You read your story as if you'd never seen it before! Pausing.
At the ends of lines.
And at.
the ends of pages even though.
the sentence hadn't ended yet
ah well.)
The shows were always a mixed bag, and for me, there were more misses than hits as time went on. So I am grateful there's a "best of" such as this one, which still only hit true a couple times, but the energy of hearing a live reading is high and I still love that.
(One thing: William Hurt -- what's the deal? You read your story as if you'd never seen it before! Pausing.
At the ends of lines.
And at.
the ends of pages even though.
the sentence hadn't ended yet
ah well.)
July 6, 2012
Another anthology from the Selected Shorts, this one devoted to stories about falling in love (or something like it). The stories are:
Rick Bass' "Fires", read by Ted Marcoux
Padgett Powell's "The Winnowing of Mrs. Schuping", read by Christina Pickles
Laurie Colwin's "The Lone Pilgrim", read by Hope Davis
E. Nesbit's "Melisande", read by Jane Curtin
Edna O'Brien's "Violets", read by Fionnula Flanagan
Maile Meloy's "Travis, B.", read by William Hurt
I think the last was my favorite, but I enjoyed them all. This was especially satisfying for me, because while I had heard of these writers, I don't believe I'd read any of them before, but I will be seeking out more of their work in the future.
Rick Bass' "Fires", read by Ted Marcoux
Padgett Powell's "The Winnowing of Mrs. Schuping", read by Christina Pickles
Laurie Colwin's "The Lone Pilgrim", read by Hope Davis
E. Nesbit's "Melisande", read by Jane Curtin
Edna O'Brien's "Violets", read by Fionnula Flanagan
Maile Meloy's "Travis, B.", read by William Hurt
I think the last was my favorite, but I enjoyed them all. This was especially satisfying for me, because while I had heard of these writers, I don't believe I'd read any of them before, but I will be seeking out more of their work in the future.
February 3, 2016
3.5 stars. I've listened to several of these short story audio collections by NPR which feature well-known narrators reading before a live audience. This collection included 6 stories, and I really enjoyed three while the other three were fine but didn't resonate with me strongly. My favorites were "The Winnowing of Mrs. Schuping" by Padgett Powell, "Melisandre" by E. Nesbit and "Travis B." by Maile Meloy. The live audience enhances the story, as they react to the humorous moments in a genuine way.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews