Selected Shorts: Falling in Love

by Symphony Space, Rick Bass, Padgett Powell

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.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook

3 pages, Audio CD

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

http://store.symphonyspace.org/collec...

Reviews

[Ashton Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

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)

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[CraftyChara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fires

The Winnowing Of Mrs. Schuping

The Lone Pilgrim

Melisande

Violets

Travis B

[Karen Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Karmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

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)

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed listening to these short stories. The different readers made them come alive!

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uhhh, just not good

[Thomas Zachary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maile Melody’s Travis, B. … amazing.

[Christian Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth it for the lovely Rick Bass short story alone.

[A.A.B · Rating 1 out of 5]

The collection didn't work as a collection. The only half decent story is the Rapunzel-like fairytale. The others are absolutely awful.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.)

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.