Classic American Short Stories

by Various, William Roberts (Translation), Roberts William (Translation)

This short story collection includes The Last Leaf by O. Henry, Jack London's Brown Wolf, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce, Stephen Crane's The Veteran, The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain, and more.

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Audiobook, Historical

Audiobook

First published February 1, 2001

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.

Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.

Reviews

[Laura Lane]

Some of the stories were good, some not so good. Still interesting look into the past.

[Andy]

Not a bad collection, but somewhat uneven and with a large block of O. Henry stories that kind of made it seem like the book was really O. Henry and others. The actual reading performances were excellent though, much better than for some audio books I've read. The readers did a very good job.

[Mangus]

I always enjoy reading this collection of short stories. This is my second or third time reading all the way through. I have read several stories within multiple times. For me, I can't get enough of them.

[Kate Lima]

Great classics by Ambrose Bierce, O Henry, Twain, London, Chopin, Crane. Very nice! I’d already read a few of them but they're always good. Great, I have to say. A dive into history, and wonderful writing.

[Emily Maughan]

2.5 stars. Some stories were better than others but nothing earth shattering that I loved. Listened to the audiobook.

[Sarahtar]

The narration was top notch. The stories were mostly great, some just ok. Lots of O. Henry.

[Matthew]

It was fun giving a listen to the collection of shorts. O Henry, Twain, and others are indeed classics. The stories sometimes seemed mere vignettes, snapshots of lives or situations, rather than seeming to have a point to them. Literature has changed over the centuries.

[Sandy]

An excellent selection of short stories.

[Shelley]

A good collection! I listed to this on audio and I really enjoyed revisiting these stories that I learn about in high school. I also enjoyed the ones that I had not read yet.

[Kristel]

A collection of American Short stories by such authors;
Ambrose Bierce: An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge, A Horseman in the Sky
Stephen Crane: The Veteran, The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky
Mark Twain: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
O. Henry: A Retrieved Information, While the Auto Waits, The Last Leaf, The Whiligig of Life, After Twenty Years, Makes the Whole World Kin, The Princess and the Puma, The Cop and the Anthem
Jack London: Brown Wolf
James Fenimore Cooper: Eclipse
Kate Chopin: Regret
I got this free from Audio Sync a program for youth over the summer. Some of these stories are harsh such as the the Owl Creek Bridge and some terribly funny like The Princess and the Puma. Kate Chopin's Regret is very short. All of these were new to me.

[Cyndi]

Great collection of short stories! So many times groups of short stories will have 3 or 4 good stories and the rest are boring. But this book has a wonderful variety of great stories. I especially love the genius of Mark Twain. Dialect is always perfect.

[Michelle]

Just as the title says a collection of short stories from some classic American authors. Enjoyable.

[Tracie Hall]

I guess death, loss, and deception were popular concerns in the late 19th, early 20th century. The writing styles are fun to experience, but the stories weren't my cup of tea.