Selected Shorts: Are We There Yet?

by Symphony Space

Recorded live at Peter Norton Symphony Space in New York City and at venues across the United States, these audio anthologies feature short stories from the Selected Shorts program that airs nationwide. More than 300,000 listeners tune in to this offering weekly to hear spellbinding tales read aloud by an assortment of terrific actors. A lot can happen on the way from one place to another, especially when an overnight flight makes for an unexpected romantic encounter between strangers seated together; South-of-France shenanigans ensue in an out-of-control automobile; and a bored, Midwestern housewife tries to escape to Kansas City. This anthology of tales about people in transit features Stuart Dybek's "Pet Milk" read by Keith Szarabajka, Martha Gellhorn's “Miami–New York” read by Joanna Gleason, Edward P. Jones' "An Orange Line Train to Ballston" read by Sonia Manzano, Annie Proulx's “The Trickle-Down Effect” read by James Naughton, Dorothy Thomas' “The Getaway" read by Mia Dillon, James Thurber's "A Ride with Olympy" read by David Rakoff, and Eudora Welty's "No Place for You, My Love" read by Andrea Marcovicci. 

Genres: Short Stories, Audiobook, Anthologies

3 pages, Audio CD

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

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

Reviews

[Carol Bishop · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed listening to these short stories all set during a ride of some sort. They are varied in setting, content, and intent.

[flms23 · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stories are supposed to be ones of travel but they rarely go anywhere. With so many great travel stories available it makes me wonder if the publisher couldn't get the rights to other travel stories. I would have included "a worn path" by Eudora Welty and "everything that rises must converge" which may be the greatest story of travel ever told. For that matter what about o'conner's "a good man is hard to find". The stories here are mostly forgettable.

[Carla · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I'd previously reviewed yet another audiobook by the Symphony Space, these were short stories read by actors before a live audience. Boring. The only person I remember recognizing was John Lithgow and he didn't do a good job. Coughing in the audience was distracting. I thought these would keep me awake during a long drive, but they made me sleepy!

[Kelly Kurposka · Rating 1 out of 5]

"She talked of going to grad school in Europe; I wanted to apply to the Peace Corps. Our plans for the future made us laugh and feel close, but those same plans somehow made anything more than temporary between us seem impossible. It was the first time I’d ever had the feeling of missing someone I was still with."

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chose this from a very short list of titles that actually appealed to me on Overdrive and was pleasantly surprised by how thoughtfully curated a collection it turned out to be. There was really only one or two stories I didn't truly enjoy. And the variety of narrators made it even more interesting.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not very impressed with this collection of short stories. Only one of them really pricked my ears, the story written by Annie Proulx. The topic was interesting to me, but really, it wasn't all that exciting either. I'd skip this one.

[Lois Baron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories by different people read by people not the authors. Naturally I liked some better than others.

[Connie Curtis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting short stories read by people who actually know how to tell a story.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

1970 at the beginning of my seven years of college I enrolled in beginning English class. 1963 was my last high school English class. I wanted to revisit the excellent experience from my two years of high school English. I received thinking tools that served me well.
In short, human culture is complicated. The more exposure one has, the better understanding. Depending on my thoughts, short stories can be of the highest reward.
note: I wasn't a bum before 1/70, in January 1965 I took early graduation and emancipated myself by enlisting in the US REGULAR ARMY with airborne as my enlistment option. The education that I had received in the then conservative public schools of Santa Clara County, California for testing very high in the Army's battery of tests. i.e. I scored 20 points higher than score to go to Officers Canidate School which resulted in personnel trying to recruit me for OCS. They failed to initially know that I was only just 17, not 19 or older.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another collection of short stories read by various performers from Selected Shorts. Despite the title, these are generally not roadtrip stories (and I specifically saved this for a roadtrip, so that was disappointing), though all have a journey of sone kind in them.

As with most short story collections, this was a mixed bag. There were only 6 stories, and most were ok to me, while the last, “No Place for You, My Love,” didn’t hold my interest from the start. I may not have been in the right mood to focus on it, though even then a story can draw me in and this one didn’t.

I did really enjoy “The Getaway” by Dorothy Thomas, read by Mia Dillon. Both the story and the performance were very entertaining.

[Qin Zhang · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection is audio only and performed by voice actors. I enjoyed Pet Mile, the getaway, an orange line train to Boston, Miami-New York, and the trickle-Down Effort. The stories were included in this collection because there was road trips involved. Some stories were funny. These were all snapshots of somebody's life.

I'm mixed on the effects of voice actors performing in front of live audience. I think that I can enjoy the stories the same as a regular audiobook format.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the reading performances, but I think only one of these stories will be memorable for me down the road. I have read little by Annie Proulx and it seems her short stories work better for me than her novels. Her story " The Trickle Down Effect" was quite funny and the one I feel sure I will remember.

[Beki Eikum · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
A fun audio short stories by different authors around theme of traveling. Wanted to read it because there is a story by Annie Proulx and I was looking for stuff by her. Glad I listened to it. The image of the meteoric flaming hay bales on the back of the semi was worth it alone.

[Rhonda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not particularly enjoy these stories. A couple were okay, but not worth it over all.

[Janis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readers were good, but stories weren’t that interesting.

[Mangala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every story is a journey.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked all of the short stories in this collection, but especially enjoyed "Miami-New York," and "The Trickle Down Effect."