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The Penguin Book of the International Short Story
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Expected 7 Apr 26Win a free print copy of this book!
13 days and 08:20:27
10 copies available
U.S. only
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by Literary Hub
The best in short fiction from around the world, from celebrated anthologist and author John Freeman and award-winning novelist Rabih Alameddine
In The Penguin Book of the International Short Story, writers from different nations, languages, and sensibilities come together in a globe-spanning and long overdue tour of modern fiction. In “Super-Frog Saves Tokyo,” Haruki Murakami brings us a man who believes a giant amphibian is enlisting him to protect his city from an impending earthquake. In “War of the Clowns,” Mozambique’s Mia Couto sketches a perfect allegory for our divided culture. In the predecessor story to her iconic novel The Vegetarian, Han Kang depicts a protagonist quietly undergoing an unlikely transformation. A Colm Tóibín character thinks, “I do not even believe in Ireland,” while Carol Bensimon reflects from Brazil, “All great ideas seem like bad ones at some point.” Salman Rushdie brings us to unsettled rural India, Olga Tokarczuk to an ugly woman exhibit at the circus, Abdellah Taïa to the queer Arab world, Ted Chiang to a far-off galaxy.
The United States is far from the center of the literary universe. This anthology is reminiscent of iconic director Bong Joon Ho’s line about overcoming “the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles” to enter a new world of film—the work of thoughtful and accomplished translators opens the door wide for those curious about what lies beyond the Western canon and classroom. Writers from six continents, ranging from new voices to literary icons, each offer a window into a distinct point of view, both transcending and illuminating their place of origin. They offer not only captivating prose, but a reminder of the power of the imagination across space and time.
The best in short fiction from around the world, from celebrated anthologist and author John Freeman and award-winning novelist Rabih Alameddine
In The Penguin Book of the International Short Story, writers from different nations, languages, and sensibilities come together in a globe-spanning and long overdue tour of modern fiction. In “Super-Frog Saves Tokyo,” Haruki Murakami brings us a man who believes a giant amphibian is enlisting him to protect his city from an impending earthquake. In “War of the Clowns,” Mozambique’s Mia Couto sketches a perfect allegory for our divided culture. In the predecessor story to her iconic novel The Vegetarian, Han Kang depicts a protagonist quietly undergoing an unlikely transformation. A Colm Tóibín character thinks, “I do not even believe in Ireland,” while Carol Bensimon reflects from Brazil, “All great ideas seem like bad ones at some point.” Salman Rushdie brings us to unsettled rural India, Olga Tokarczuk to an ugly woman exhibit at the circus, Abdellah Taïa to the queer Arab world, Ted Chiang to a far-off galaxy.
The United States is far from the center of the literary universe. This anthology is reminiscent of iconic director Bong Joon Ho’s line about overcoming “the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles” to enter a new world of film—the work of thoughtful and accomplished translators opens the door wide for those curious about what lies beyond the Western canon and classroom. Writers from six continents, ranging from new voices to literary icons, each offer a window into a distinct point of view, both transcending and illuminating their place of origin. They offer not only captivating prose, but a reminder of the power of the imagination across space and time.
- GenresShort Stories
Kindle Edition
Expected publication April 7, 2026
1 person is currently reading
1811 people want to read
About the author
Rabih Alameddine
25 books957 followersRabih Alameddine (Arabic: ربيع علم الدين; born 1959) is an American painter and writer. His 2021 novel The Wrong End of the Telescope won the 2022 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.
Alameddine was born in Amman, Jordan to Lebanese Druze parents. He grew up in Kuwait and Lebanon, which he left at age 17 to live first in England and then in California to pursue higher education. He earned a degree in engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Master of Business in San Francisco.
Alameddine began his career as an engineer, then moved to writing and painting. His debut novel Koolaids, which touched on both the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco and the Lebanese Civil War, was published in 1998 by Picador.
The author of six novels and a collection of short stories, Alameddine was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2002. His queer sensibility has added a different slant to narratives about immigrants within the context of what became known as Orientalism.
In 2014, Alameddine was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and he won the California Book Awards Gold Medal Fiction for An Unnecessary Woman.
Alameddine is best known for this novel, which tells the story of Aaliya, a Lebanese woman and translator living in war-torn Lebanon. The novel "manifests traumatic signposts of the [Lebanese] civil war, which make it indelibly situational, and accordingly latches onto complex psychological issues."
In 2017, Alameddine won the Arab American Book Award and the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction for The Angel of History.
In 2018 he was teaching in the University of Virginia's creative writing program, in Charlottesville.
He was shortlisted for the 2021 Sunday Times Short Story Award for his story, "The July War".
His novel The Wrong End of the Telescope won the 2022 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.
Alameddine was born in Amman, Jordan to Lebanese Druze parents. He grew up in Kuwait and Lebanon, which he left at age 17 to live first in England and then in California to pursue higher education. He earned a degree in engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Master of Business in San Francisco.
Alameddine began his career as an engineer, then moved to writing and painting. His debut novel Koolaids, which touched on both the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco and the Lebanese Civil War, was published in 1998 by Picador.
The author of six novels and a collection of short stories, Alameddine was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2002. His queer sensibility has added a different slant to narratives about immigrants within the context of what became known as Orientalism.
In 2014, Alameddine was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and he won the California Book Awards Gold Medal Fiction for An Unnecessary Woman.
Alameddine is best known for this novel, which tells the story of Aaliya, a Lebanese woman and translator living in war-torn Lebanon. The novel "manifests traumatic signposts of the [Lebanese] civil war, which make it indelibly situational, and accordingly latches onto complex psychological issues."
In 2017, Alameddine won the Arab American Book Award and the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction for The Angel of History.
In 2018 he was teaching in the University of Virginia's creative writing program, in Charlottesville.
He was shortlisted for the 2021 Sunday Times Short Story Award for his story, "The July War".
His novel The Wrong End of the Telescope won the 2022 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 5, 2026
The Penguin Book of the International Short Story is a dream tome for anyone who loves short stories, or translated fiction, or both! This anthology contains over 30 “international” stories (in this sense, international means non-US), translated to English from Persian, Swedish, Spanish, Polish, Korean, Chinese; the list goes on. Rabid Alameddine and John Freeman have gathered a varied collection, and pretty much all the stories are worth a read.
I’m a huge fan of short stories, and I loved being introduced to new writers, as well as being reminded of some classics.
Below are some of my favorites:
The Weird
Superfrog Saves Tokyo, by Haruki Murakami (Japanese, translator Jay Rubin) - A loan collector comes home to find a giant frog in his apartment, who wants him to help in fighting a Worm to save Tokyo from an earthquake. This is the first story in the anthology, and I feel like this was a “Cerberus” story; if you get past this one unscathed, you will more than likely enjoy the rest of the collection.
My Sad Dead, by Mariana Enriquez (Spanish, trans. Megan McDowell) - A woman lives in a rough neighborhood, but does not want to leave because the ghost of her dead mother still lives with her. The woman sees other ghosts too, most importantly, young people who have died. This is absolutely heartbreaking. Enriquez is one of my favorite writers.
The Fruit of My Woman, by Han Kong (Korean, trans. Deborah Smith) - This one was oddly moving. A woman begins to find strange bruises on herself, before starting a strange transformation. Told from the perspective of the woman and her partner, this is a brilliantly unconventional love story.
An Unlucky Man, by Samanta Schweblin (Spanish, trans. Megan McDowell) - Along with Enriquez, Schweblin is another of my favorites. A surreal tale of a girl somewhat abducted while in a hospital waiting room. Like a lot of Schweblin’s work, there is a dreamy, uncanny feeling to this story.
War of the Clowns, by Mia Couto (Portuguese, trans. Eric M. B. Becker) - file this under weird, but also chillingly prescient. A brief fable, beginning as a small fight between two literal clowns, which escalates, and embroils a whole town. I had to take a breather after this one.
Beautiful and Heartbreaking
The Illumination of Santiago, Nona Fernandez Silanes (Spanish, trans. Idra Novey) - A gorgeous little tale about electric street lights being installed for the first time in Santiago. Told from the perspective of a young girl, who has literally never seen anything like it before.
Amira, Who Knows, by Rawaa Sonbol (Arabic, trans. Katharine Halls) - A woman in her seventies sits outside some public toilets, and watches. There is a lot of sadness in this story, but a lot of love too.
The Flower Garden, by Mieko Kawakami (Japanese, trans. Hitomi Yoshio) - Oh my word, this story is heartbreaking. A woman loses her home and her beloved garden due to her husband’s misdeeds, and is forced to sell to a young, single woman. Lots of resentment here, and some cringeworthy behavior. A wonderful story.
You Can’t Get Lost in Cape Town, by Zoe Wicomb - This is the most upsetting story in the collection. A young girl makes a fateful, life-changing bus journey with her boyfriend. An absolutely devastating ending.
I’m a huge fan of short stories, and I loved being introduced to new writers, as well as being reminded of some classics.
Below are some of my favorites:
The Weird
Superfrog Saves Tokyo, by Haruki Murakami (Japanese, translator Jay Rubin) - A loan collector comes home to find a giant frog in his apartment, who wants him to help in fighting a Worm to save Tokyo from an earthquake. This is the first story in the anthology, and I feel like this was a “Cerberus” story; if you get past this one unscathed, you will more than likely enjoy the rest of the collection.
My Sad Dead, by Mariana Enriquez (Spanish, trans. Megan McDowell) - A woman lives in a rough neighborhood, but does not want to leave because the ghost of her dead mother still lives with her. The woman sees other ghosts too, most importantly, young people who have died. This is absolutely heartbreaking. Enriquez is one of my favorite writers.
The Fruit of My Woman, by Han Kong (Korean, trans. Deborah Smith) - This one was oddly moving. A woman begins to find strange bruises on herself, before starting a strange transformation. Told from the perspective of the woman and her partner, this is a brilliantly unconventional love story.
An Unlucky Man, by Samanta Schweblin (Spanish, trans. Megan McDowell) - Along with Enriquez, Schweblin is another of my favorites. A surreal tale of a girl somewhat abducted while in a hospital waiting room. Like a lot of Schweblin’s work, there is a dreamy, uncanny feeling to this story.
War of the Clowns, by Mia Couto (Portuguese, trans. Eric M. B. Becker) - file this under weird, but also chillingly prescient. A brief fable, beginning as a small fight between two literal clowns, which escalates, and embroils a whole town. I had to take a breather after this one.
Beautiful and Heartbreaking
The Illumination of Santiago, Nona Fernandez Silanes (Spanish, trans. Idra Novey) - A gorgeous little tale about electric street lights being installed for the first time in Santiago. Told from the perspective of a young girl, who has literally never seen anything like it before.
Amira, Who Knows, by Rawaa Sonbol (Arabic, trans. Katharine Halls) - A woman in her seventies sits outside some public toilets, and watches. There is a lot of sadness in this story, but a lot of love too.
The Flower Garden, by Mieko Kawakami (Japanese, trans. Hitomi Yoshio) - Oh my word, this story is heartbreaking. A woman loses her home and her beloved garden due to her husband’s misdeeds, and is forced to sell to a young, single woman. Lots of resentment here, and some cringeworthy behavior. A wonderful story.
You Can’t Get Lost in Cape Town, by Zoe Wicomb - This is the most upsetting story in the collection. A young girl makes a fateful, life-changing bus journey with her boyfriend. An absolutely devastating ending.
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