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Selected Shorts: Family Matters
Recorded live at the 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 some of their favorite tales read aloud by an assortment of distinguished actors.
Hilarious and colorful episodes in the lives of families—many depicted from a kid’s-eye-view—are the theme for this compilation. They include, Shirley Jackson’s "Charles" read by Lois Smith, Etgar Keret’s "Pride and Joy" read by Robert Sean Leonard, Diane Leslie’s "A Life of Crime" read by Jill Eikenberry, Rick Moody’s "Boys" read by B. D. Wong, Frank O’Connor’s "First Confession" read by Malachy McCourt, Grace Paley’s "The Loudest Voice" read by Linda Lavin, and Touré’s "Solomon’s Big Day: A Children’s Story" read by Daniel Alexander Jones.
Hilarious and colorful episodes in the lives of families—many depicted from a kid’s-eye-view—are the theme for this compilation. They include, Shirley Jackson’s "Charles" read by Lois Smith, Etgar Keret’s "Pride and Joy" read by Robert Sean Leonard, Diane Leslie’s "A Life of Crime" read by Jill Eikenberry, Rick Moody’s "Boys" read by B. D. Wong, Frank O’Connor’s "First Confession" read by Malachy McCourt, Grace Paley’s "The Loudest Voice" read by Linda Lavin, and Touré’s "Solomon’s Big Day: A Children’s Story" read by Daniel Alexander Jones.
3 pages, Audio CD
First published October 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 8, 2025
Some of these stories... wow.
January 3, 2016
Shirley Jackson's "Charles" - Laurie's parents are dying to meet the most misbehaved boy in school. (3 stars)
Frank O'Connor's "First Confession" - A guilt-ridden Irish lad fears his first confession may be his last. (3 stars)
Toure's Solomon's Big Day: A Children's Story" - A little boy named Solomon escapes into the magical world of his paintings. (4 stars)
Grace Paley's "The Loudest Voice" - This year's Christmas pageant stars a Jewish girl. (3 stars)
Diane Leslie's "A Life of Crime" - Love and passion, Hollywood style, from a girl's-eye-view. (4 stars)
Etgar Keret's "Pride and Joy" - A young man struggles to save his shrinking parents. (3 stars)
Rick Moody's "Boys" - The world of boys. (3 stars)
Frank O'Connor's "First Confession" - A guilt-ridden Irish lad fears his first confession may be his last. (3 stars)
Toure's Solomon's Big Day: A Children's Story" - A little boy named Solomon escapes into the magical world of his paintings. (4 stars)
Grace Paley's "The Loudest Voice" - This year's Christmas pageant stars a Jewish girl. (3 stars)
Diane Leslie's "A Life of Crime" - Love and passion, Hollywood style, from a girl's-eye-view. (4 stars)
Etgar Keret's "Pride and Joy" - A young man struggles to save his shrinking parents. (3 stars)
Rick Moody's "Boys" - The world of boys. (3 stars)
June 14, 2012
It was hilarious to listen to! There's at least one thing for everyone who listens to relate to.
January 23, 2024
I really enjoy listening to these audio performances. They bring the stories alive in a way that reading them does not.
My rating for individual stories:
"Charles" by Shirley Jackson - 5 stars
"First Confession" by Frank O'Connor - 4.5 stars
"Solomon's Big Day: A Children's Story" by Touré - 3 stars
"The Loudest Voice" by Grace Paley - 3.5 stars
"A Life of Crime" by Diane Leslie -3 stars
"Pride and Joy" by Etgar Keret - 2 stars
"Boys" by Rick Moody - 4 stars
My rating for individual stories:
"Charles" by Shirley Jackson - 5 stars
"First Confession" by Frank O'Connor - 4.5 stars
"Solomon's Big Day: A Children's Story" by Touré - 3 stars
"The Loudest Voice" by Grace Paley - 3.5 stars
"A Life of Crime" by Diane Leslie -3 stars
"Pride and Joy" by Etgar Keret - 2 stars
"Boys" by Rick Moody - 4 stars
February 7, 2019
OMG. These were terrific. Especially the one about going to confession, by Malachy McCourt. And the one by Grace Paley about the little kids from a Jewish community who had to participate in a Christmas play. Terrific selection!
January 1, 2023
This collection was such a delight - all of the stories made me smiley, with my favorite being Frank O'Connor's First Confession. This is a batch of feel-good stories that I'll absolutely be coming back to.
July 26, 2023
A good listen. Charles was predictable but read oh so delightfully. Boys was poignant and read beautifully. First Confession was fun. As was the Loudest Voice. A life of crime started a little cringy but improved. Solomon’s Big Day was lovely. Pride and Joy was a little forgettable.
October 24, 2018
A delightful collection of short stories read before an audience. Some funny, some sad, all enjoyable.
February 17, 2021
I loved listening to these stories. I laughed at the performance of them and I look forward to reading all of them on paper or on kindle. Such a fun little compilation.
March 21, 2023
Funny stories told by great voices.
October 26, 2025
Liked most of the stories. A quick listen. Reminds me of listening to Moth Radio Hour.
October 19, 2016
Another great accompaniment to a long car trip. I especially enjoyed "Charles" by Shirley Jackson and "First Confession" by Frank O'Connor. I did have a 3 1/2 year old along on the car trip with me and thought he'd enjoy hearing the one that was called "Solomon's Big Day: A Children's Story." That was a bit misleading. I had to turn that down very quickly. Definitely not a children's story.
April 21, 2017
3.5 stars as a whole. I know if I actually averaged the individual story scores, it would be a 3, but looking at the collection as a whole, the stories and narrators were really well chosen. Some of the stories just didn't resonate with me, and I didn't love any one story, but all were worthwhile. It's a collection of stories about children written for adults. All of them were enhanced by the delivery of the excellent narrators.
Shirley Jackson's "Charles" - Though the twist was quickly obvious, I enjoyed the experience of listening to this story, both due to the narrator Lois Smith's delivery and the audience reaction. (3 stars)
Frank O'Connor's "First Confession" - A lot of the charm of this story was in Malachy McCourt's narration, but there wasn't much plot to it. (2.5 stars)
Toure's "Solomon's Big Day: A Children's Story" - Interesting story about a child artist, and it's unclear if the whole incident was meant to be a dream. (3 stars)
Grace Paley's "The Loudest Voice" - Cute and humorous story with a strong young protagonist. This one seemed to have a missing element in audio, it seemed as if the audience was responding to something they saw on occasion. (3 stars)
Diane Leslie's "A Life of Crime" - Probably my favorite story in the collection, with strong characters and engaging dynamics between them. Wish I knew French, because from the audience reaction, there was humor in the few French phrases scattered throughout. (4 stars)
Etgar Keret's "Pride and Joy" - There was an element of magical realism to this story, but the plot, though unique, was rather simplistic. (2.5 stars)
Rick Moody's "Boys" - This story relied heavily on repetition, and while it's an interesting device, it soon felt a bit tedious to me. (2 stars)
Shirley Jackson's "Charles" - Though the twist was quickly obvious, I enjoyed the experience of listening to this story, both due to the narrator Lois Smith's delivery and the audience reaction. (3 stars)
Frank O'Connor's "First Confession" - A lot of the charm of this story was in Malachy McCourt's narration, but there wasn't much plot to it. (2.5 stars)
Toure's "Solomon's Big Day: A Children's Story" - Interesting story about a child artist, and it's unclear if the whole incident was meant to be a dream. (3 stars)
Grace Paley's "The Loudest Voice" - Cute and humorous story with a strong young protagonist. This one seemed to have a missing element in audio, it seemed as if the audience was responding to something they saw on occasion. (3 stars)
Diane Leslie's "A Life of Crime" - Probably my favorite story in the collection, with strong characters and engaging dynamics between them. Wish I knew French, because from the audience reaction, there was humor in the few French phrases scattered throughout. (4 stars)
Etgar Keret's "Pride and Joy" - There was an element of magical realism to this story, but the plot, though unique, was rather simplistic. (2.5 stars)
Rick Moody's "Boys" - This story relied heavily on repetition, and while it's an interesting device, it soon felt a bit tedious to me. (2 stars)
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews