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The Selected Stories
Richard Bausch is a master of the short story—and this selection brings together ten pieces which perfectly showcase his incisive wit, perception, and artistry. “He brings to life characters and situations as vivid and compelling as any in contemporary literature.”—Michael Dorris, The Washington Post Book World
Including these
“The Man Who Knew Belle Starr”
“Police Dreams”
“What Feels Like the World”
“Design”
“The Eyes of Love”
“The Fireman’s Wife”
“Consolation”
“Letter to the Lady of the House”
“Aren’t You Happy for Me?”
“High-Heeled Shoe”
Including these
“The Man Who Knew Belle Starr”
“Police Dreams”
“What Feels Like the World”
“Design”
“The Eyes of Love”
“The Fireman’s Wife”
“Consolation”
“Letter to the Lady of the House”
“Aren’t You Happy for Me?”
“High-Heeled Shoe”
240 pages, Paperback
First published April 23, 1996
31 people are currently reading
126 people want to read
About the author
Richard Bausch
92 books216 followersAn acknowledged master of the short story form, Richard Bausch's work has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, Harper's, The New Yorker, Narrative, Gentleman's Quarterly. Playboy, The Southern Review, New Stories From the South, The Best American Short Stories, O. Henry Prize Stories, and The Pushcart Prize Stories; and they have been widely anthologized, including The Granta Book of the American Short Story and The Vintage Book of the Contemporary American Short Story.
Richard Bausch is the author of eleven novels and eight collections of stories, including the novels Rebel Powers, Violence, Good Evening Mr. & Mrs. America And All The Ships At Sea, In The Night Season, Hello To The Cannibals, Thanksgiving Night, and Peace; and the story collections Spirits, The Fireman's Wife, Rare & Endangered Species, Someone To Watch Over Me, The Stories of Richard Bausch, Wives & Lovers, and most recently released Something Is Out There. His novel The Last Good Time was made into a feature-length film.
He has won two National Magazine Awards, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Lila-Wallace Reader's Digest Fund Writer's Award, the Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, The 2004 PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story and the 2013 John William Corrington Award for Literary Excellence . He has been a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers since 1996. In 1999 he signed on as co-editor, with RV Cassill, of The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction; since Cassill's passing in 2002, Bausch is the sole editor of that prestigious anthology. Richard Bausch teaches Creative Writing at Chapman University in Southern California
Richard Bausch is the author of eleven novels and eight collections of stories, including the novels Rebel Powers, Violence, Good Evening Mr. & Mrs. America And All The Ships At Sea, In The Night Season, Hello To The Cannibals, Thanksgiving Night, and Peace; and the story collections Spirits, The Fireman's Wife, Rare & Endangered Species, Someone To Watch Over Me, The Stories of Richard Bausch, Wives & Lovers, and most recently released Something Is Out There. His novel The Last Good Time was made into a feature-length film.
He has won two National Magazine Awards, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Lila-Wallace Reader's Digest Fund Writer's Award, the Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, The 2004 PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story and the 2013 John William Corrington Award for Literary Excellence . He has been a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers since 1996. In 1999 he signed on as co-editor, with RV Cassill, of The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction; since Cassill's passing in 2002, Bausch is the sole editor of that prestigious anthology. Richard Bausch teaches Creative Writing at Chapman University in Southern California
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 22, 2021
I have read one other collection of Bausch’s…Someone to Watch Over Me, and I gave it 4 stars—I liked it quite a bit.. This not so much as that one, but there were several good ones.
The collection started out strong…the first story by far the best one of the 10…
The Man Who knew Belle Starr — 4.5 stars
• A man picks up a young female hitchhiker, and there is trouble that results from that. And not what one might think in that scenario. It helps if the hitchhiker has a gun! 😯
Police Dreams — 3.5 stars (round up to 4)
• A woman leaves her husband. He doesn’t understand why. Sort of a weird ending, which diminished my liking a bit, but still good.
What Feels Like the World — 3.5 stars
• About a young overweight 6th-grade girl and her grandfather who is raising her because her mother is dead and her father lives across the country with his new girlfriend and her kids…she can’t do jump onto a vaulting horse, do a handstand, and then land on the other side of the horse upright….and all the other girls can do it. And they have to show off their skills at an evening assembly and whole school community is turning out for it…. the grandfather is worried about her, and how she will feel when she fails in front of a bunch of people. I would be too (worried about her and me trying to jump over a vault horse b/c I would kill myself doing it).
Design — 2 stars
• About a Baptist minster and a priest. The minister is really sick but still ministers to people. The priest is worrying that the minister is dying…his worry seems to be mixed up with perhaps his unhappiness with his current life…I didn’t quite get it. Didn’t like it all that much. The priest sure cried a lot in the story.
The Eye of Love — 1.5 stars
• Blech. The reader gets to read about a young husband yelling at his wife ad nauseum and at end of story they kiss and make up.
The Fireman’s Wife — 2 stars
• Wife unhappy with husband. I got discouraged at this point because I had so much liked that first story and hoped all the stories would be like that one. Oh well.
Consolation — 3 stars
• A continuation of the previous story. The story involves Millie, the fireman’s wife, who lost her husband in a fire. She is visiting her in-laws with their new baby (she was pregnant in the previous story) and they are awkward around her…I guess they are still grieving their only child’s loss (her dead husband). She had whisked him away from them when marrying him and he is buried far away (where she lives). The end of the story is touching, and in my eyes saved the story.
Letter to the Lady of the House — 2 stars
• I felt this story was contrived. An older married couple in the twilight of their years are bickering. Husband writes the wife a letter and relates an episode early in their marriage and why deep down he does not regret marrying her and is OK with the angst he feels now over his unhappiness.
Aren’t You Happy for Me? — 4 stars
• Semi-comedic. A 23-year-old daughter tells her 44-year-old father over the phone that she is getting married to a 63 -year-old man, a former professor of hers. Oh yeah, and she’s pregnant. That goes over like a lead balloon with the father. He is younger than the to-be-bridegroom! 😮 😬
High-Heeled Shoe — 4 stars
• A man had an affair, and kept it from his wife but he feels guilty over it. He has ended the affair by the time the story is being told. He thought that she had discovered the affair and he says “When did you find out?”….she at first had no idea what he was talking about, because she had not figured out he had had an affair, but by him saying that (“When did you find out?”), as a reader, I am thinking that she now knows. But I am not sure. Hmmmmm…can this marriage be saved? 🤨
The collection started out strong…the first story by far the best one of the 10…
The Man Who knew Belle Starr — 4.5 stars
• A man picks up a young female hitchhiker, and there is trouble that results from that. And not what one might think in that scenario. It helps if the hitchhiker has a gun! 😯
Police Dreams — 3.5 stars (round up to 4)
• A woman leaves her husband. He doesn’t understand why. Sort of a weird ending, which diminished my liking a bit, but still good.
What Feels Like the World — 3.5 stars
• About a young overweight 6th-grade girl and her grandfather who is raising her because her mother is dead and her father lives across the country with his new girlfriend and her kids…she can’t do jump onto a vaulting horse, do a handstand, and then land on the other side of the horse upright….and all the other girls can do it. And they have to show off their skills at an evening assembly and whole school community is turning out for it…. the grandfather is worried about her, and how she will feel when she fails in front of a bunch of people. I would be too (worried about her and me trying to jump over a vault horse b/c I would kill myself doing it).
Design — 2 stars
• About a Baptist minster and a priest. The minister is really sick but still ministers to people. The priest is worrying that the minister is dying…his worry seems to be mixed up with perhaps his unhappiness with his current life…I didn’t quite get it. Didn’t like it all that much. The priest sure cried a lot in the story.
The Eye of Love — 1.5 stars
• Blech. The reader gets to read about a young husband yelling at his wife ad nauseum and at end of story they kiss and make up.
The Fireman’s Wife — 2 stars
• Wife unhappy with husband. I got discouraged at this point because I had so much liked that first story and hoped all the stories would be like that one. Oh well.
Consolation — 3 stars
• A continuation of the previous story. The story involves Millie, the fireman’s wife, who lost her husband in a fire. She is visiting her in-laws with their new baby (she was pregnant in the previous story) and they are awkward around her…I guess they are still grieving their only child’s loss (her dead husband). She had whisked him away from them when marrying him and he is buried far away (where she lives). The end of the story is touching, and in my eyes saved the story.
Letter to the Lady of the House — 2 stars
• I felt this story was contrived. An older married couple in the twilight of their years are bickering. Husband writes the wife a letter and relates an episode early in their marriage and why deep down he does not regret marrying her and is OK with the angst he feels now over his unhappiness.
Aren’t You Happy for Me? — 4 stars
• Semi-comedic. A 23-year-old daughter tells her 44-year-old father over the phone that she is getting married to a 63 -year-old man, a former professor of hers. Oh yeah, and she’s pregnant. That goes over like a lead balloon with the father. He is younger than the to-be-bridegroom! 😮 😬
High-Heeled Shoe — 4 stars
• A man had an affair, and kept it from his wife but he feels guilty over it. He has ended the affair by the time the story is being told. He thought that she had discovered the affair and he says “When did you find out?”….she at first had no idea what he was talking about, because she had not figured out he had had an affair, but by him saying that (“When did you find out?”), as a reader, I am thinking that she now knows. But I am not sure. Hmmmmm…can this marriage be saved? 🤨
July 6, 2015
This book, this writer, needs a review. Bausch has quietly been writing some of the best short stories available. His technique is similar to that of Toby Wolff or Ray Carver in that he is artful in is subtlety and grace. Very detailed in his descriptions of lost loves, old loves, new loves and unrequited loves. Sure love has been done, but great writing is great writing and if you haven't experienced Bausch's wise, perceptive take on relationships, you're missing something.
April 14, 2014
I'm in the middle of reading this collection of short stories, having come to it through a comment in "The art of subtext". When I started reading the first story I was concerned that it would be one of those "short stories about nothing" that you so often find in literary writing. Boy was I wrong! I have read four stories so far, and although they are far from being plot-based, you can certainly tell that something is happening: an extraordinary situation, a revelation, the begining of the end,...
Richard Bausch manages to create a feeling of "this is true" every single time
Richard Bausch manages to create a feeling of "this is true" every single time
July 17, 2011
despite somewhat depressing recurring themes of marriages falling apart and people finding it difficult to communicate with one another, these stories are so beautifully and elegantly written and constructed you have to admire the craft and the pure pleasure of reading and becoming absorbed in the lives of the characters.
September 14, 2010
Richard Bausch has become one of my gods for good short story writing. His stories are brilliant. He has an exceptional mind for dialogue, character and plot. In short, he writes perfect short stories and I've been reading all of them to study his work.
March 14, 2009
One of the most beautiful and touching books I have ever read.
August 26, 2011
I studied it as much as read it.
May 26, 2020
Richard Bausch's stories led me to the brink-- and then abandoned me. His stories drew me in, I was captivated by the characters and followed them into the depths of their anxious, sad, or scary situations. And then-- what happens? The stories are well written but mostly inconclusive-- often not even a change of heart or resolution of a conflict-- just a screeching halt.
Despite the inconclusiveness of the stories, I couldn't help reading on. One story "Aren't You Happy for Me?" brings the reader into a serious family crisis, where a young woman, age 23, telephones her family to report she is marrying a man old enough to be her grandfather. Serious yes-- but the phone conversation between the girl and her dad reminds me of a dark "Bob Newhart" phone impression. It kept me chuckling until the "non-end."
Another story that resonates is "Letter to the Lady of the House" in which a married man of some 50 years realizes that divisiveness in the later years is still worth all the lovely, happy, and loving memories of the past.
"What Feels Like the World" is a tender story about the love and caring between a fifth grade girl and her grandfather, who is raising her. The story focuses on an athletic feat the girl hopes to achieve, but then-- does she? Am I allowed to make up my own ending?
Despite the inconclusiveness of the stories, I couldn't help reading on. One story "Aren't You Happy for Me?" brings the reader into a serious family crisis, where a young woman, age 23, telephones her family to report she is marrying a man old enough to be her grandfather. Serious yes-- but the phone conversation between the girl and her dad reminds me of a dark "Bob Newhart" phone impression. It kept me chuckling until the "non-end."
Another story that resonates is "Letter to the Lady of the House" in which a married man of some 50 years realizes that divisiveness in the later years is still worth all the lovely, happy, and loving memories of the past.
"What Feels Like the World" is a tender story about the love and caring between a fifth grade girl and her grandfather, who is raising her. The story focuses on an athletic feat the girl hopes to achieve, but then-- does she? Am I allowed to make up my own ending?
Want to read
April 6, 2025Read so far:
from Spirits and Other Stories (1987):
The man who knew Belle Starr --3
*Police dreams --
*What feels like the world --
***
*All the way in Flagstaff, Arizona --
from The Fireman's Wife and Other Stories (1990):
Design --
The eyes of love --
*The fireman's wife --
Consolation --
Letter to the lady of the house --
***
*Old West --
from Rare and Endangered Species (1995):
Aren't you happy for me? --4
High-heeled shoe--
***
Byron the Lyron--3
A kind of simple, happy grace --
I-900 --
Nobody in Hollywood--
from Spirits and Other Stories (1987):
The man who knew Belle Starr --3
*Police dreams --
*What feels like the world --
***
*All the way in Flagstaff, Arizona --
from The Fireman's Wife and Other Stories (1990):
Design --
The eyes of love --
*The fireman's wife --
Consolation --
Letter to the lady of the house --
***
*Old West --
from Rare and Endangered Species (1995):
Aren't you happy for me? --4
High-heeled shoe--
***
Byron the Lyron--3
A kind of simple, happy grace --
I-900 --
Nobody in Hollywood--
October 20, 2007
troubled, heartbreaking short stories in the minimalist mode (i.e. carver). recommended.
December 4, 2011
Highlights: Police Dreams, What Feels Like the World, Design, Aren't You Happy For Me?, and High-Heeled Shoe
November 19, 2017
***Rating based only on the story "Letter to the Lady of the House" which I received as a standalone book from the Great Jones Street Collection***
July 26, 2022
Among the best stories I've ever read. "The Man Who Knew Belle Starr" from "The Atlantic" and "Letter to the Lady of the House" from "The New Yorker" are both award winners and among the best stories I've ever read.
July 15, 2023
I don't like short stories. Especially well written ones. They're just not long enough.
February 20, 2024
3.75
These are very good short stories that have the feel of Raymond Carver or perhaps Cheever.
This is my first introduction to this author.
These are very good short stories that have the feel of Raymond Carver or perhaps Cheever.
This is my first introduction to this author.
July 23, 2025
Some of these stories have enough drama (and action) for a Hollywood movie, some feature regular folks living just a few moments of their lives, but each is observant and sharply-written. Bausch has an ear for language—language that expresses the ways people talk but also the ways they don't always say what they mean. Writers hoping to hone their craft can learn a lot from this collection.
Want to read
June 22, 20101st edition, signed by author
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews