Chaos Reading discussion

Having just read a couple of great short stories, I thought it might be nice to start a shelf where we can recommend the best ones we stumble across from time to time. I'm not talking about the classics here. It's more about the ones that most people don't know about....

Post your relatively unknown short story recommendations here. Please include links to the story online if there are any, as well as the GR link.

I'll start the ball rolling....

The Paper Menagerie - Ken Liu - http://escapepod.org/2012/05/17/ep345...

Fixture by Tom Lichtenberg

Ponies by Kij Johnson - http://www.tor.com/stories/2010/11/po...

Ooooooh. Whitney posted a link to something on the cheap ebooks thread, and I'd totally support a nomination for it here. This is very cool.

"The iHole" by Julian Gough
http://www.juliangough.com/the-ihole-...
[In the few minutes since I started this post, it has just been taken down to avoid potential legal action. Now the link just says a legal version will be put up "later this year". Sigh. You'll just have to trust me that it was awesome. Or hope that someone archived it.]

Whitney - I just bought a copy of Dostoevsky's "The Double" on Friday. In looking through Gough's profile, it looks like he's worked on part of an illustrated/graphic novel tribute to The Double. I like the serendipitous connection! Nobrow 6: The Double

I just read Ponies...had a trip to my girlhood memories.

Yesterday I found this short story Kingpin Billy Jack by Brandon Shire. Free on https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

Are you interested in including story collections? If not, no worries and carry on.

There were two stories in Apocalypses And Apostrophes: Short Fiction Of John Barnes that I enjoyed particularly: "Under the Covenant of Stars" and "Gentleman Pervert, out on a Spree." (Sorry, I don't think the individual stories are available)

Can I also suggest a collection of related stories? God Is Dead by Ron Currie Jr. is so damn cool, I just can't even believe it.

Ruby wrote: ""The iHole" by Julian Gough... [In the few minutes since I started this post, it has just been taken down to avoid potential legal action..."

Well, that's too bad. Guess it had to come down earlier than expected. I'll edit the link in the other thread. The link does now lead to another link to a different short story that is also very good. And if you can parse the above sentence, you deserve a good read.

A second to the greatness of the story "Ponies".

I think if people want to nominate anthologies here that's okay. What do others think?

Obviously if that's the case, I'll have to nominate Diverse Energies again!

Whitney wrote: "...Well, that's too bad. Guess it had to com..."

I had just finished reading it, and only just sent it to my BF when it disappeared. I started telling him about the story, so now he's frustrated beyond belief he can't read it!

Matthew wrote: "I really enjoyed Robert Dunbar's collection Martyrs & Monsters."

Oooh yeah. There are two more anthologies I've been itching to get into. That one, and City of Hell Chronicles: Volume 1.

I'm reading The Complete Knifepoint Horror. Good, old school horror in that Narnia has great descriptions of creepy-ass things while leaving most things unexplained (in a good way). I'm actually listening to most of these on podcast rather than reading them. ("Knifepoint Horror" on iTunes). The creepy stuff is even creepier if you listen to it while falling asleep.

Whitney wrote: "I'm reading The Complete Knifepoint Horror. Good, old school horror in that Narnia has great descriptions of creepy-ass things while leaving most things unexplained (in a good way). I'm actually li..."

That sounds fun! My cat has a habit of accidentally accessing podcasts on my iTunes, so she should enjoy this!

Though this one might be a little Indian emotions centric, I loved it! Interpreter of Maladies

Roshni wrote: "Though this one might be a little Indian emotions centric, I loved it! Interpreter of Maladies"

Roshini, to steal from Motown, "I second that emotion." Great story.

And this American reader had no trouble accessing it.

Glad to hear that! Have you seen or read The Namesake? Also her work. :)

Roald Dahl short stories is not so well known as his children books.

Try some stories by Ambrose Bierce.

Guy wrote: "Try some stories by Ambrose Bierce."

Such as.....?

Okay, bookshelf is updated as of today.

Can I remind people that we're looking for relatively obscure short stories here, please. Happy to start a new thread if people want to focus on some more well known stuff :)

Apologies for cross-posting, but I wanted to nominate this while it's fresh in my mind: 26 Monkeys, Also The Abyss by Kij Johnson

A couple of collections that are excellent: Stories of Your Life: And Others, and the older The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith.

Ruby wrote: "Apologies for cross-posting, but I wanted to nominate this while it's fresh in my mind: 26 Monkeys, Also The Abyss by Kij Johnson"

Had to read this after your rave, and because Ponies was so great. Excellent story, thanks for posting!

I love Tastes Of Ink by Will Conway after someone randomly got me a signed copy.

Afterwards I found some other I loved even MORE on his blog at: http://www.willconway.co.uk/blog/eat-...

I think he posts roughly one a month, just to get you going c2cbs (just scroll down) is a really interesting one. Let me know what you think!

I just read Porn & Revolution in the Peaceable Kingdom and would have to say this is a perfect candidate. Wonderful, thought-provoking story.

Because they are harder to track, I have kept a diary of my favorite short stories over the years. I am not sure what we are calling obscure here. I have three I think are very good and do not see much traffic for them on the Goodreads site so I will suggest 'It Was the Heat' from Patterns, 'The Sea as Wet and Wet Can be' from The Cleft and Other Odd Tales and Do Ya, Do Ya Wanna Dance from Howard WaldropThings Will Never Be the Same: A Howard Waldrop Reader: Selected Short Fiction 1980-2005. Feel free to remove these if they fit the 'classic' description.

My favourites so far (of dubious obscurity)
The Babysitter - Robert Coover
The Depressed Person - David Foster Wallace
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love - Raymond Carver
and Tough, Tough Toys for Tough, Tough Boys by Will Self (no link for that one D:)

Ken Liu has sold a 3 novel series and a collection of short stories. FInally, I will have a book to put in people's hands, instead of a bunch of links! http://kenliu.name/blog/2013/11/25/th...

Looking forward to using 'silkpunk' in a sentence.

Whitney wrote: "Ken Liu has sold a 3 novel series and a collection of short stories. FInally, I will have a book to put in people's hands, instead of a bunch of links! http://kenliu.name/blog/2013/11/25/th......"

Yay! I'll be waiting for that one.