18 books like In the Midst of Life. Tales of Civilians

What to read after In the Midst of Life. Tales of Civilians — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

Great American Short Stories Paul Negri · 2002 · 248p · ≈ 8h · Moderate Contents: Nathaniel Hawthorne: Young Goodman Brown (1835) -- Edgar Allan Poe: The tell-tale heart (1843) -- Herman Melville: Bartleby (1856) -- Bret Harte: The luck of Roaring Camp (1870) -- Stephen Crane: The bride comes to Yellow Sky (1878) -- Mark Twain: The private history of a campaign that failed (1885) -- Sarah Orne Jewett: A white heron (1886) -- Charles Waddell Chesnutt: The goophered… Shares: Confederacy, Union, Hanging, United States Civil War

Great American Short Stories [48 stories] Washington Irving · 1984 · 699p · ≈ 23h · Moderate Anthology contains: The legend of Sleepy Hollow -- Rip Van Winkle -- The spectre bridegroom -- Young Goodman Brown Rappaccini's daughter The fall of the House of Usher The gold bug -- Pit and the pendulum The cask of amontillad Captain Kidd's money -- Benito Cereno -- The lightning-rod man -- The diamond lens -- The celebrated jumping frog of Calaveras County -- The £1,000,000 bank-note -- The… Shares: Confederacy, Union, Hanging, United States Civil War

The Four Million O. Henry · 1906 · ★ 4.0 · 225p · ≈ 7h · Challenging The Four Million is the second published collection of short stories by O. Henry originally released in 1906. There are twenty five stories of various lengths including several of his best known works such as "The Gift of the Magi" and "The Cop and the Anthem". The book's title refers to the then population of New York City where many of the stories are set. The stories include; Tobin's Palm The… Shares: American Short stories, Manners and customs, American literature, Classic Literature

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Ambrose Bierce · 1980 · ★ 4.0 · 28p · ≈ 56m · Moderate "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (1890) is a short story by the American writer and Civil War veteran Ambrose Bierce. Described as "one of the most famous and frequently anthologized stories in American literature", it was originally published by The San Francisco Examiner on July 13, 1890, and was first collected in Bierce's book Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (1891). The story, which is set… Shares: Union, Hanging, Classic Literature, Short Stories

Whirligigs O. Henry · 1910 · ★ 3.7 · 314p · ≈ 10h · Challenging O. Henry's short, simple stories are noted for their careful plotting, ironic coincidences, and surprise endings. Contents: The World and the Door; The Theory and the Hound; The Hypotheses of Failure; Calloway's Code; A Matter of Mean Elevation; "Girl"; Sociology in Serge and Straw; The Ransom of Red Chief; The Marry Month of May; A Technical Error; Suite Homes and their Romance; The Whirligig of… Shares: American Short stories, Classic Literature, Short Stories

Cathedral Raymond Carver · 1983 · ★ 4.3 · 238p · ≈ 7h · Moderate Twelve stories deal with loneliness, loss, the tragic banality of everyday life, and redemption. Shares: American Short stories, Manners and customs, Short Stories

Welcome to the Monkey House Kurt Vonnegut · 1950 · ★ 4.2 · 310p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Welcome to the Monkey House is a collection of Kurt Vonnegut’s shorter works. Originally printed in publications as diverse as The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and The Atlantic Monthly, these superb stories share Vonnegut’s audacious sense of humor and extraordinary range of creative vision. Includes the following stories: “Where I Live” “Harrison Bergeron” “Who Am I This… Shares: American Short stories, American literature, Short Stories

Winter Dreams F. Scott Fitzgerald · 2004 · ★ 3.7 · 48p · ≈ 1h · Moderate "Winter Dreams" is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald that first appeared in Metropolitan Magazine in December 1922, and was collected in All the Sad Young Men in 1926. It is considered one of Fitzgerald's finest stories and is frequently anthologized. In the Fitzgerald canon, it is considered to be in the "Gatsby-cluster," as many of its themes were later expanded upon in his famous novel The… Shares: American Short stories, Short Stories

South Sea Tales Jack London · 1911 · ★ 3.8 · 157p · ≈ 5h · Challenging Despite the heavy clumsiness of her lines, the Aorai handled easily in the light breeze, and her captain ran her well in before he hove to just outside the suck of the surf. The atoll of Hikueru lay low on the water, a circle of pounded coral sand a hundred yards wide, twenty miles in circumference, and from three to five feet above high-water mark. On the bottom of the huge and glassy lagoon was… Shares: American Short stories, Short Stories

Waifs and Strays O. Henry · 1917 · 78p · ≈ 2h · Challenging Urban teens take center stage in a pair of edgy short story collections. Waifs and Strays presents 15 previously published works by Canadian fantasy writer Charles de Lint, including "May This Be Your Last Sorrow" from The Essential Bordertown and "There's No Such Thing," which appeared in Yolen and Greenburg's anthology Vampires. In its first appearance, "Sisters," tells of precocious… Shares: American Short stories, Short Stories

Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules David Sedaris · 2005 · ★ 3.6 · 344p · ≈ 11h · Moderate From the internationally bestselling author of Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris, comes a collection of his favorite short stories from acclaimed authors such as Flannery O'Connor, Jhumpa Lahiri, Tobias Wolff, and more.David Sedaris is an exceptional reader. Alone in his apartment, he reads stories aloud to the point he has them memorized. Sometimes he fantasizes that he wrote them.… Shares: American Short stories, Short Stories

The complete works of O. Henry [pseud.] O. Henry · 1899 · ★ 3.8 · 1396p · ≈ 46h · Demanding The FICTION & PROSE LITERATURE collection includes books from the British Library digitised by Microsoft. The collection provides readers with a perspective of the world from some of the 18th and 19th century’s most talented writers. Written for a range of audiences, these works are a treasure for any curious reader looking to see the world through the eyes of ages past. Beyond the main body of… Shares: Manners and customs, American literature, Short Stories

Never Whistle at Night Shane Hawk & Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr. · 2023 · ★ 3.8 · 444p · ≈ 14h · Moderate Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many forms: for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai’po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear—and… Shares: Paranormal, Short Stories, Horror

The ruling passion Henry van Dyke · 1901 · ★ 3.7 · 144p · ≈ 4h · Challenging This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true… Shares: Manners and customs, Short Stories

Rolling Stones O. Henry · 1910 · ★ 2.5 · 292p · ≈ 9h · Challenging The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. The first settled line-up consisted of Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica), Ian Stewart (piano), Mick Jagger (lead vocals, harmonica), Keith Richards (guitar), Bill Wyman (bass) and Charlie The Rolling Stones (also published under the name Space Family Stone in the United Kingdom) is a 1952 science fiction novel by Robert A.… Shares: American Short stories, Classic Literature, Short Stories

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love Raymond Carver · 1981 · ★ 4.0 · 159p · ≈ 5h · Moderate In his second collection of stories, as in his first, Carver's characters are peripheral people--people without education, insight or prospects, people too unimaginative to even give up. Carver celebrates these men and women. Shares: American Short stories, Manners and customs, Short Stories

Tales of the Jazz Age F. Scott Fitzgerald · 1922 · ★ 3.9 Published in 1922, the eleven Tales of the Jazz Age feature the flappers and lost young men of the period as well as a great variety of characters and scenes. Among them, the critically acclaimed novella "May Day" contrasts drunken debutantes with a mob of war veterans battling socialists in the streets, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", filmed with Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Tilda… Shares: Manners and customs, American literature, Classic Literature, Short Stories

Tales of Terror [12 stories] Edgar Allan Poe · 1971 · 296p · ≈ 9h · Moderate Pit and the Pendulum Cask of Amontillado Fall of the House of Usher Tell-tale HeartMasque of the Red Death Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar / by E.A. Poe -- The signal man / by C. Dickens -- The mummy's foot / by T. Gautier -- Markheim -- The body snatcher / by R.L. Stevenson -- Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / by A. Bierce -- What was it? / by F. O'Brien. Shares: Hanging, Classic Literature, Short Stories, Horror

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