Kevin Brockmeier’s 50 Favorite Stories

Several rules: (1) I have listed these stories in alphabetical order by the author's last name, rather than in order of preference—though I have marked each of my ten favorites with an asterisk. (2) I have chosen no more than one story (or in a few cases one novella) per author. (3) I have tried to be honest, which is why there are so many contemporary English-language stories on this list, as well as so many stories by science fiction writers, magic realists, and assorted other fantasists.    -Kevin Brockmeier, updated June 1, 2009

1. "The Voices of Time" by J.G. Ballard (*)

2. "Gryphon" by Charles Baxter

3. "We Never Talk About My Brother" by Peter S. Beagle

4. "The Accordion Player" by John Berger (*)

5. "The Vulgar Soul" by John Biguenet

6. "Bears Discover Fire" by Terry Bisson

7. "Three Versions of Judas" by Jorge Luis Borges

8. "The State of Grace" by Harold Brodkey (*)

9. "The Time Machine" by Dino Buzzati

10. "The Light-Years" by Italo Calvino (*)

11. "American Dreams" by Peter Carey

12. "The H Street Sledding Record" by Ron Carlson

13. "Sins and Virtues" by Jim Crace

14. "Gone" by John Crowley

15. "White Angel" by Michael Cunningham

16. "Pet Milk" by Stuart Dybek

17. "The Prophet from Jupiter" by Tony Earley (*)

18. "The Twenty-seventh Man" by Nathan Englander

19. "Grace" by Paula Fox

20. "From the Fifteenth District" by Mavis Gallant

21. "The Torturer's Wife" by Thomas Glave

22. "Professor Berkowitz Stands on the Threshold" by Theodora Goss (*)

23. "Two Gentle People" by Graham Greene

24. "Poetic Devices" by Jim Hall

25. "Monday" by Mark Helprin

26. "It Didn't Bother Me" by Jeremy Jackson

27. "Emergency" by Denis Johnson

28. "Blumfeld, an Elderly Bachelor" by Franz Kafka

29. "The Joy and Melancholy Baseball Trivia Quiz" by Ken Kalfus

30. "The Dark Princess" by Richard Kennedy

31. "Catskin" by Kelly Link

32. "A River Runs Through It" by Norman Maclean

33. "The Boat" by Alistair MacLeod

34. "The Briefcase" by Rebecca Makkai

35. "Man in the Drawer" by Bernard Malamud

36. "Sandkings" by George R. R. Martin

37. "Singular Pleasures" by Harry Mathews

38. "The Thistles in Sweden" by William Maxwell (*)

39. "Faith and Mountains" by Augusto Monterroso (*)

40. "A Window" by Haruki Murakami

41. "Sugar Among the Chickens" by Lewis Nordan

42. "All Little Colored Children Should Play the Harmonica" by Ann Patchett

43. "Akhnilo" by James Salter

44. "Offloading for Mrs. Schwartz" by George Saunders

45. "The Scalehunter's Beautiful Daughter" by Lucius Shepard

46. "Intensive Care" by Lee Smith

47. "The Death of Ivan Ilych" by Leo Tolstoy (*)

48. "Extracts from Adam's Diary and Eve's Diary" by Mark Twain

49. "Escapes" by Joy Williams (*)

50. "The Dreamed" by Robert McLiam Wilson