LitReading - Classic Short Stories

Humans have shared stories for millennia. For most of that time, telling tales was a verbal process. A storyteller would regale an audience with accounts of adventure, bravery, compassion, despair, enlightenment, and fear. Stories were a shared experience, until the advent of inexpensive mass-printing processes in the 19th century which allowed most of us to read to ourselves. Yet, that desire to have a story read aloud is still ingrained in our collective soul.

While we still read books for pleasure, most of today’s stories are told via newer forms of visual media like movies and television. Consuming stories via any visual medium requires an active commitment to the process. You probably shouldn’t read a book or watch a TV program while driving, but your brain still craves a good story.

An audio book is suitable for a long road trip. But what about those times when you only have a few minutes? Enter the audio short story.

Allow me to help you fill those moments and fulfill your need for a captivating tale with readings of some of the world’s greatest literary masters best brief works.

My love of the spoken word has been honed by a more than 30-year career in radio and voice acting with a modicum of performance passion from decades of stage performances.

This venture is my hobby (I have a great full-time job), so much of the content is free of cost. I hope you enjoy them.

If you would like to share thoughts or comments, please drop me a line. If you enjoy these stories, please spread the word, subscribe, and leave a review on your favorite podcast service.

Thanks for stopping by,

Don McDonald

Fiction
Performing Arts
Books
51
Four Men In A Cave by Stephen Crane
Mankind has always loved to explore sometimes crossing great wildernesses, but more often just poking around in our own backyards. This light-hearted tale is about a group of men who decide to investigate a local cave and literally stumble across a...
12 min
52
The Rocking Horse Winner by D.H. Lawrence
Note from Don: Listening back to this story before posting it, I have to say that it moved me more than most – and I spent a few days reading, narrating, and editing it. "The Rocking Horse Winner" entered the public domain at the beginning of 2022...
38 min
53
The Model Millionaire by Oscar Wilde
There is a power that comes from giving without expectation of reward. A self-sacrificing spirit is the theme for Irish author Oscar Wilde’s short story. The Model Millionaire first appeared in print in the newspaper The World in June 1887. The...
14 min
54
The Clock That Went Backward by Edward Page Mi...
For much of human existence we have questioned the concept of time. Is it always a constant or can it be manipulated, allowing us to move forward or backward chronologically. In this 19th century story, two cousins speculate about the age of their...
34 min
55
The State of the Podcast Address: A Plea for Help
PLEASE NOTE: This is not a short story. Instead, we need your help to make this podcast more popular and self-supporting. Thanks for listening.
5 min
56
A Case of Premeditation by R. Austin Freeman
Can an almost perfectly planned crime be solved? That question is answered in this classic mystery by one of the early 20th Century's most popular, fictional medical detectives, Dr. Thorndyke. Sandwiched between the Sherlock Holmes mysteries of Sir...
66 min
57
Three Thanksgiving Kisses by Edward Payson Roe
Unlike Christmas stories Thanksgiving stories are sparse. To celebrate the season, here is the tale of a proper New England celebration combined with a classic love story. The 19th century novels and stories of Edward Payson Roe were very popular...
42 min
58
Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen by O. Henry
Somewhere there’s a great story for almost every holiday, even the decidedly American tradition of Thanksgiving and who better to tell such a story than one of America’s finest authors, O. Henry.
13 min
59
Araby by James Joyce
James Joyce’s “Araby” is ranked among the pantheon of greatest short stories ever written. In this timeless coming of age tale an adolescent boy, blinded by a hormonal fog, falls for a neighbor girl. Now considered one of the classics of...
15 min
60
The Last Leaf by O. Henry
A sick young woman is saved by a final kind gesture.
17 min
61
The Idyl of Red Gulch by Bret Harte
A young woman stumbles upon a drunk with whom she forms a bond until she learns more.
25 min
62
Handful of Clay by Henry van Dyke
Every day we are bombarded by images of unattainable beauty, regaled with stories of fame, and envious of those who have attained great wealth. It’s easy to lose sight of our important contributions to the world and those around us. No matter how we...
7 min
63
Good Souls by Dorothy Parker
We have every reason to love these people, yet we don't.
14 min
64
August Heat by W. F. Harvey
Record summer temperature’s take their toll on both our physical and mental health. Extreme weather has been known to bring about strange and often dangerous behavior among those suffering its effects. How strange, I’ll let you be the judge in our...
12 min
65
An Alpine Divorce by Robert Barr
What happens when hate overwhelms love?
13 min
66
Hands by Sherwood Anderson
How can we tell the difference between benevolence and predation?
16 min
67
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County...
Mark Twain's first popular story of a hardcore gambler in a mining camp during the Gold Rush.
15 min
68
Clovis on Parental Responsibility by Saki
Clovis takes on an overly proud mother
7 min
69
Old Well-Well by Zane Grey
Professional baseball in United States dates back more than 150 years. It has been considered the great American sport since the 19th century. Popular sports attract rabid fans as was the case even back in 1910 when Zane Grey wrote Old Well Well....
24 min
70
The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame
Not all dragons are fire breathing monsters bent on destruction.
62 min
71
A Horseman in the Sky by Ambrose Bierce
Early in the US Civil War, families, particularly those in the western part of Virginia (now the state of West Virginia), were torn apart over conflicting loyalties. This story is a fictional account of one young soldier who chose to fight for his...
18 min
72
Pigs is Pigs by Ellis Parker Butler
There is nothing like a corporate bureaucracy to raise someone's ire.
22 min
73
Two Hearts That Beat as One by Frank Norris
There is something special about the Old West. Life is the western United States for much of the 19th century was akin to living in another country, which makes sense as it was cobbled together from many diverse societies. Our next story takes place...
28 min
74
An Angel in Disguise by T.S. Arthur
Without individual compassion, the good, old days were rarely good for orphaned or disabled children.
18 min
75
Dusk by Saki
A young man seeks help from a stranger on a park bench. Does he deserve it?
11 min