Guests of the Nation by Frank O'Connor

"Well chums, what about it?"

I guess third time really is the charm. Guests of the Nation by Frank O’Connor completely surprised me (in the best way possible) and now I must reluctantly admit that perhaps I misjudged the guy as a short-story writer. I’m not fully on the bandwagon yet, but at this rate I might as well save myself a seat.

It’s hard not to read this story as openly anti-war, calling out the absurdity and brutality of conflict through sharp irony. Our narrator, Bonaparte, and his partner Noble are tasked with guarding two English prisoners, Hawkins and Belcher, in a rural cottage (even the names are ironic). And instead of the tense, hostile standoff you might expect, it’s surprisingly wholesome? At least during the first-half of the story. They do chores together, argue politics, play cards, and even dip into theology. It’s more like a slightly chaotic roommates-situation than anything resembling a war story.

This is where O’Connor’s humor really sneaks in, creating a lightheartedness in those small domestic moments, the playful banter, the genuine camaraderie between a group of men who, by all logic, should probably hate each other. He leans into the irony of it all: sworn enemies becoming something dangerously close to friends. So when the order comes down from above that Hawkins and Belcher must be executed in retaliation for British actions, the emotional whiplash hits twice as hard. The lightness of the earlier scenes doesn’t cushion the blow; rather, it sharpens it, making the tragic ending even more emotionally impactful. 

O’Connor’s writing is wry, warm, and deceptively funny, which only makes the final moments feel more gutting. It’s a heartbreaking reminder that war can take even the most human, genuine connections and destroy them through military conformity, defying all logic and reason.

You can read this story HERE. 

The Lady with the Little Dog by Anton Chekhov

Meet me in Montauk...I mean, Yalta.

I'm not a professional writer or a book critic by trade, just some random dude tucked away in a tiny corner of the internet who likes to read and occasionally dumps some haphazard thoughts into the void. I have tremendous respect for writers, especially fiction writers. Sitting down and producing anything meaningful is hard. Now, imagine being handed a writing prompt in a creative writing class as stale as: “A man and a woman are having an affair.” Most of us would immediately spiral into a never-ending vortex of clichés. Honestly, I’d bet that only a tiny fraction of writers could turn that tired setup into something memorable or profound.

Unless, of course, your name is Anton Chekhov.

As one of the most widely anthologized short stories out there, The Lady with the Little Dog earns every ounce of its reputation and then some. Chekhov takes one of the most overdone premises in literature and somehow crafts a story that’s deeply philosophical and emotionally layered. That’s the thing about Chekhov: he writes about human emotions with a depth that feels almost impossible given the narrative constraints of the short-story form. He never resorts to melodrama or moralizing; instead, he captures those subtle, complicated shifts in feeling. The guilt, longing, confusion and tenderness that make his characters feel painstakingly real.

In Chekhov’s hands, an affair becomes a doorway into the messy contradictions of the human heart, the way people can be both selfish and sincere, miserable and hopeful, trapped and awakened all at once. The fact that he accomplishes all of this with such calm, precise prose makes the story even more astonishing. The Lady with the Little Dog isn't just a fresh take on a banal premise; it’s one of the best short stories I’ve ever read, full stop.

Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolff

 

You're killin' me, Smalls!

This is an easy five stars and about as close to short-story perfection as you can get.

Now, you might be wondering why on earth I’m using a movie still from the 90s classic The Sandlot in reference to Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolff. But if you’ve read this wildly popular, endlessly anthologized story, you might already sense the connection.

Maybe.

What’s funny is that I read this story years ago and it barely registered with me at the time. Amazing what rereading mixed with a few extra years of life can do. Suddenly something you thought you understood becomes sharper, funnier, and more emotionally resonant. 

It’s nearly impossible to talk about this story without wandering into spoiler territory, but I will say this much: the turning point is jaw-droppingly good. It’s the kind of WTF moment that makes you sit up a little straighter because you realize Wolff isn't messing around here. He’s pulling off a narrative trick that feels both effortless and deeply meaningful. The protagonist’s obsession with pointing out clichés becomes Wolff’s clever setup for subverting every expectation you thought you had about narrative storytelling. 

The dark humor is another aspect worth noting. It’s dry, sharp, and delivered with the kind of precision that keeps the first half brisk and wickedly funny. That tight control really matters, because when the story suddenly swerves into these luminous childhood memories, the incongruity of the first-half hits even harder. One minute you’re laughing at the protagonist’s snarky observations while waiting in line at the bank, and the next you’re dropped into this soft-focus nostalgia that feels like it belongs to an entirely different story.

There's some sort of narrative paradox going on here. The tonal and narrative shift shouldn’t work, but Wolff pulls it off so cleanly. Everything snaps into place, everything comes full circle, and you’re left wondering how he managed to guide your emotions so seamlessly from cynicism to something unexpectedly moving. Or at least, that was my experience. I’m not nearly smart enough to tell you how Wolff makes this all work, but the effect is unmistakable: it’s literary magic by someone with absolute command of his craft.

You can read this story HERE.

Idiots First by Bernard Malamud

gut yontif.

Well, that was depressing. With a title like Idiots First, you might think this short-story might be some  kind of dark comedy or satire, but nope. Far from it. Malamud drags the reader straight into a heartbreaking tale about a poor, dying father named Mendel, whose only mission is to secure a train ticket to California for his mentally challenged son so he can live with a wealthy uncle. Whether the uncle has even agreed to this arrangement is beside the point; Mendel is out of time, out of resources, and out of options. The urgency in his quest is palpable. Malamud captures that frantic, last-chance energy so effectively that you feel the weight on every one of Mendel’s steps as the father and son venture into the cold, heartless city. 

What makes the story even more sad is the way the Jewish community responds to him. Instead of warmth or solidarity, he’s met with a harshness that borders on cruelty. One scene in particular is downright humiliating: Mendel shows up at the home of a wealthy Jewish man, begging for help, and is looked down upon as worthless, a reflection of failure. He is promptly thrown out and if that’s not bad enough, the synagogue (supposedly a spiritual refuge) offers only partial relief. The rabbi himself shows compassion by giving Mendel his elegant coat to sell, but his cantankerous wife feels very differently. 

This is where Malamud’s recurring themes of antisemitism and Jewish self-hatred surface. The prejudice in the story doesn’t just come from outside forces. It festers within the community itself. Characters turn away from Mendel out of shame, fear, or a desire to distance themselves from the “undesirable” image of the poor, desperate Jew. Malamud isn’t just depicting discrimination; he’s showing how internalized antisemitism corrodes empathy and fractures communal identity. It’s painful, but that’s also what makes the story so powerful.

And then we have Ginzburg. Who is this man? A train-ticket collector with uncanny timing? A hallucination born from Mendel’s failing body? Or, as the story suggests, the Angel of Death himself? Malamud leaves it deliberately ambiguous, brushing the story with a hint of magical realism. But the ending feels clear enough: once Mendel succeeds in getting his son on that train (fulfilling the only task that matters), Ginzburg comes to collect what’s left of him.

Bleak and tragic, Idiots First is another example of how Malamud takes a simple premise and transforms it into something haunting.

You can read this story HERE.