Selected Shorts

Whodunit?

By: C. S. Montanye, Dashiell Hammett, Ed McBain, Louise Erdrich, Shirley Jackson, Nadine Gordimer

Narrated by: Fionnula Flanagan, John Shea, Isaiah Sheffer, Robert Sean Leonard, René Auberjonois, Hattie Winston

A dashing lineup of elegant crime tales and gritty hardboiled detective stories, alternately menacing and cozy, with two exotic locales, and murder in the mix.

Stories in this set include:

Dashiell Hammett's "The Creeping Siamese", performed by John Shea - The Continental Op gets his man

C.S. Montanye's "A Shock for the Countess", performed by Fionnula Flanagan - Intrigue in the alps in this clever tale of a jewelry heist

Ed McBain's, "Improvisation", performed by Isaiah Sheffer - A hilarious story of two tall and willowy sisters up to no good

Shirley Jackson's "The Summer People", performed by René Auberjonois - Spooky goings-on at a country cottage

Nobel Prize-winner Nadine Gordimer's "Country Lovers", performed by Hattie Winston - Forbidden love on a South African farm

Louise Erdrich's "Gleason", performed by Robert Sean Leonard - A simple plot goes terribly awry

Selected Shorts is an award-winning, one-hour program featuring readings of classic and new short fiction, recorded live at New York's Symphony Space. One of the most popular series on the airwaves, this unique show is hosted by Isaiah Sheffer and produced for radio by Symphony Space and WNYC Radio.

©2009 Symphony Space (P)2009 Symphony Space

Not Whodunits but Great Stories All the Same

I came into this experience expecting short detective stories. While Dascheill Hammer's story is (sort of) the others are just great stories in their own right.

I will say the final story was a hard tonal shift- a sad tale of childhood romance turned to tragedy through race relations in the rural South. Again, this is very well written and performed, I just felt it stuck out from the others in a noticable way. I'm not deducting any stars for it.

All of the prose is tightly written and beautifully read. My favorite has to be the one with the opening line "Why don't we kill somebody?"

A glowing recommendation!

This is My Kinda Fiction Buster...

I grew up smelling uncles that breathed tobacco and Three Feathers Whiskey. Bartended in dives to put myself through college and watched all the black and whites with mom on the couch late at night. I am hopelessly in awe of this time when a man was a guy and a gal was a broad. This I believe is the second wave of American Cowboy Hero.. the Gumshoe and Dick...

Not Whodunits but gripping stories nonetheless

This feels like an old time radio show but is is surprisingly modern. What a treasure the host
Isiah Sheffer was. My favorite was Improvisation by Ed McBain —perhaps the most perfectly crafted short story I have ever experienced. A close second is the darkly comic Gleason. Those two alone would make this entire collection worth the price.