Fifty Short Stories

By: O. Henry, Edgar Allan Poe, W. W. Jacobs, Kate Chopin, Oscar Wilde, Ambrose Bierce, Thomas Hardy

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 25 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Fifty of the world's greatest classic short stories:

• The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant
• The One Million Pound Banknote by Mark Twain
• The Phantom Rickshaw by Rudyard Kipling
• The Fly by Katherine Mansfield
• The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe
• My Favorite Murder by Ambrose Bierce
• The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
• One Thousand Dollars by O. Henry
• Regret by Kate Chopin
• The Nose by Nikolai Gogol
• The Mezzotint by M. R. James
• The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
• The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe
• The Mortal Immortal by Mary Shelley
• A Curious Dream by Mark Twain
• The Doll’s House by Katherine Mansfield
• The Inconsiderate Waiter by J. M. Barrie
• The Sphinx without a Secret by Oscar Wilde
• The Suicide Club by Robert Louis Stevenson
• The Three Strangers by Thomas Hardy
• The Dead by James Joyce
• The Monkey’s Paw by W. W. Jacobs
• Memoirs of a Yellow Dog by O. Henry
• Cannibalism in the Cars by Mark Twain
• The Finest Story in the World by Rudyard Kipling
• The Belated Russian Passport by Mark Twain
• A Circular Tour by W. W. Jacobs
• The Premature Burial by Edgar Allan Poe
• American Sir! by Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews
• They by Rudyard Kipling
• The Telltale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
• The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin
• The Model Millionaire by Oscar Wilde
• A Distant Relative by W. W. Jacobs
• The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe
• The Boarded Window by Ambrose Bierce
• The Background by Saki
• The Black Poodle by F. Anstey
• The Open Window by Saki
• A Descent into the Maelström by Edgar Allan Poe
• A Bottomless Grave by Ambrose Bierce
• A Safety Match by W. W. Jacobs
• The She-Wolf by Saki
• Oil of Dog by Ambrose Bierce
• Frau Brechenmacher attends a Wedding by Katherine Mansfield
• The McWilliamses and the Burglar Alarm by Mark Twain
• Curried Cow by Ambrose Bierce
• Berenice by Edgar Allan Poe
• The Changeling by W. W. Jacobs

Public Domain (P)2013 Red Door Audiobooks

A Good Choice

What about Cathy Dobson’s performance did you like?

The narrator is certainly a gifted linguist, and able to reproduce seemingly authentic accents from a variety of European languages. There are two drawbacks to her narration. The first is that her British accent is so refined that at times it comes across as affected. The second is that a British accent just cannot do justice to Mark Twain, the quintessential American storyteller! These aside, I would still purchase another audiobook with Dobson as the reader.

Any additional comments?

The collection is a bit unbalanced toward Poe and Twain. I would have liked to have seen a greater variety, including Kafka, Bradbury, and Borges. All in all, though, I had never read most of the stories and enjoyed the selections.

Disappointing production

This audiobook has no meaningful table of contents. There are 50 short stories but the ToC has 57 chapters, each named in the enlightening fashion of "Chapter 1, Chapter 2... If you are in the mood for a particular story, good luck finding it. I went in to the publisher's description on audible.com, copied/pasted the list of stories into Word, added automatic numbering to the list and printed it out in order to have some idea of how to find an author/story. Even this isn't foolproof, since for example, story #47 is on chapter 54. As this is a book of short stories, I do not want to be forced to listen in the publisher's order, but wish to be able to select what to hear based on mood, time available, and family members present.

The narration is okay - not to my taste, but not bad. Cathy Dobson has a clear voice but a hypnotic rhythm. This makes it easy to become distracted.

The stories, while all by famous classic authors, are somewhat repetitive in theme (what I have listened to so far, that is). I was only familiar with some of the stories prior to purchase, and the publisher's description consists only of a list of titles/authors, with no hint as to a central theme. Had I realized that so many stories consisted of the dispassionate narration of characters killing and/or torturing other people/creatures without remorse, I would not have purchased this for my family read-aloud time.

Amazing value for 1 credit

Any additional comments?

The accent of the narrator can be difficult at times, but it didn't significantly detract from my enjoyment at all; the quantity and quality are phenomenal considering this is just 1 credit.

Hilarious, Spine-tingling, Heartwarming

What did you love best about Fifty Short Stories?

The variety of style, theme, and setting make this collection a constantly fascinating delight, only surpassed by the delight of the lovely narration by Cathy Dobson.

Who was your favorite character and why?

It's hard for me to choose between the absurd characters of Ambrose Bierce, the hilarious and lovable ones of Mark Twain, the shocking Poe protagonists, etc. but because I had never read W.W. Jacobs before, I was especially charmed by his stories.

What about Cathy Dobson’s performance did you like?

Cathy Dobson's talent for lovely clear enunciation includes accurate accents and the perfect amount of differentiation between characters' voices, and she reads with an understated sense of humor and enjoyment that is contagious.