The linked short story collection is a literary form that has largely flown under the radar.  We know what a novel is, and we know what a short story is too.  So what is this “linked short story” thing?  Well, it’s sort of a middle ground between the two.  A linked short story collection tells a big-picture story, but does it through a collection of short stories.  These stories may have similar characters or locations, but each one can stand on its own and be read as a short story as well.  The best of both worlds?  You decide.  Here are a few linked short story collections the library owns:

• Later, At the Bar by Rebecca Barry
• Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
• The Beggar Maid: Stories of Flo and Rose by Alice Munro
• Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey
• The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman
• Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
• Hit Man by Lawrence Block
• The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor
• Ms. Hempel Chronicles by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
• Shakespeare’s Kitchen by Lore Segal
• Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood
• Happy Families by Carlos Fuentes
• The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat

Have you read any books in this genre?  If so, please share in the comments section.

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