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.

1. Six Word Stories
2. It’s Hot in the Kitchen