★best-of-all-time.comAll 50 lists

The top 50

Short story collections of all time

50 standout choices selected for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

What earns a placeFormal mastery, range, influence and consistency. Every pick combines lasting value with current availability.
#1

Dubliners

Dubliners by James Joyce is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#2

The Complete Stories

The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#3

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#4

Tenth of December

Tenth of December by George Saunders is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#5

Stories of Your Life and Others

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#6

Nine Stories

Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#7

A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories

A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#8

The Complete Stories and Poems

The Complete Stories and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#9

Interpreter of Maladies

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#10

The Martian Chronicles

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#11

The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway

The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway by Ernest Hemingway is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#12

The Complete Sherlock Holmes

The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#13

Everything That Rises Must Converge: Stories

Everything That Rises Must Converge: Stories by Flannery O'Connor is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#14

Selected Stories of Anton Chekhov

Selected Stories of Anton Chekhov by Anton Chekhov is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#15

Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings

Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings by Jorge Luis Borges is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#16

The Illustrated Man

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#17

The Best Short Stories of Edgar Allan Poe

The Best Short Stories of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#18

Cathedral

Cathedral by Raymond Carver is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#19

Where I'm Calling From: Selected Stories

Where I'm Calling From: Selected Stories by Raymond Carver is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#20

The Stories of John Cheever

The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#21

The Complete Fairy Tales

The Complete Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#22

Ficciones

Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#23

Unaccustomed Earth

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#24

Welcome to the Monkey House

Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#25

Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fiction and Illusions

Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fiction and Illusions by Neil Gaiman is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#26

Night Shift

Night Shift by Stephen King is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#27

Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories

Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories by Alice Munro is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#28

Winesburg, Ohio

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#29

Jesus’ Son

Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#30

Skeleton Crew

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#31

The Short Stories

The Short Stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#32

Tales of the Unexpected

Tales of the Unexpected by Roald Dahl is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#33

Runaway: Stories

Runaway: Stories by Alice Munro is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#34

The Lottery and Other Stories

The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#35

Nightmares and Dreamscapes

Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#36

Everything's Eventual

Everything's Eventual by Stephen King is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#37

After the Quake

After the Quake by Haruki Murakami is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#38

Close Range: Wyoming Stories

Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#39

Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders

Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#40

The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales

The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales by Edgar Allan Poe is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#41

Tales of H.P. Lovecraft

Tales of H.P. Lovecraft by H.P. Lovecraft is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#42

The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories

The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories by Ernest Hemingway is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#43

The Gift of the Magi and Other Short Stories

The Gift of the Magi and Other Short Stories by O. Henry is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#44

The Arabian Nights

The Arabian Nights by Anonymous is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#45

CivilWarLand in Bad Decline

CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#46

The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories

The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#47

The Elephant Vanishes

The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#48

Four Past Midnight

Four Past Midnight by Stephen King is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#49

The Collected Stories

The Collected Stories by Amy Hempel is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →
#50

No One Belongs Here More Than You

No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July is a durable story collection choice, recognized for formal mastery, range, influence and consistency.

Why It Ranks →