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3 Responses to “What short stories have the best twost endings?”

1. Kate S Says:
   June 4th, 2009 at 1:19 am

   There’s nothing wrong with that! As a whole, short stories are probably more rewarding to read, on a cost-benefit ratio, than novels: You learn all the skills a novel takes on a smaller scale, and you learn how they’re used even more judiciously.

   A couple of old chestnuts with twists:
   * The Gift of the Magi, O. Henry.
   * The Monkey’s Paw, W.W. Jacobs.
   * An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Bierce.
   * The Masque of the Red Death, Poe.
   * The Lottery, Jackson. (Not really a twist, but still a shocker.)
   * The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Ditto this, on the “not a twist, still shocking” theme.)

   Et cetera, et cetera.

2. Molly Mahony Says:
   June 5th, 2009 at 12:16 pm

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3. Mike Y Says:
   June 7th, 2009 at 9:28 pm

   Having some computer problems, so this will be brief. :/

   The two most widely acknowledged masters of the twist ending in literature are O Henry and Guy de Maupassant, so I pretty much have to mention a couple by each.

   O Henry
   * The Gift of the Magi – mentioned by Kate S, worth seconding
   * The Cop and the Anthem

   Guy de Maupassant
   * The Necklace – read by many in high school
   * The Piece of String – better than The Necklace, in my opinion

   Some of my personal favorite twist endings:
   * Red by Somerset Maugham
   * Appointment in Samarra retold by Somerset Maugham
   * The story of the widow of Ephesus from the Satyricon of Petronius

   Of course, I can’t really explain why I chose these without spoiling the endings, but I hope you can take my word for it. I read a lot.

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