Short Stories For Tall Tales

Presents more than twenty short stories by nineteenth-century American author Mark Twain--including "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and "How to Tell a Story"--And an essay on the author by Charles Neider.

The perfect addition to every family’s home library and just right for sharing aloud, American Tall Tales introduces readers to America’s first folk heroes in nine wildly exaggerated and downright funny stories. Here are Paul Bunyan, that king-sized lumberjack who could fell “ten white pines with a single swing”; John Henry, with his mighty hammer; Mose, old New York’s biggest, bravest fireman; Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind, who could “outgrin, outsnort, outrun, outlift, outsneeze, outsleep, outlie any varmint”; and other uniquely American characters, together in one superb collection. In the tradition of the original nineteenth-century storytellers, Mary Pope Osborne compiles, edits, and adds her own two cents’ worth—and also supplies fascinating historical headnotes. Michael McCurdy’s robust colored wood engravings recall an earlier time, perfectly capturing all the vitality of the men and women who carved a new country out of the North American wilderness.

Tall Tales & Short Stories showcases 50 excellent flash fiction stories that take you on a multi-genre voyage of discovery across space, time and place. Despite their brevity, these tiny tales get right to the heart of what makes us human. They'll tug at your heart strings, horrify, amuse and make you think, the words lingering in your mind long after you finish reading. A collection of talented authors, known names and new, from across the planet have penned compelling stories of birth, love and lust, heartache and revenge, death and the afterlife. Throw in aliens and angels, alcoholic bulls and alternative histories, hauntings and huntings, oh and a cowbot! What's not to love about this anthology? This inaugural flash fiction compilation from Escaped Ink Press features Amber M. Simpson, Amy L. Bethke, Andrew Paul Grell, Avra Margariti, Carolyn Barnard, Charlotte O'Farrell, Copper Rose, David Perlmutter, Derek McMillan, Desiree R. Kannel, G. Allen Wilbanks, GB Burgess, Geraldine McCarthy, HC Hsu, J. Bradley, James Russell, Jared Cappel, Jay Adair, Joel R Hunt, John Sheirer, Joseph Olamide Babalola, Kelly A. Harmon, Kelly Matsuura, Laura Elisa Vizcaíno (translated by Toshiya Kamei), Lucia Orellana Damacela, Mark Jacobson, Mark Kodama, Mary K. Ryan, Nancy Brewka-Clark, Natasha Cabot, Norbert Góra, P.A. O'Neil, P.C. Vandall, Paul Beckman, Philip CK, Ray Daley, Richard Grahn, Robert Kibble, Roberta Beach Jacobson, Russell Smeaton, Seamus Ludendorff, Shashi Kadapa, Shawn M. Klimek, Simon Lee-Price, Stephen V. Ramey, Steven Gowin, Swara Shukla, Vonnie Winslow Crist and Zak Jane Keir.

Each short story is complete within itself. The terse captivating writing presents stories in short form without the length needed in the novel format to accomplish the same result. The stories are based on truths, past memories, embellishments and fictional events all subject to the writers wide ranging creativity.Character depiction is varied as to social and economic status ,race and ethnicity. It addresses their rise or fall within the scope of their involvement in the stories plot. Liberty has been taken with the names of a few characters . Whimsical or farcical names do not detract from the aim or emotions of the stories. Reading the stories is addictive ,prompting the reader to begin the next one as soon as the previous one has been read. Any connection or allusion to living of living persons or real events is unintentional and features the range of emotions including deception and criminality exhibited by some and present in many.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Connolly's raucous run through his life is as furious, funny and foul-mouthed as you'd expect' Sunday Times In December 2018, after fifty years of belly-laughs, energy and outrage, Billy Connolly announced his retirement from live stand-up comedy. It had been an extraordinary career. When he first started out in the late sixties, Billy played the banjo in the folk clubs of Scotland. Between songs, he would improvise a bit, telling anecdotes from the Clyde shipyard where he'd worked. In the process, he made all kinds of discoveries about what audiences found funny, from his own brilliant mimes to the power of speaking irreverently about politics or explicitly about sex. He began to understand the craft of great storytelling. Soon the songs became shorter and the monologues longer, and Billy quickly became recognised as one of the most exciting comedians of his generation. Billy's routines always felt spontaneous. He never wrote scripts, always creating his comedy freshly on stage in the presence of a live audience. A brilliant comic story might be subsequently discarded, adapted or embellished. A quick observation or short anecdote one night, could become a twenty-minute segment by the next night of a tour. Billy always brought a beautiful sense of the absurd to his shows as he riffed on his family, hecklers, swimming in the North Sea or naked bungee jumping. But his comedy can be laced with anger too. He hates pretentiousness and calls out hypocrisy wherever he sees it. His insights about the human condition have shocked many people, while his unique talent and startling appearance on stage gave him license to say anything he damn well pleased about sex, politics or religion. Billy got away with it because he has always had the popular touch. His comedy spans generations and different social tribes in a way that few others have ever managed. Tall Tales and Wee Stories brings together the very best of Billy's storytelling for the first time and includes his most famous routines including, The Last Supper, Jojoba Shampoo, Incontinence Pants and Shouting at Wildebeest. With an introduction and original illustrations by Billy throughout, it is an inspirational, energetic and riotously funny read, and a fitting celebration of our greatest ever comedian.

"A Tall Tale About The Dog With The Polka Dotted Tail" is a cute and lovable story about an outcast dog, with a most unusual tail, who learns that he is perfect just the way he is.

GROUCHO MARX AND OTHER SHORT STORIES AND TALL TALES: THE SELECTED WRITINGS OF GROUCHO M