who's the best short story author and why?

Answer 1

Edgar Allan Poe. He is my all time favorite author. I love his stories, they are all so creative, and involving. No author has ever scared me as much as Poe. I love his poetry as well. He writes with an intelligence I've never experienced in any other writer. I've read everything he was ever published and there isn't anything I don't like. I really think he should be studied in public school, more kids need to learn what real writing is all about.

I also enjoy Roald Dahl, he's a very intelligent children's author, there's a lot to what he writes that many people don't get. Kids seem to catch on though, that's what makes him so brilliant.

Answer 2

Edith Wharton is good. I absolutely love "Roman Fever."

http://www.geocities.com/short_stories_page/whartonromanfever.html

Kate Chopin is great. "The Story of An Hour" is commonly found in literature textbooks. But she has many other great stories too.

http://eastoftheweb.com/cgi-bin/read_db.pl?search_field=author_id&search_for=KateChopin&order_by=author_id,title&page=1

Zora Neale Hurston is one of my all-time favorites. "Sweat" is another one common to literature anthologies.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art28406.asp

Dorothy Parker's short story often have a very witty humor. They're great stories. The first one I read was called "A Telephone Call"

http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/teleycal.html

Mark Twain also had some great short stories too.

I also enjoyed "The Revolt of Mother" by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman.

http://home.comcast.net/~mewf_short_stories/RevoltOfMother.htm

Answer 3

Isaac Asimov, hands down, for his short story "The Last Question." It's beautifully written, relevant, and personal, and I've loved it since I first read it. Asimov has the ability to use science in such a way that everyone can understand it but no one can deny its importance to the story.

Answer 4

Raymond Carver: mastered the craft of short fiction. Creating a scene and characters in several pages that stay with you.

Today's best is Amy Hempel.

Oldie favorite is Hemingway.

Answer 5

A lot of the above Authors and if you're into Sci Fi then Ray Bradbury or Issac Asimov...there's way more than one best!!!

Answer 6

There are many, but a couple of my favorites are Harlan Ellison and Thomas Disch. Witty writers who have a particular bent to their respective perspectives of life and human behavior.

Answer 7

Eudora Welty. Period.

Ok, here's why: She mastered the art, plain and simple. She made it look easy (and it's not), and her stories are beautifully written, unpretentious and use language in a wonderfully creative way.

Answer 8

O. Henry, because I like his stories.

Answer 9

Poe.

For that deliciously creepy feeling you get after reading his stuff.

I also really like Hawthorne and O. Henry.

Answer 10

Hemmingway. I'll justify myself with this bottle of Cuban Rum.