A brilliant tale by Satirist Mark Twain about a few starving painters, and how they pulled off the trick of the century. 
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02: "Is He Living or Is He Dead?" By Mark Twain

Enjoy a new, curated short story every episode. We hand-pick 15-25 minute short stories from a pool of award-winning fiction writers. Then we turn them into to mini audiobooks that improve any commute, workout, or walk in the park. Read by professional narrators.

Every day is a different story. One morning we might bring you a sci-fi thriller by the legendary Ray Bradbury, and the next morning might be a Sherlock Holmes detective story by Arthur Conan Doyle. Romance? We’ve got it. Narrative poetry? We’ve got that too. Mystery and ghost stories? You bet!

|Who listens to Morning Short?| Entire families. Budding writers, poets, and and authors. Immigrants trying to learn English, or improve their listening comprehension. Startup CEOs. You name it! Enjoy our fictional stories today.

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Today’s episode is: A fantastic short story about love and lust by Guy de Maupassant, the french master of short fiction. This is an odd, enjoyable little story, worthy of a few minutes of your day. Learn more: http://listen.morningshort.com Discuss: http://reddit.com/r/morningshort More Context: This is typical Maupassant. It deals with an out-of-the-ordinary event in the very ordinary lives of his characters, narrated in the first-person. The narrator is plain-spoken and simple but the other characters are profound and complicated. Story Genres: American fiction, Modern humor, Satire, Moralism Famous stories by Guy De Maupassant: "The Necklace" "Boule de suif" (Bowl of Soup) "Useless beauty" And many others. -----What is Morning Short? ------- Morning Short is a podcast and daily newsletter featuring amazing, curated short stories, handpicked for you. Our stories are like little audiobooks, and feature everything from romance, to sci-fi thrillers, to drama, and even detective/crime fiction. We sometimes even welcome special guests to our story, like Sherlock Holmes, everyone's favorite sleuth (or at least ours). Other popular genres are fantasy, comedy, satire, and tragedy. We even read some  narrative poetry sometimes! (Some say we're a bit like Audible for short stories) -----Why listen to Morning Short audiobooks? ------- Most of our readers just want a great story, every day or every week. They love the mystery aspect of it too, not knowing what story/genre/author will come next. Many readers use our service to improve their writing skills. We don't offer writing tips, but we feature a wide variety of legendary authors from around the world. Reading good literature is one of the best ways to improve your own writing skill. Others listen to us to improve their English. We're not an English-language course, but our stories are helpful for grasping idioms and english writing styles. They’re meant to entertain you while you commute or work out, help you improve your reading and writing skills, and generally just make you happier. Enjoy our amazing fiction! If you like the short audiobook format, let us know! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New!: "The Log" By Guy de Maupassant

Today’s episode is: a Friday replay of a wonderful story on success and morality by Herman Melville. This first aired early last year. Melville is best-known for his sea tale "Moby Dick", so it's apt that this short story takes place on a smaller body of water. Learn more: http://listen.morningshort.com - Discuss: http://reddit.com/r/morningshort More Context: Melville's character-building dialogue is expert here, as is his suspense-building. Some of the language is a bit racially charged, but bear in mind that this was more normal when this story was written, in the 1850s. Story Genres: American fiction, Dialogue, suspense, drama, humor, Satire, Moralism. Famous books by Mr. Melville "Moby Dick" "Bartleby, the Scrivener" And many others. -----What is Morning Short? ------- Morning Short is a podcast and daily newsletter featuring amazing, curated short stories, handpicked for you. Our stories are like little audiobooks, and feature everything from romance, to sci-fi thrillers, to drama, and even detective/crime fiction. We sometimes even welcome special guests to our story, like Sherlock Holmes, everyone's favorite sleuth (or at least ours). Other popular genres are fantasy, comedy, satire, and tragedy. We even read some  narrative poetry sometimes! (Some say we're a bit like Audible for short stories) -----Why listen to Morning Short audiobooks? ------- Most of our readers just want a great story, every day or every week. They love the mystery aspect of it too, not knowing what story/genre/author will come next. Many readers use our service to improve their writing skills. We don't offer writing tips, but we feature a wide variety of legendary authors from around the world. Reading good literature is one of the best ways to improve your own writing skill. Others listen to us to improve their English. We're not an English-language course, but our stories are helpful for grasping idioms and english writing styles. They’re meant to entertain you while you commute or work out, help you improve your reading and writing skills, and generally just make you happier. Enjoy our amazing fiction! If you like the short audiobook format, let us know! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

[Friday Fave]: "The Happy Failure" By Herman Melville

Today’s episode is: A story by George Ade, a classic American humorist. Ade was a born-and-bred Midwesterner, working from a home in Chicago, Illinois, and his humor (including in this story) often draws from his life, and his hometown. Learn more: http://listen.morningshort.com - Discuss: http://reddit.com/r/morningshort More Context: This story is a cheeky take on the storytelling "rule of threes", adapted to the common man. It also shows how clearly Ade was influenced by the satirical style of his hero, Mark Twain. Ade was one of the first writers to become a millionare through writing. Story Genres: American fiction, Modern humor, Satire, Moralism Famous books by Mr. Ade: Ade's Fables Fables in Slang Knocking the neighbors And many others. -----What is Morning Short? ------- Morning Short is a podcast and daily newsletter featuring amazing, curated short stories, handpicked for you. Our stories are like little audiobooks, and feature everything from romance, to sci-fi thrillers, to drama, and even detective/crime fiction. We sometimes even welcome special guests to our story, like Sherlock Holmes, everyone's favorite sleuth (or at least ours). Other popular genres are fantasy, comedy, satire, and tragedy. We even read some  narrative poetry sometimes! (Some say we're a bit like Audible for short stories) -----Why listen to Morning Short audiobooks? ------- Most of our readers just want a great story, every day or every week. They love the mystery aspect of it too, not knowing what story/genre/author will come next. Many readers use our service to improve their writing skills. We don't offer writing tips, but we feature a wide variety of legendary authors from around the world. Reading good literature is one of the best ways to improve your own writing skill. Others listen to us to improve their English. We're not an English-language course, but our stories are helpful for grasping idioms and english writing styles. They’re meant to entertain you while you commute or work out, help you improve your reading and writing skills, and generally just make you happier. Enjoy our amazing fiction! If you like the short audiobook format, let us know! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

[70] "The Experimental Couple (and the three offshoots)" by George Ade

Morning Short is back, with a third season of amazing curated short stories! Today’s episode is: A story written by the Russian writer Maxim Gorky, who created the socialist-realism literatary style. Learn more: http://listen.morningshort.com - Discuss: http://reddit.com/r/morningshort More Context: This particular story is gritty, but sweet. The characters (Theresa, the student) are imperfect and complex, but good at heart. There's a real humanity to them, which is why we selected it. Story Genres: Fiction, Literature, Russian, Soviet, Socialist Realism, Drama Famous books by this author: The Mother Children of the Sun My Childhood And many others. -----What is Morning Short? ------- Morning Short is a podcast and daily newsletter featuring amazing, curated short stories, handpicked for you. Our stories are like little audiobooks, and feature everything from romance, to sci-fi thrillers, to drama, and even detective/crime fiction. We sometimes even welcome special guests to our story, like Sherlock Holmes, everyone's favorite sleuth (or at least ours). Other popular genres are fantasy, comedy, satire, and tragedy. We even read some  narrative poetry sometimes! (Some say we're a bit like Audible for short stories) -----Why listen to Morning Short audiobooks? ------- Most of our readers just want a great story, every day or every week. They love the mystery aspect of it too, not knowing what story/genre/author will come next. Many readers use our service to improve their writing skills. We don't offer writing tips, but we feature a wide variety of legendary authors from around the world. Reading good literature is one of the best ways to improve your own writing skill. Others listen to us to improve their English. We're not an English-language course, but our stories are helpful for grasping idioms and english writing styles. They’re meant to entertain you while you commute or work out, help you improve your reading and writing skills, and generally just make you happier. Enjoy our amazing fiction! If you like the short audiobook format, let us know! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

[Premiere] "Her Lover" By Maxim Gorky

Today’s episode is: A flashy short story by James Joyce from his collection “Dubliners”.

02: "Is He Living or Is He Dead?" By Mark Twain

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