

LitReading - Classic Short Stories
Don McDonald
Litreading brings classic short stories to life—expertly narrated with care, clarity, and just enough character to keep things lively. From Poe to Twain, Wolfe to Hemingway, each episode features a complete tale designed for immersive, thoughtful listening in a few minutes to an hour.In addition to timeless tales from the past, explore New Tales Told—a podcast of original short stories that echo the tone and texture of the classics, but are entirely new. Search New Tales Told wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 16, 2025 • 23min
The Girl and the Photograph–a Classic Short Story by Lucy Maud Montgomery
A fleeting glimpse in the pines, a photograph stolen from a friend’s mantel, and a correspondence born from mistaken identity—The Girl and the Photograph by Lucy Maud Montgomery is no simple tale of memory. It’s about the way chance, error, and destiny conspire to test a heart’s fidelity. What begins as a love nurtured by letters and a photograph turns into a crisis of identity, and then, at the last moment, a revelation that love had been waiting patiently all along. This isn’t just about remembering a face—it’s about recognizing a soul when it finally stands before you.A Survey. A Dream. A Better Ad?Somewhere out there is an ad you won’t hate.And this brief, slightly soul-sucking survey might help me find it.t’s optional. But I’d be forever grateful. Or at least for like, a week.http://bit.ly/litreadingclassicshortstories-surveyThanks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sep 15, 2025 • 6min
A Country Cottage-a Classic Short Story by Anton Chekhov
Life has a nasty habit of throwing us curves that we can either cause us long-term misery or force us to make the best of a bad situation as illustrated in this very short tale.Anton Chekhov was undoubtedly brilliant. A physician by trade, his premier talent was writing. Chekhov had a unparalleled gift for understanding the depths of human emotions and sharing them first through his short stories and later, his plays. Chekhov once said “Medicine is my lawful wife and literature is my mistress.” A Survey. A Dream. A Better Ad?Somewhere out there is an ad you won’t hate.And this brief, slightly soul-sucking survey might help me find it.t’s optional. But I’d be forever grateful. Or at least for like, a week.http://bit.ly/litreadingclassicshortstories-surveyThanks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

6 snips
Sep 14, 2025 • 21min
The Mark on the Wall - a Classic Short Story by Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf demonstrates how simply focusing on one thing has the power to unleash torrents of thoughts and memories.Born Adeline Virginia Stephen in 1882, British author Virginia Woolf went on to become an icon of modern 20th century literature. A Survey. A Dream. A Better Ad?Somewhere out there is an ad you won’t hate.And this brief, slightly soul-sucking survey might help me find it.t’s optional. But I’d be forever grateful. Or at least for like, a week.http://bit.ly/litreadingclassicshortstories-surveyThanks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sep 13, 2025 • 10min
The Romance of a Busy Broker - a Classic Short Story by O. Henry
There are those for whom work becomes an obsession to the detriment of their personal lives. The businessman in our next story gives new meaning to the modern term “workaholic.”William Henry Porter, better known as O. Henry led a short albeit intriguing life. Before he died in New York City in 1910 at age 47, Porter was a pharmacist, sheep ranch hand, draftsman, banker, and prolific author of short stories. Oh, and he was also a convicted embezzler who served time in federal prison. A Survey. A Dream. A Better Ad?Somewhere out there is an ad you won’t hate.And this brief, slightly soul-sucking survey might help me find it.t’s optional. But I’d be forever grateful. Or at least for like, a week.http://bit.ly/litreadingclassicshortstories-surveyThanks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sep 12, 2025 • 17min
The McWilliamses And The Burglar Alarm - a Classic Short Story by Mark Twain
We aren't the first generation to be frustrated by advancing technology. More than a century ago, new fangled products were making people crazy like this gentleman who supposedly related our next hilarious tale Mark Twain.Mark Twain (the pen name of Samuel Clemens) had an unmatched knack for taking a normal story and turning it into a hilariously funny tall tale. A Survey. A Dream. A Better Ad?Somewhere out there is an ad you won’t hate.And this brief, slightly soul-sucking survey might help me find it.t’s optional. But I’d be forever grateful. Or at least for like, a week.http://bit.ly/litreadingclassicshortstories-surveyThanks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sep 11, 2025 • 30min
The Widow's Cruise–a Classic Short Story by Frank Stockton
We have been sharing stories with each other since the beginning of time. On occasion these tales have been known to grow a bit tall, as was the case when four elderly seamen spent an evening with a widow sharing a variety of yarns each one wilder than the next. Then the wood adds a tale of her own.Frank Stockton was a 19th century author and humorist with an uncanny knack for poking fun a human failings. One of his most famous stories was "The Lady or the Tiger." A Survey. A Dream. A Better Ad?Somewhere out there is an ad you won’t hate.And this brief, slightly soul-sucking survey might help me find it.t’s optional. But I’d be forever grateful. Or at least for like, a week.http://bit.ly/litreadingclassicshortstories-surveyThanks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sep 11, 2025 • 15min
Desiree's Baby–a Classic Short Story by Kate Chopin
Racism has always been an ugly part of the human condition. Yet, the horrors of racism in America are most undeniably illustrated by the treatment of African-Americans, particularly in the South. Here is just a small example of the pain caused by racial hatred in antebellum Louisiana.I have presented the story exactly as written, as the author, Kate Chopin, lived during this terrible period in US history. Just five years after the end of the Civil War, Chopin married a French-American and lived with him for more than a decade in Louisiana. While Chopin’s brilliant writing is as powerful today as it was more than a century ago, it, like so many other tales of the time, focused on the suffering of white characters, ignoring the true cruelty suffered by their slaves. A Survey. A Dream. A Better Ad?Somewhere out there is an ad you won’t hate.And this brief, slightly soul-sucking survey might help me find it.t’s optional. But I’d be forever grateful. Or at least for like, a week.http://bit.ly/litreadingclassicshortstories-surveyThanks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sep 10, 2025 • 12min
The Log - a Classic Short Story by Guy de Maupassant
The lure of an illicit affair is not a new facet of human nature. People have been both tempting and tempted throughout time. But for a sudden twist of fate, our next story might have ended badly for everyone involved.Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a 19th-century French author considered one the era greatest short storyist spinning realistic tales of the human condition A Survey. A Dream. A Better Ad?Somewhere out there is an ad you won’t hate.And this brief, slightly soul-sucking survey might help me find it.t’s optional. But I’d be forever grateful. Or at least for like, a week.http://bit.ly/litreadingclassicshortstories-surveyThanks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sep 9, 2025 • 14min
The Story-Teller–a Classic Short Story by Saki
Most stories for children try to teach a lesson—this one tries to blow them up. In The Storyteller by Saki, an overstuffed train car, three fidgety kids, and one very unconventional tale collide in a wickedly sharp jab at moralistic storytelling. It’s short, twisted, and just the kind of thing you’d expect from an author who clearly didn’t have much patience for either sanctimony or small talk.A Survey. A Dream. A Better Ad?Somewhere out there is an ad you won’t hate.And this brief, slightly soul-sucking survey might help me find it.t’s optional. But I’d be forever grateful. Or at least for like, a week.http://bit.ly/litreadingclassicshortstories-surveyThanks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sep 8, 2025 • 25min
The Three Day Blow–a Classic Short Story by Ernest Hemingway
Our second tale in this story series by a young Ernest Hemingway picks up a few months after our last story, "The End of Something," which you might want to hear before listening to this tale. A few month's after his breakup, Nick visits his friend Bill as a fall storm hits the Horton’s Bay region.Our second tale in this story series by a young Ernest Hemingway picks up a few months after our last story, The End of Something, which you might want to hear before listening to this tale in which Nick visits his friend Bill as a fall storm hits the Horton’s Bay region A Survey. A Dream. A Better Ad?Somewhere out there is an ad you won’t hate.And this brief, slightly soul-sucking survey might help me find it.t’s optional. But I’d be forever grateful. Or at least for like, a week.http://bit.ly/litreadingclassicshortstories-surveyThanks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.