Love Stories

"Love Stories" brings together a captivating assortment of short stories inspired by romantic entanglement in its many forms: first love, infatuation, obsession, unrequited love, marriage, adultery, jealousy, and the complicated bonds of those who have spent their lives together. An array of writers evoke a variety of moods, from the raw, erotic passion of Lawrence and Colette to the wickedlycynical comedy of Dorothy Parker and Roald Dahl; from the agonizing madness of jealousy in Nabokov's "That in Aleppo Once ..." to romantic illusions in Scott Fitzgerald's "Winter Dreams".Objects of passion range from a glamorous silent-movie star in Elizabeth Bowen's haunting "Dead Mabelle" to a faithful ghost in Kawabata's "Immortality" and a successful heart surgeon and serial husband in Margaret Atwood's "Bluebeard's Egg". Jhumpa Lahiri plumbs the depths of a couple sundered by tragedy while Lorrie Moore movingly portrays a husband and wife brought together by it. Katherine Mansfield, Tobias Wolff and William Trevor explore the intricacies of long-term relationships, while Maupassant, Calvino and T. C. Boyle convey the elemental force of love in extremely different ways. Together these nineteen stories make an enticing gift for lovers at any stage of life. It is perfect for Valentine's Day.