The Penguin Book of the International Short Story

The Penguin Book of the International Short Story - Hardcover

$30.00
$30.00
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The Penguin Book of the International Short Story
  • The Penguin Book of the International Short Story
The Penguin Book of the International Short Story - Hardcover

The Penguin Book of the International Short Story - Hardcover

by Rabih Alameddine , John Freeman
$30.00
$30.00

Book Overview

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by Literary Hub

The best in short fiction from around the world, from celebrated anthologist and author John Freeman and award-winning novelist Rabih Alameddine

In The Penguin Book of the International Short Story, writers from different nations, languages, and sensibilities come together in a globe-spanning and long overdue tour of modern fiction. In "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo," Haruki Murakami brings us a man who believes a giant amphibian is enlisting him to protect his city from an impending earthquake. In "War of the Clowns," Mozambique's Mia Couto sketches a perfect allegory for our divided culture. In the predecessor story to her iconic novel The Vegetarian, Han Kang depicts a protagonist quietly undergoing an unlikely transformation. A Colm Tóibín character thinks, "I do not even believe in Ireland," while Carol Bensimon reflects from Brazil, "All great ideas seem like bad ones at some point." Salman Rushdie brings us to unsettled rural India, Olga Tokarczuk to an ugly woman exhibit at the circus, Abdellah Taïa to the queer Arab world, Ted Chiang to a far-off galaxy.

The United States is far from the center of the literary universe. This anthology is reminiscent of iconic director Bong Joon Ho's line about overcoming "the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles" to enter a new world of film--the work of thoughtful and accomplished translators opens the door wide for those curious about what lies beyond the Western canon and classroom. Writers from six continents, ranging from new voices to literary icons, each offer a window into a distinct point of view, both transcending and illuminating their place of origin. They offer not only captivating prose, but a reminder of the power of the imagination across space and time.
ISBN9780593834138
Author Rabih Alameddine , John Freeman
PublisherPenguin Press
GenreLiterature
FormatHardcover
PublishedApril 2026
LanguageENG- English
Pages448
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceAdults
Print SizeStandard Print

Related Subjects

Fiction Literary

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More by Rabih Alameddine

The Penguin Book of the International Short Story

The Penguin Book of the International Short Story - Hardcover

The Penguin Book of the International Short Story - Hardcover

By Rabih Alameddine and John Freeman
About Rabih Alameddine
Rabih Alameddine is the author of the novels The Wrong End of the Telescope; Angel of History; An Unnecessary Woman; The Hakawati; I, the Divine; Koolaids; the story collection, The Perv; and one work of nonfiction, Comforting Myths. He has won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and was a finalist for the National Book Award. He received the Dos Passos Prize in 2019, a Lannan Award in 2021, and the Bill Whitehead Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025.
About John Freeman
John Freeman is the author and editor of more than a dozen books, including The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story and California Rewritten.

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