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Great Short Stories

A reading & discussion group

Great conversation about great short fiction!

The Great Short Stories (GSS) reading and discussion group is currently using two texts:

"One World: A Global Anthology of Short Stories," edited by Chris Brazier. Click here to reserve a copy. This title is also instantly available as an ebook on Hoopla for residents of the cities of Birmingham, Gardendale, Homewood, Hoover, ironadle, Leeds, Mountain Brook, Pinson, Pleasant Grove, Trussville, Vestavia Hills, and Warrior.

and

"Adaptations: From Short Story to Big Screen: 35 Great Stories That Have Inspired Great Films" Click here to reserve a copy.

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Below, the stories (and books) for each meeting are listed. GSS meets the second Monday of each month at 6:30pm in the Community Meeting Room AND online via Zoom. If you'd prefer to attend online, register your email to receive a Zoom meeting link closer to the event.

January 8 - "Mr. Blandings Builds His Castle" by Eric Hodgins, page 309 in "Adaptations," adapted to Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, directed by H.C. Potter in 1948. The film is available on DVD in the library system.

February 12 - "Spurs" by Tom Robbins, page 161 in "Adaptations," adapted to Freaks, directed by Tod Browning in 1932. The film is available on DVD in the library system. The film is showing available (may incur a cost) on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+.  It is available to stream on the Internet Archive.

March 11 - "Kelemo's Woman" by Molara Wood (Nigeria), page 19 in "One World."

April 8 - "A Man Called Horse" by Dorothy M. Johnson, page 231 in "Adaptations," adapted to A Man Called Horse, directed by Elliot Silverman in 1970. The film is available streaming, both for free and for rent, from a variety of online services. Ron is leading. 

May 13 - "Momento Mori" by Jonathan Nolan, page 451 in "Adaptations," adapted to Memento, directed by Christopher Nolan in 2000.  Available on DVD and Blu-ray at several libraries in Jefferson County and streaming on Hoopla and Kanopy for residents of city libraries that subscribe to those services.  Available streaming for Amazon Prime and other free services. Sandra is leading.

June 10 - "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates, page 563 in "Adaptations," adapted to Smooth Talk, directed by Joyce Chopra in 1985. Available on DVD and Blu-ray at libraries in Jefferson County. Available for rent on various streaming services. Carol is leading.

July 8 - "In a Grove" by Ryunosuki Akutagawa, page 533 in "Adaptations," adapted to Rashomon, directed by Akira Kurosawa in 1951. Available on DVD and Blu-ray at libraries in Jefferson County and also streaming on Kanopy for residents of city libraries that subscribe to that service. Available for free and for rent on various streaming services. Sandra is leading. 

August 12 - "This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" by Sherman Alexie, page 244 in "Adaptations," adapted to Smoke Signals, directed by Chris Eyre in 1998. Available on DVD at libraries in Jefferson County. Streaming on Hoopla for card holders at libraries that subscribe to that service. Available for rent on various streaming services. Bob is leading.

September 9 - "Bringing Up Baby" by Hagar Wilde, page 370 in "Adaptations," adapted to Bringing Up Baby, directed by Howard Hawks in 1938.  Available on DVD and Blu-ray at libraries in Jefferson County. Available for rent on various streaming services. Samuel is leading.

October 14 - "Supertoys Last All Summer Long" by Brian Aldiss, page 112 in "Adaptations," adapted to AI: Artificial Intelligence by Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick in 2001.  Available on DVD at libraries in Jefferson County.  Streaming on Kanopy for card holders at libraries that subscribe to that service. Also streaming for rent or by subscription via a number of online services. Ron is leading.

November 11 - Veteran's Day, the Library is Closed.  See you next month!

December 9 - "Auggie Wren's Christmas Story" by Paul Auster, page 578, adapted to Smoke, directed by Wayne Wang in 1995. Streaming on Hoopla for card holders at libraries that subscribe to that service. Available for rent on various streaming services. Samuel is leading.

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