A short story collection is a book of short stories and/or novellas by a single author. A short story collection is distinguished from an anthology of fiction, which would contain work by several authors (e.g., Les Soirées de Médan). The stories in a collection may or may not share a tone, theme, setting, or characters with one another.
Composition of a collection
Short story collections are made up of smaller texts—the individual short stories—in order to form a superior whole. In spite of this, each short story does not lose any of its meaning or narrative independence by being included in a collection.
The act of writing short stories is different from the act of gathering short stories into a collection.
History of short story collections
thumb|[[Grimm's Fairy Tales]]
Short story collections have their roots in medieval frame tale collections, growing into the postmodern narratives of the 1900s. Short story collections can be published when the author is alive or they can be collected and published after the author is dead using the author's existing works. While short story collections are less popular than novels for consumers, they are purchased consistently. Short story collections have experienced a gradual increase in sales over the last decade, although most collections are not reprinted and do not sell more than 3,000 copies. Secondly, providing short story collections centered around a specific time creates an opportunity to encourage interest in historical studies. by James Joyce
- Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
- The Moons of Jupiter by Alice Munro
- Nine Stories by David Foster Wallace
- Les Mille et un jours by François Pétis de la Croix
- Cambridge Songs by Goliards
- Carmina Burana
- Lisa & Co by Jilly Cooper
- The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Non-themed collections
- The Garden Party and Other Stories