LitReading - Classic Short Stories
Humans have shared stories for millennia. For most of that time, telling tales was a verbal process. A storyteller would regale an audience with accounts of adventure, bravery, compassion, despair, enlightenment, and fear. Stories were a shared experience, until the advent of inexpensive mass-printing processes in the 19th century which allowed most of us to read to ourselves. Yet, that desire to have a story read aloud is still ingrained in our collective soul. While we still read books for pleasure, most of today’s stories are told via newer forms of visual media like movies and television. Consuming stories via any visual medium requires an active commitment to the process. You probably shouldn’t read a book or watch a TV program while driving, but your brain still craves a good story. An audio book is suitable for a long road trip. But what about those times when you only have a few minutes? Enter the audio short story. Allow me to help you fill those moments and fulfill your need for a captivating tale with readings of some of the world’s greatest literary masters best brief works. My love of the spoken word has been honed by a more than 30-year career in radio and voice acting with a modicum of performance passion from decades of stage performances. This venture is my hobby (I have a great full-time job), so much of the content is free of cost. I hope you enjoy them. If you would like to share thoughts or comments, please drop me a line. If you enjoy these stories, please spread the word, subscribe, and leave a review on your favorite podcast service. Thanks for stopping by, Don McDonaldPodcasts
Uncle Richard's New Year Dinner by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Published: Dec. 30, 2022, 12:15 p.m.Duration: 11 minutes 56 seconds
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A Visit from St. Nicholas or 'Twas the Night Before Christmas - A Classic Christmas Verse
Published: Dec. 24, 2022, 3:41 p.m.Duration: 5 minutes 32 seconds
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Christmas Every Day by William Dean Powells
Published: Dec. 24, 2022, 11:12 a.m.Duration: 17 minutes 57 seconds
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Jimmy Scarecrow's Christmas by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
Published: Dec. 23, 2022, 12:07 p.m.Duration: 15 minutes 58 seconds
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Reginald's Christmas Revel by Saki
Published: Dec. 22, 2022, 12:32 p.m.Duration: 8 minutes 51 seconds
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A Stolen Christmas by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman - A Classic Christmas Story
Published: Dec. 21, 2022, 11:25 a.m.Duration: 32 minutes 10 seconds
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A Kidnapped Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum - A Classic Christmas Story
Published: Dec. 20, 2022, 12:46 p.m.Duration: 24 minutes 28 seconds
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Christmas at Red Butte by Lucy Maud Montgomery - A Classic Christmas Story
Published: Dec. 19, 2022, 1:40 p.m.Duration: 19 minutes 9 seconds
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The Gospel According to Joan by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
Published: Dec. 18, 2022, 11:50 a.m.Duration: 43 minutes 32 seconds
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A Set of Poe by George Ade
Published: Dec. 18, 2022, 10:31 a.m.Duration: 12 minutes 10 seconds
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The Gift Of The Magi by O. Henry - A Classic Christmas Story
Published: Dec. 17, 2022, 10:57 a.m.Duration: 14 minutes 46 seconds
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The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
Published: Oct. 31, 2022, 8:50 a.m.Duration: 17 minutes 58 seconds
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The Furnished Room by O. Henry
Published: Oct. 30, 2022, 12:29 p.m.Duration: 18 minutes 18 seconds
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A Wireless Message by Ambrose Bierce
Published: Oct. 29, 2022, 1:50 p.m.Duration: 7 minutes 42 seconds
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The Damned Thing by Ambrose Bierce
Published: Oct. 28, 2022, 2:22 p.m.Duration: 21 minutes 6 seconds
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The Pale Man by Julius Long
Published: Oct. 27, 2022, 7:28 p.m.Duration: 18 minutes 42 seconds
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The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs
Published: Oct. 11, 2022, 12:45 p.m.Duration: 25 minutes 50 seconds
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A Haunted House by Virginia Woolf
Published: Oct. 10, 2022, 4:17 p.m.Duration: 9 minutes 8 seconds
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Empire of the Ants by H.G. Wells
Published: Oct. 9, 2022, 5:46 p.m.Duration: 41 minutes 52 seconds
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The Willow Walk by Sinclair Lewis
Published: Oct. 8, 2022, 1:05 p.m.Duration: 1 hour 19 minutes 34 seconds
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The Boarded Window by Ambrose Bierce
Published: Oct. 7, 2022, 3:22 p.m.Duration: 13 minutes 53 seconds
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The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe
Published: Oct. 6, 2022, 12:10 p.m.Duration: 26 minutes 21 seconds
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The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
Published: Oct. 5, 2022, 2:48 p.m.Duration: 48 minutes 43 seconds
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Yuki-Onna by Lafcadio Hearn
Published: Oct. 4, 2022, 4:22 p.m.Duration: 11 minutes 28 seconds
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The Cats of Ulthar by H. P. Lovecraft
Published: Oct. 1, 2022, 8:41 p.m.Duration: 11 minutes 3 seconds
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An Idle Fellow by Kate Chopin
Published: Sept. 24, 2022, 5:49 p.m.Duration: 4 minutes 56 seconds
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Eve's Diary by Mark Twain
Published: Sept. 2, 2022, 3:30 p.m.Duration: 45 minutes 37 seconds
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Excerpts from Adam's Diary by Mark Twain
Published: Aug. 29, 2022, 8:50 p.m.Duration: 30 minutes 23 seconds
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Before the Law by Franz Kafka
Published: Aug. 5, 2022, 6:42 p.m.Duration: 6 minutes 51 seconds
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The White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett
Published: Aug. 2, 2022, 9:56 p.m.Duration: 28 minutes 43 seconds
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Coco By Guy de Maupassant
Published: July 3, 2022, 9:17 p.m.Duration: 12 minutes 14 seconds
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The Aged Mother by Matsuo Basho
Published: June 18, 2022, 5:37 p.m.Duration: 8 minutes 40 seconds
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A Slice of Life by P. G. Wodehouse
Published: June 6, 2022, 9:45 p.m.Duration: 36 minutes 20 seconds
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The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Published: March 9, 2022, 6:33 p.m.Duration: 37 minutes 32 seconds
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Hermann the Irascible by Saki
Published: March 3, 2022, 6:56 p.m.Duration: 8 minutes 26 seconds
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The Man with Two Lives by Ambrose Bierce
Published: March 2, 2022, 12:13 a.m.Duration: 8 minutes 25 seconds
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Diary Of A Madman by Guy de Maupassant
Published: Feb. 26, 2022, 2:34 p.m.Duration: 15 minutes 47 seconds
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The Haunted Mind by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Published: Feb. 22, 2022, 8:40 p.m.Duration: 14 minutes 41 seconds
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Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Published: Feb. 17, 2022, 2:58 p.m.Duration: 1 hour 42 seconds
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That's Marriage by Edna Ferber
Published: Feb. 14, 2022, 9:06 p.m.Duration: 57 minutes 23 seconds
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The Widow's Cruise by Frank Stockton
Published: Feb. 11, 2022, 7:57 p.m.Duration: 30 minutes 36 seconds
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The Three Day Blow by Ernest Hemingway
Published: Feb. 4, 2022, 5:56 p.m.Duration: 25 minutes 53 seconds
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The End of Something by Ernest Hemingway
Published: Jan. 31, 2022, 7:52 p.m.Duration: 11 minutes 13 seconds
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The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
Published: Jan. 28, 2022, 8:55 p.m.Duration: 15 minutes 39 seconds
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The Log by Guy de Maupassant
Published: Jan. 26, 2022, 2:50 p.m.Duration: 13 minutes 3 seconds
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Desiree's Baby by Kate Chopin
Published: Jan. 24, 2022, 5:33 p.m.Duration: 15 minutes 56 seconds
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The McWilliamses And The Burglar Alarm by Mark Twain
Published: Jan. 21, 2022, 3:14 p.m.Duration: 17 minutes 24 seconds
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The Romance of a Busy Broker by O. Henry
Published: Jan. 18, 2022, 10:08 p.m.Duration: 11 minutes 7 seconds
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The Mark on the Wall by Virginia Woolf
Published: Jan. 16, 2022, 12:06 p.m.Duration: 22 minutes 8 seconds
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A Country Cottage by Anton Chekhov
Published: Jan. 14, 2022, 11:28 p.m.Duration: 7 minutes 12 seconds
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Four Men In A Cave by Stephen Crane
Published: Jan. 12, 2022, 3:09 p.m.Duration: 13 minutes 33 seconds
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The Rocking Horse Winner by D.H. Lawrence
Published: Jan. 10, 2022, 10:02 p.m.Duration: 39 minutes 17 seconds
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The Model Millionaire by Oscar Wilde
Published: Jan. 5, 2022, 3:44 p.m.Duration: 14 minutes 52 seconds
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The Clock That Went Backward by Edward Page Mitchell
Published: Jan. 3, 2022, 9:56 p.m.Duration: 35 minutes 23 seconds
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The State of the Podcast Address: A Plea for Help
Published: Jan. 3, 2022, 9:53 p.m.Duration: 5 minutes 49 seconds
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A Case of Premeditation by R. Austin Freeman
Published: Dec. 8, 2021, 9:44 p.m.Duration: 1 hour 7 minutes 15 seconds
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Three Thanksgiving Kisses by Edward Payson Roe
Published: Nov. 22, 2021, 11:13 p.m.Duration: 43 minutes 39 seconds
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Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen by O. Henry
Published: Nov. 21, 2021, 11:56 p.m.Duration: 14 minutes 19 seconds
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The Last Leaf by O. Henry
Published: Nov. 7, 2021, 4:01 p.m.Duration: 17 minutes 51 seconds
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The Idyl of Red Gulch by Bret Harte
Published: Sept. 18, 2021, 4:24 p.m.Duration: 26 minutes 39 seconds
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Handful of Clay by Henry van Dyke
Published: Sept. 7, 2021, 10:02 p.m.Duration: 8 minutes 38 seconds
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Good Souls by Dorothy Parker
Published: Aug. 29, 2021, 11:21 a.m.Duration: 15 minutes 32 seconds
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August Heat by W. F. Harvey
Published: Aug. 18, 2021, 9:53 p.m.Duration: 13 minutes 5 seconds
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An Alpine Divorce by Robert Barr
Published: Aug. 15, 2021, 3:21 p.m.Duration: 14 minutes 7 seconds
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Hands by Sherwood Anderson
Published: Aug. 8, 2021, 10:07 p.m.Duration: 17 minutes 16 seconds
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The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain
Published: July 25, 2021, 6:01 p.m.Duration: 15 minutes 52 seconds
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Clovis on Parental Responsibility by Saki
Published: June 29, 2021, 10:10 a.m.Duration: 8 minutes 33 seconds
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Old Well-Well by Zane Grey
Published: June 19, 2021, 9:08 p.m.Duration: 24 minutes 56 seconds
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The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame
Published: June 11, 2021, 3:26 p.m.Duration: 1 hour 3 minutes 29 seconds
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A Horseman in the Sky by Ambrose Bierce
Published: June 8, 2021, 3:54 p.m.Duration: 19 minutes 4 seconds
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Pigs is Pigs by Ellis Parker Butler
Published: June 6, 2021, 1:12 p.m.Duration: 22 minutes 48 seconds
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Two Hearts That Beat as One by Frank Norris
Published: June 3, 2021, 4:19 p.m.Duration: 28 minutes 56 seconds
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An Angel in Disguise by T.S. Arthur
Published: May 27, 2021, 3:25 p.m.Duration: 19 minutes 7 seconds
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The Bakers Dozen by Saki
Published: May 12, 2021, 7:23 p.m.Duration: 13 minutes 19 seconds
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The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut by Mark Twain
Published: May 10, 2021, 4:21 p.m.Duration: 39 minutes 16 seconds
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Indian Camp by Ernest Hemingway
Published: May 3, 2021, 9:40 p.m.Duration: 11 minutes 9 seconds
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Tobermory by Saki
Published: April 25, 2021, 6:16 p.m.Duration: 18 minutes 18 seconds
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Gipsy by Booth Tarkington
Published: April 21, 2021, 4:29 p.m.Duration: 14 minutes 58 seconds
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The Looking Glass by Anton Chekov
Published: April 19, 2021, 3:43 p.m.Duration: 12 minutes 15 seconds
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Love in the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Published: April 19, 2021, 6:29 a.m.Duration: 39 minutes 48 seconds
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Mr. Know-All by W. Somerset Maugham
Published: April 14, 2021, 5:10 p.m.Duration: 16 minutes 50 seconds
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The Whirligig of Life by O. Henry
Published: April 12, 2021, 5:15 p.m.Duration: 15 minutes 36 seconds
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The Eyes Have It by Philip K. Dick
Published: April 9, 2021, 10:59 p.m.Duration: 9 minutes 23 seconds
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Second Best by D.H. Lawrence
Published: April 6, 2021, 5:21 p.m.Duration: 21 minutes 26 seconds
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The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin
Published: April 2, 2021, 2:57 p.m.Duration: 9 minutes 6 seconds
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The Fable of the Preacher Who Flew His Kite, But Not Because He Wished to Do So by George Ade
Published: April 1, 2021, 2:09 p.m.Duration: 8 minutes 42 seconds
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After Twenty Years by O. Henry
Published: March 29, 2021, 9:35 p.m.Duration: 7 minutes 55 seconds
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The Aged, Aged Man by Lewis Carroll
Published: March 26, 2021, 3:41 p.m.Duration: 6 minutes 23 seconds
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The Fly by Katherine Mansfield
Published: March 24, 2021, 3:53 p.m.Duration: 16 minutes 2 seconds
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Misery by Anton Chekhov
Published: March 21, 2021, 12:24 p.m.Duration: 14 minutes 47 seconds
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A Telephonic Conversation by Mark Twain
Published: March 17, 2021, 9:41 p.m.Duration: 8 minutes 20 seconds
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A Pair of Silk Stockings by Kate Chopin
Published: March 15, 2021, 12:08 p.m.Duration: 13 minutes 15 seconds
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The Other Two by Edith Wharton
Published: March 10, 2021, 6:01 p.m.Duration: 48 minutes 42 seconds
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The Good and the Bad Little Boy by Mark Twain
Published: March 6, 2021, 3:57 p.m.Duration: 18 minutes 47 seconds
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The Cactus by O. Henry
Published: March 4, 2021, 2:05 a.m.Duration: 10 minutes 19 seconds
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The Man in the Brown Coat by Sherwood Anderson
Published: March 1, 2021, 1:25 p.m.Duration: 8 minutes 35 seconds
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Poor, Dear Margaret Kirby by Kathleen Norris
Published: Feb. 28, 2021, 5:10 p.m.Duration: 27 minutes 5 seconds
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Solid Objects by Virginia Wolff
Published: Feb. 24, 2021, 5:35 p.m.Duration: 17 minutes 6 seconds
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Three Questions by Leo Tolstoy
Published: Feb. 16, 2021, 5:29 p.m.Duration: 10 minutes 45 seconds
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In a Grove by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Published: Feb. 12, 2021, 11:30 p.m.Duration: 23 minutes 29 seconds
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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Published: Feb. 11, 2021, 2:57 p.m.Duration: 57 minutes 12 seconds
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The Great American Pie Company by Ellis Parker Butler
Published: Feb. 9, 2021, 5:52 p.m.Duration: 27 minutes 46 seconds
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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Published: Feb. 6, 2021, 11:59 p.m.Duration: 24 minutes 35 seconds
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The Million Pound Bank Note
Published: Feb. 4, 2021, 2:14 p.m.Duration: 48 minutes 24 seconds
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The Way the World Is by Zona Gale
Published: Feb. 2, 2021, 9:33 p.m.Duration: 22 minutes 33 seconds
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The Interlopers by Saki
Published: Jan. 20, 2021, 5:46 p.m.Duration: 15 minutes 15 seconds
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Memoirs of a Yellow Dog by O. Henry
Published: Aug. 5, 2020, 6:47 p.m.Duration: 12 minutes 58 seconds
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My Financial Career by Stephen Leacock
Published: July 7, 2020, 9:32 p.m.Duration: 7 minutes 23 seconds
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Jimmy Rose by Herman Melville
Published: June 28, 2020, 5:08 p.m.Duration: 28 minutes 35 seconds
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The Enchanted Bluff by Willa Cather
Published: June 14, 2020, 1:50 p.m.Duration: 23 minutes
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Nevada Funeral - Scotty Briggs and the Clergyman by Mark Twain
Published: May 25, 2020, 6:12 p.m.Duration: 12 minutes 33 seconds
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A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell
Published: May 16, 2020, 9:33 p.m.Duration: 45 minutes 38 seconds
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Gentle Hand by Mary Roberts Rinehart
Published: May 13, 2020, 1:58 p.m.Duration: 14 minutes 12 seconds
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Nobodys Story by Charles Dickens
Published: May 5, 2020, 4:59 p.m.Duration: 16 minutes 39 seconds
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The Boston Massacre by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Published: March 4, 2020, 10:07 p.m.Duration: 13 minutes 19 seconds
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Father Forgets by W. Livingston Larned
Published: June 14, 2019, 9:39 p.m.Duration: 6 minutes 34 seconds
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The Prophet - Part Two by Khalil Gibran
Published: Jan. 4, 2019, 6:31 p.m.Duration: 40 minutes 12 seconds
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The Prophet - Part One by Khalil Gibran
Published: Jan. 3, 2019, 11:16 p.m.Duration: 39 minutes 24 seconds
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