Tell Me a Riddle

by Tillie Olsen · 1961

+ Want to read

This collection of four stories, "I Stand Here Ironing," "Hey Sailor, what Ship?," "O Yes," and "Tell me a Riddle," had become an American classic. Since the title novella won the O. Henry Award in 1961, the stories have been anthologized over a hundred times, made into three films, translated into thirteen languages, and - most important - once read, they abide in the hearts of their readers.

Genre
literary fictionliterary fictionMore like thisLess of this
Themes
womenwomenMore like thisLess of thisfeminismfeminismMore like thisLess of this
Setting
1960s1960sMore like thisLess of this
Subject
biographybiographyMore like thisLess of this
Audience
adult
Length
short · 116 pages
Form
short storiesshort storiesMore like thisLess of thisnovellanovellaMore like thisLess of this

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Liked Tell Me a Riddle? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked Tell Me a Riddle. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. The Little Disturbances of Man Grace Paley · 1956 Shares short stories, fiction, barthelme syllabus
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  3. 65 Short Stories W. Somerset Maugham · 1976 Shares short stories, fiction, classics
  4. The Collected Stories of Peter Taylor Peter Taylor · 1969 Shares short stories, barthelme syllabus, fiction
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“People who read Tell Me a Riddle tend to reach for these next.”

  1. Gogol's Wife and Other Stories Tommaso Landolfi · 1963
  2. The Oranging of America and Other Stories Max Apple · 1976
  3. Falling in Place Ann Beattie · 1980
  4. I, etcetera Susan Sontag · 1963

“If you want more of the same (literary fiction about women), start with these.”

  1. Hearts Come Home and Other Stories Pearl S. Buck · 1962
  2. Complete Short Stories, Vol 2 D.H. Lawrence · 1961
  3. Tales of the Out and the Gone Amiri Baraka · 1968
  4. Dear Illusion Kingsley Amis · 1962

“If it was the short stories that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. The Collected Stories Edith Wharton, Anita Brookner · 1937
  2. Essential Welty: Why I Live at the P.O., A Memory, Powerhouse and Petrified Man Eudora Welty · 1956
  3. Miss Muriel and Other Stories Ann Petry · 1971
  4. The John Cheever Audio Collection John Cheever · 2003

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. The Pocket Book of O. Henry Stories · 1901
  2. The Zanzibar Cat Joanna Russ · 1983
  3. Kalimantan Lucius Shepard · 1990
  4. The Great Silence Ted Chiang · 2016

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