An essential anthology of fifteen short stories which provides students with an international selection of works by acclaimed modern writers: from Nobel Laureates (Nadine Gordimer, V. S. Naipaul), to masters of the short story (Raymond Carver, Mavis Gallant, William Trevor), to a younger generation of writers on their way to establishing worldwide reputations (Zadie Smith, Ana Menéndez). Featuring the theme of 'difference', each story has something to say about cultural encounters, often arising from experiences of migration or uprooting. Their predominantly realist temper promotes vivid, imaginative connections between the worlds of fiction and the worlds of its readers.

This is an ideal primary set text for modules on Modern Literature, Twentieth-Century Literature, Contemporary Fiction, Postmodern Fiction, Postcolonial Literature, International Literature or The Short Story, which may be offered at all levels of an undergraduate or taught postgraduate Literature degree.