{"code":"quirky","header_2":"The odd, the obtuse and the over-the-top.","header_1":"The Best Quirky Short Stories of History","description":"The funniest short stories of history. Read or download. The Man Who Could Imitate a Bee by Richard Connell, Johnny Pye and the Fool-Killer by Stephen Vincent Benet, And All the Earth a Grave by C. C. Macapp.","stories":[{"story":"the-man-who-could-imitate-a-bee","description":"A genius story about unwanted fame and one-hit-wonders from an author only famous for one story—*The Most Dangerous Game*. A young scientist stoops to cheap comedy to gain the interest of a girl and her peers, but the attention quickly turns sour for the young man. *The Man Who Could Imitate a Bee* is a hilarious tale with a lovable protagonist."},{"story":"johnny-pye-and-the-fool-killer","description":"A deep and thought-provoking story hidden under a layer of silliness. A young boy’s parents call him a fool and warn him the fool-killer will get him someday. So the impressionable lad runs away and spends years trying to find an adult that can make a clever man out of him. *Johnny Pye and the Fool-Killer* is a timeless masterpiece."},{"story":"and-all-the-earth-a-grave","description":"A wacky concept from the creative C. C. MacApp. A coffin factory accidentally overbudgets the marketing team a hundred fold... leading to complete success. *And All the Earth a Grave* provides an interesting take on the end of humanity."},{"story":"a-friend-of-napoleon","description":"Another genius tale from Richard Connell, this one is more wacky than *The Man Who Could Imitate a Bee*, but has a touching ending to seal it off. In it, A lonely wax museum worker must save his friends when the museum closes down."},{"story":"a-chameleon","description":"A satire from the father of short stories himself, Anton Chekhov. A policeman tries to find and punish the owner of an unclaimed dog which has bitten a man walking on the street, only to realise that the owner is a high-ranking official. Chekhov satirises corruption and boot-licking."},{"story":"a-reputation","description":"*A Reputation* inspired the 1941 drama Meet John Doe, but the two are mainly different stories. In *A Reputation*, Saunders Rook wants very badly to be as popular as the others of his club of liberal professionals, so he blurts out the first thing he can think of that will get him some attention. Unfortunately, he leaves himself with no choice but to stick by what he says. This satirical piece deeply criticises society and the media and is well worth the read."},{"story":"the-last-word","description":"Kuprin loved to critique the boring, complacent attitudes of people in cities much like his Russian Contemporaries. *The Last Word* is a very direct and unapologetic complaint, following a man who admits to murder. The man explains that he knew the victim since childhood and had seen him in school, in the public, and everywhere else entirely on the faces of every man he had ever met."},{"story":"the-battle-of-washington-square","description":"In this story, Connell tackles blind patriotism and the way it is used to manipulate naïve and struggling men. *The Battle of Washingon Square* is about A young, vagrant man who is drafted and soon finds that everyone begins to treat him with much more respect. He begins to yearn being sent to combat and receiving the chance to prove himself."},{"story":"the-orator","description":"*The Orator* is a small, classic, comedy of a man who is tasked with giving a speech at a funeral, only to realise near the end that he has gotten one very important detail wrong. It is charming, and an easy read."}],"title":"Best of Quirky","subroute":"quirky","authors":["richardconnell","stephenvincentbenet","antonchekhov","saki","aleksandrikuprin"],"has_text":true,"quote":{"quote":"“Oh, Bernice, do come over here. You simply must hear Mr. Mullett imitate a trained seal!” * The Man Who Could Imitate a Bee ","code":"the-man-who-could-imitate-a-bee"},"image_code":"the-man-who-could-imitate-a-bee","image_alt":"A sketch of a party of six people sitting together with a man in the middle with pursed lips as if whistling.","collection_type":"genre"}