"Mr. Pope had rigged up a reading light . . . and the horse read far into the night."

- From Ed Has His Mind Improved by Walter R. Brooks

A boon for booklovers, this set features funny, fantastical and poignant stories about people with unique and passionate connections to the written word.

Walter R. Brooks' Ed Has His Mind Improved

read by Tony Roberts

How Ed-a talking horse-became a voracious reader of adventure tales and hardboiled detective stories

Italo Calvino's The Adventure of a Reader

translated by William Weaver

read by John Shea

A man tries to make the most of his beach holiday by reading and making love at the same time

Adam Haslett's Notes to My Biographer

read by Isaiah Sheffer

A long-lost father reviews his life on a trip to reconnect with his troubled son

Evelyn Waugh's The Man Who Liked Dickens

read by Leonard Nimoy

A dark, vintage Evelyn Waugh tickler about a stranded jungle explorer forced to read Dickens aloud

Molly Giles' The Writers' Model

read by Blair Brown

What does it mean to be a woman? A group of writers study their subject.

Ray Bradbury's Exchange

read by Rochelle Oliver

A young soldier about to ship out pays a final visit to his childhood library.

Audrey Niffenegger's The Night Bookmobile

read by Christina Pickles

An obsession with a mysterious magical bookmobile.

Selected Shorts is an award-winning, one-hour program featuring readings of classic and new short fiction, recorded live at New York's Symphony Space. One of the most popular series on the airwaves, this unique show is hosted by Isaiah Sheffer and produced for radio by Symphony Space and WNYC Radio.

"Tony Roberts brings a waggish sense of fun to Walter Brooks's "Ed Has His Mind Improved,". Isaiah Sheffer is dynamic and funny as a manic-depressive inventor in Adam Haslett's "Notes to My Biographer." ...and the best, as is usual with "Selected Shorts," is quite fine. Spontaneous audience reactions enhance the listening experience." -from AudioFile managine