There's more to Richard Connell than just his best-known story "A Dangerous Game"!
American writer Richard Connell (1893–1949) is best known for his classic short story, "The Most Dangerous Game." That particular work has been frequently anthologized and is highly regarded for good reasons. It is a tense tale where a hunter becomes the prey for a sadistic man on a deserted island, and must use all his wits to survive.
But Connell was a very versatile writer who also wrote screenplays, novels, journalism articles, as well as many other excellent short stories. While "A Dangerous Game" is more of an adventure/suspense story, many of Connell's other short stories full into the category of wit, satire, and humour, and these I especially enjoyed. Some of my favourite short stories by Connell that I can recommend:
Adventure/Mystery genre
- Dangerous Game: A hunter gets shipwrecked on a secluded island, where he himself becomes prey for a sadistic aristocrat who hunts humans.
- The Stolen Crime: What happens if two men debate a way to make a perfect crime, and someone decides to act on it?
- The Law’s An Ass: Can a lawyer get away with a perfect crime that makes him immensely rich?
Humor/Quirky genre
- A House in the Country: A man is already preparing the tiniest details of the building of his own home, even though he owns nothing as yet.
- A Reputation: Saunders Rook wants to be popular in his club, and saying he'll commit suicide gets him plenty of attention, but will he have to stick to it?
- Honor Among Sportsmen: Two truffle hunters honor social conventions despite a disagreement at a truffle hunting championship
- Mr Pottle and Culture: To woo widow Gallup, simple barber Ambrose Pottle must outdo another suitor who is a brilliant conversationalist.
- Sssssssssshhhh!: A journalist visits a town where people mysteriously communicate to each other in cryptic hand signals – but why?
- The Battle of Washington Square: A vagrant finds people treat him with respect when he becomes a soldier, but what happens when he loses his memory?
- The Golden Bum: A powerful billionaire can't escape the trappings of his wealth, but is there was a way for him to enjoy a simple fishing life?
- The Man Who Could Imitate a Bee: An expert in birds finds that social success comes instead by mimicking the sound of a bee
- The Prince Has the Mumps: When the crown prince can't complete an important speech because of illness, his father the king comes up with an absurd plan.
- The Sin of Monsieur Pettipon: A ship's steward takes great pride in his immaculate cleanliness, but a passenger finds a shameful animal on his cabin floor.
In some ways his style reminds me a little of H.H. Munro (Saki) and O. Henry. You can easily find all these short stories online. Recommended!
by EndersGame_Reviewer