... reading a short story is usually a very enjoyable experience.
(And when it's not, at least it's short.)
                                                              — Francis Ford Coppola

Created by Francis Coppola in 1997, Zoetrope All-Story is a quarterly magazine that concentrates on short fiction. In his initial "Letter to the Reader," Coppola explains why he started the publication: a good short story "works at you from inside the brain, filling in images, characters, ideas, and plot ... you close your eyes and think about it, and realize you have seen

it because you have experienced it." Short stories, then, are the "natural format" of storytelling (as opposed to plays, which are written to be performed, not read).

I've been reading All-Story for a few years now, and it's consistently one of the better short story magazines out there. Each issue contains about seven or eight pieces by contemporary writers. While most are available only in the print version ($19.95/year US), each issue usually has two or three stories that are also published online (and can be read for free). Scour the back issues to find out which ones are available. One of my favorites is "The Ironworkers' Hayride" by Robert Olen Butler (Fall 2003).

Classic Reprints: As a treat, some issues include a "classic reprint" — a previously published story by a well-known author. Previous reprints include "Who Am I This Time?" by Kurt Vonnegut (Fall 2005) and "Duel" by Richard Matheson (Spring 2004). The current issue (Winter 2005) gives us "Auggie Wren's Christmas Story" by Paul Auster, previously published in The New York Times on December 25, 1990.

Guest Designers: As an interesting quirk, each issue is illustrated and designed by a different guest artist, so no two magazines look or feel alike. The current issue, designed by Tom Waits, features black and white photographs of oil stains found in various parking lots. Waits tells us: "I like to say I work in oils. See whatever you wish to see in them; they are the astonishing shapes and mysteries of the natural world." I see a flying reindeer in the cover image (right), and I expect I'm not alone. Happy holidays from all of us here at MattLally.com.