2004

Uncle Peretz Takes Off (הדוד פרץ ממריא, Ha-Dod Peretz Mamree in Hebrew), is a collection of short stories by Israeli writer Yaakov Shabtai. An English translation by Dalya Bilu was published in 2004. The stories present a gallery of characters in Tel Aviv of the 1940s, including Uncle Shmuel who tries to make his fortune as a poulterer, the nude model Tamara Bell, and Albert Weiss-Fink, who dreams of bringing a traveling circus to Palestine.

The Almost Complete Collection of True Singapore Ghost Stories (also True Singapore Ghost Stories or TSGS) is one of the bestselling series in Singapore. With over a million copies sold, the series has become a household name since its inception in 1989. Russell Lee, the Singaporean author, compiles reports, stories and interviews about the supernatural. Light and entertaining, each book, which comprises about 50 stories, appeals to both children and mature readers.

So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy is an anthology of short stories by African, Asian, South Asian, and Indigenous authors, as well as North American and British writers of colour, edited by the writer Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan. Hopkinson provides the introduction, although it is usually misattributed to Samuel R. Delany (whose recommendation of the book is quoted on the book's cover).

Sirius: The Dog Star is a 2004 anthology of science fiction/fantasy short-stories revolving around dogs. Its editors are Martin H. Greenberg and Alexander Potter, and it was published by DAW.

Sekenre: The Book of the Sorcerer is a collection of fantasy short stories written by Darrell Schweitzer featuring his dark fantasy protagonist, the child sorcerer Sekenre, a sequel to the novel The Mask of the Sorcerer (1995). The book was illustrated by Stephen Fabian. It was first published as a trade paperback by Wildside Press in 2004.

Sagas of Conan is a 2004 omnibus collection of three previously issued fantasy books written by L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter and Björn Nyberg featuring Robert E. Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books.

Runaway is a book of short stories by Alice Munro. First published in 2004 by McClelland and Stewart, it was awarded that year's Giller Prize and Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.

Physical Description: 6.6"x9.7"x1.6"; 528 pages; 1.6 lb

The Ribbajack & Other Curious Yarns is a fantasy book by Brian Jacques, published in 2004. It was published the same year as the Redwall book (his more known fantasy series) Rakkety Tam. There are six tales in this book, all of them like the tales in Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales, by the same author. The titles are: "The Ribbajack", "A Smile and a Wave", "The All Ireland Champion Versus the Nye Add", "The Mystery of Huma D'Este", "Miggy Mags and the Malabar Sailor", and "Rosie's Pet."

ReVisions is a 2004 anthology of alternate history short-stories. It is edited by Julie E. Czerneda and Isaac Szpindel.

Racconti romani (Roman Tales) is a series of sixty-one short stories written by the Italian author, Alberto Moravia. Written and published initially in the Italian newspaper, Il Corriere della Sera, they were published as a collection in 1954 by Bompiani. All of the stories are set in Rome or its surroundings after World War II and focus on 'the common people of Rome' (Roma popolana). The characters in these stories tend to be the unemployed, ex-convicts, waiters, drivers, con artists, thieves and petty criminals, the average man (or woman) and the lower classes aspiring to climb out of poverty.

Paycheck is a collection of science fiction stories by Philip K. Dick. Although the collection appears with a 2003 copyright, it was first published by Gollancz in February, 2004. Many of the stories had originally appeared in the magazines Imagination, Startling Stories, Amazing Stories, Fantasy and Science Fiction and Galaxy Science Fiction.

Oblivion: Stories (2004) is a collection of short fiction by American author David Foster Wallace. Oblivion is Wallace's third and last short story collection and was listed as a 2004 New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Throughout the stories, Wallace explores the nature of reality, dreams, trauma, and the "dynamics of consciousness." The story "Good Old Neon" was included in The O. Henry Prize Stories 2002.

A New Universal History of Infamy is the title of a 2004 collection of short fiction by Welsh fantasy writer Rhys Hughes. The book serves as a parody and homage to Jorge Luis Borges' collection A Universal History of Infamy, following the plan of the original closely but not slavishly.

Natasha and Other Stories (ISBN 0-374-28141-6) is a collection of short stories by Canadian author David Bezmozgis. His first published book, Natasha was published in 2004. Stories from the collection first appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's and Zoetrope All-Story.

Murder by Magic is a collection of short fantasy style stories made to be mysteries. It was published in 2004 by Aspect, a division of Warner Books, and was edited by Rosemary Edghill. It has a total of twenty stories, with the book broken down in five sections. Each story has a small bit of information on the author before the story itself.

Manna from Heaven is a book that contains a collection of short stories that were written by fantasy and science fiction author Roger Zelazny. It was published in 2003 by Zelazny's estate eight years after Zelazny's death.

The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror is an anthology series published annually by Constable & Robinson since 1990. In addition to the short stories, each edition includes a retrospective essay by the editors. The first six anthologies were originally published under the name Best New Horror before the title was changed beginning with the seventh book.

Mad Dog Summer and Other Stories, is a collection of short stories by Joe R. Lansdale, first published in 2004 in a limited edition by Subterranean Press. It was reissued in paperback in 2006 by Golden Gryphon Press. Both Subterranean Press editions have long sold out.

The Lemon Table is the second collection of short stories produced by Julian Barnes, and has the general theme of old age. It was first published in 2004 by Jonathan Cape.

The John Varley Reader is a representative collection of 18 of the science fiction short stories by John Varley, first published in paperback in September 2004. It features 5 new stories. Each story is preceded by an autobiographical introduction; until this book Varley had avoided discussing himself, or his works, in print.

Innocents Aboard is a short story collection by American science fiction and fantasy author Gene Wolfe published in 2004. The stories are primarily fantasy or horror, not science-fiction. The title is an homage to Mark Twain's first book, The Innocents Abroad. The book was nominated for a Locus Award in 2005.

In the Land of Time and Other Fantasy Tales is a posthumous collection of short stories by the writer Lord Dunsany, in the Penguin Classics series. Edited and with an introduction by S.T. Joshi, it assembles material from across Dunsany's long career. The cover illustration is a colourised version of a classic illustration for an early Dunsany story by his preferred artist, Sidney Sime.

I Am No One You Know: Stories is a short story collection by Joyce Carol Oates. It was published in 2004 by Ecco Press, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. There are 19 stories in this collection.

How We Are Hungry is a collection of short stories by Dave Eggers, originally published by McSweeney's in 2004. The hardcover first edition includes the following pieces:

Gothic! Ten Original Dark Tales is a compilation novel of horror short stories. The book is compiled by Deborah Noyes.

Foolish/ Unfoolish: Reflections On Love is a book of stories and poems by American singer Ashanti.

The Exploded View is a quartet of stories by Ivan Vladislavic published in 2004. The stories revolve around four very different gauteng residents in Johannesburg: a statistician employed on the national census, an engineer out on the town with his council connections, an artist with an interest in genocide, and a contractor who erects billboards on building sites; each tries to make sense of a changed world after the demise of apartheid.

The Dreams in the Witch House and Other Weird Stories is Penguin Classics' third omnibus edition of works by 20th-century American author H. P. Lovecraft. It was released in September 2004 and is still in print.

Dr. Mukti and Other Tales of Woe is the sixth collection of short stories by Will Self.

Destination: Morgue! L.A. Tales is a 2004 collection of 12 short works by American crime fiction writer James Ellroy. Eight of the pieces are non-fiction crime reportage or essays that Ellroy originally wrote for GQ magazine, some of which are autobiographical (see also his memoir My Dark Places). Also included are three new novellas ("Hollywood Fuck Pad", "Hot-Prowl Rape-O", and "Jungle Jihad") and one short story previously published in GQ ("The Trouble I Cause"). Earlier GQ pieces by Ellroy can be found in the 1999 collection Crime Wave.

Dark Matter is an anthology series of science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories and essays produced by people of African descent. The editor of the series is Sheree Thomas. The first book in the series, Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora (2000), won the 2001 World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology. The second book in the Dark Matter series, Dark Matter: Reading the Bones (2004), won the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology in 2005. A forthcoming third book in the series is tentatively named Dark Matter: Africa Rising.

Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children is a 1999 collection of illustrated short stories written by Angus Oblong. The stories mostly feature children and adolescents, although one story is about a dog. Several of the characters were eventually adapted for use in the animated television series The Oblongs. Contrary to the title, children are not the book's target audience, as the book contains sexual situations, cannibalism and murder.

The Collected Short Fiction of C. J. Cherryh is a collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories, novelettes and novella written by the United States author C. J. Cherryh between 1977 and 2004. It was first published by DAW Books in 2004. This collection includes the contents of two previous Cherryh collections, Sunfall (1981) and Visible Light (1986), all of the stories from Glass and Amber (1987), stories originally published in other collections and magazines, and one story written specifically for this collection ("MasKs"). Cherryh's 1978 Hugo Award winning story, "Cassandra" is also included.

The Collected Jorkens is a three-volume omnibus collection of fantasy short stories by author Lord Dunsany and issued by Night Shade Books, then of Portland, Oregon. The first volume comprises The Travel Tales of Mr. Joseph Jorkens, first published in London by G. P. Putnam's Sons in April, 1931 (and then in the USA), and Jorkens Remembers Africa, first published in New York by Longmans, Green & Co. in 1934 (and then in the UK). The second volume gathers the third and fourth books of Dunsany's Jorkens tales, with two previously uncollected pieces. These books, Jorkens Has a Large Whiskey and The Fourth Book of Jorkens were originally published in 1940 and 1947 respectively (the latter's 1948 USA edition from Arkham House was for many years the only Jorkens volume widely available). The third volume gathers the fifth and sixth books of Dunsany's Jorkens tales, with three previously uncollected pieces, including the last Jorkens story written. The books, Jorkens Borrows Another Whiskey and The Last Book of Jorkens were originally published in 1954 and 2002 respectively (the latter, prepared for publication around 1957, and only discovered in 2001, was published in a limited edition, with an introduction explaining its origins - not reproduced in the omnibus volume). The fifth book brought one key story in which Jorkens is joined by his most frequent adversary, Terbut, while the sixth book contains two stories written as late as 1957 (February and August); the author died in October 1957.

The Cat's Pajamas: Stories (2004) is a collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury. Its name of its title story comes from a phrase in English meaning a sought after and fancy thing. Another collection by the same name was published in the same year by fellow science-fiction author James Morrow.

Buying a Fishing Rod for My Grandfather, also rendered from Chinese as A Fishing Rod for My Grandpa, is a 2004 collection of six short stories by the Chinese writer Gao Xingjian. All of the stories were originally written between 1983 and 1990. The stories were translated to English by Mabel Lee.

Bumper Crop is a collection of short stories by Joe R. Lansdale published in 2004 by Golden Gryphon Press. In his introduction, he cites it as the companion piece to High Cotton, because he had so many stories which didn't quite fit in with the "Best of" but were more like "personal favorites." Initially issued as a hardcover, it has been reissued as a trade paperback.

The Brownie and the Princess: And Other Stories (ISBN 978-0060000837) is a book of ten children's stories by the American author, Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). The stories were published in various children's magazines during her lifetime. They were also previously published with two other stories in the collection A Round Dozen by Viking Press in 1963.

Borderlands 5 is an anthology edited by Thomas F. Monteleone and Elizabeth Monteleone that was published in 2004 by Borderlands Press. Including a new story by Stephen King, the anthology featured over a dozen new horror stories. It was also published as From the Borderlands from Warner Books.

The Bloody Crown of Conan is the second of a three volume set collecting the Conan stories by author Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in 2004, first in the United Kingdom by Wandering Star Books, under the title Conan of Cimmeria: Volume Two (1934), and then in the United States by Ballantine/Del Rey under the present title in 2005. The Science Fiction Book Club subsequently reprinted the complete set in hardcover. The set is noted for presenting the original, unedited versions of Howard's Conan tales. This volume includes three short novels (two of which had never before been released in their original form) as well as miscellanea for Howard fans and enthusiasts (e.g., drafts, notes, maps, etc.), and is illustrated by artist Gary Gianni.

Black Juice is the first collection of short stories by Margo Lanagan. It was released in paperback by Allen and Unwin in 2004, and features the author's widely anthologised short story "Singing My Sister Down", which won the 2005 World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story.

The Best American Short Stories 2004, a volume in The Best American Short Stories series, was edited by Katrina Kennison and by guest editor Lorrie Moore.

Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories 2 is a collection of short stories by Annie Proulx published in 2004. It was not as well received by critics in comparison with Proulx's 1999 Close Range: Wyoming Stories.

The Bad Book is a 2004 book by Andy Griffiths, who wrote the novel The Day My Bum Went Psycho, with Terry Denton, who also did the illustrations. It is a compilation of bad stories, drawings, rhymes and poems about such quirky characters like 'Bad Baby', and 'Bad Daddy' doing such bad things like miss-throwing knives, and blowing up objects and people at Christmas. It was followed by The Very Bad Book (2010) and The Super Bad Book (2011)