I'm always on the look out for short stories - mainly for reading on trains and planes etc. and I've read most of the works by popular short story authors such as Italo Calvino, Guy De maupassant, Anton Chekov, Roahd Dahl etc. But I'm afraid this particular volume falls short on quality. The stories seem to have been shortened even further than the originals. At times, the writing is so brief that it takes on a very simple, children story like quality. So - perhaps not quite riveting bed-time reading - but may still alleviate the boredom of waiting at airports, or when stuck in a train.