Anthony Doerr, “The Hunter’s Wife” (2001)

One of Doerr’s earliest published short stories, “The Hunter’s Wife” is a magical-realism tale of the “Hunter” and his much, much younger wife, who has the power the see where animals (and, she eventually realizes, people) go after they die. The story switches between current time at a house party for the Hunter’s now estranged wife and years ago, detailing the development of their relationship in the Hunter’s secluded cabin in Montana. Though Doerr occasionally falls back on some cliche metaphors, his stunning imagery and infatuation with nature make for an enjoyable and original tale of independence, magic, and a very unique marriage.

Lauren Groff, “Ghosts and Empties” (2015)

In the first story of her breakthrough collection Florida, Groff’s unnamed narrator details her thoughts as she takes nightly walks through her gentrified Florida neighborhood. From stories of cygnets being eaten by otters to old nunneries being torn down, Groff’s characteristic paranoia and analytical nature immerse the reader in the narrator’s profound and heartbreaking observations. Through masterfully accessible free-indirect speech and stunningly original metaphors, Groff explores themes of loss, transformation, and resilience in the unexpectedly poignant details of day-to-day life.

Kurt Vonnegut, “EPICAC” (1950)

First published in 1950 and later added to Vonnegut’s breakthrough 1968 collection “Welcome to the Monkeyhouse,” “EPICAC” is a heartwrenching exploration into the differences (or lack thereof) between man and machine. The unnamed first-person narrator, telling the story in retrospect, immediately makes clear that he wishes to “vindicate” EPICAC, the “best friend [he] ever had.” The reader learns that EPICAC was supposed to be an extremely advanced computer meant for war strategy, but hasn’t worked as well as his creators’ hoped. One night the narrator, a researcher at the university where EPICAC was made, goes out on a limb and attempts to explain his girl problems to the machine, and, to the narrator’s surprise, EPICAC soon responds with a stunning sonnet meant for the narrator’s love interest; though EPICAC may not be able to fire bombs as precisely as the scientists hoped, he does have a knack for romantic poetry. Tied together with Vonnegut’s classic nihilistic humor and a gut-punch of an ending, “EPICAC” proposes, explores, and questions the legitimacy of artificial intelligence and the limits of love.