Steps - Jerzy Kosinski

 A collection of short texts with little or no connections.  Like fragments.  You can see the themes I saw in the film version of his book, Painted Birds - sadistic violence, violent sex, anger and resentment,  revenge.  He writes well but the whole things seems like voyeurism or thrill seeking by the comfortable and well-off.  Jean Genet, on the other hand, is the real thing (though his popularity is this same kind of voyeurism on the part of his readers).

Stars of the New Curfew - Ben Okri

A collection of short stories by the writer of "The Famished Road".

Critics talk about how his work is in the tradition of magic realism.  I can see this, in that he brings in a whole world of spirits and demons, visions and magic.  But to me his work seems more a portrait of place where the borders between superstition and a more objective reality are highly blurred, where demons and potions and magic actually form an important part of the fabric of life.  There is also a recurring theme of crowd hysteria leading to injury and death with no regard for the reality of accusations and supposed crimes.  (In current newspapers you can read about this kind of mass hysteria leading to murder and rioting in places like India and Pakistan.)
He paints a picture of Lagos and Nigeria as a place of absolute chaos and corruption, a chaos created deliberately by the political class to enable the corruption.  His portrait of the rest of the society is one of ignorance, anger, frustration, desperation.
An ugly world.

I should reread "Famished Road".

Watermark - Christy Ann Conlin

A collection of short stories from this Nova Scotia writer.  An intriguing collection of stories, some of  them quite bizarre.  Elements of horror and gothic. 

Is There Anybody to Love You? Kalin Terziyski

Collection of short stories by a Bulgarian author, mostly set in Sophia.  The stories are all a little odd - funny situations, unexpected endings, quirky twists.  It would be interesting to read more by him but there is not much translated.

The Book of My Lives - Aleksander Hemon

A collection of what read like short stories, but are actually short autobiographical pieces.  Somehow he sees how his life resembles fiction.  Some wonderful pieces on his early times as a newly arrived accidental immigrant in the U.S., stranded by the start of the war in Bosnia, that examine what it feels like to be a new immigrant, living with the "us" and "them".  A very sharp observer of people, their peculiarities and foibles.  You also get some sense of Slavic culture through the pieces about his family and his relationship with his father.

Anarchist Banker - Fernando Pessoa

   Curious little story/novella.  A long dialogue between two characters where the successful, wealthy banker builds an argument as to why he is a true anarchist, as opposed to the anarchist political movements of the time.  Anarchy means being free, and the only person you can really free is yourself.  All movements are essentially a form of tyranny, as all movements have leaders. To free yourself from money, you cannot destroy it, so you must surpass it by becoming so rich it doesn't limit your freedom.  Clever.

Immigrant City - David Bezmozgis

Another collection of short stories about Russian Jewish immigrant life - mostly in Toronto, but some stories set in big U.S. cities.  Best word for stories - touching.  He hits moments of uncertainty, confusion, when things suddenly become more complex, more layered than imagined. 
very well-written collection.

Il mare colore del vino - Leonardo Sciascia

Scrittore italiano della Sicilia.  Questo libro è una collezione di storie brevi che raccontano diversi aspetti della vita nella Sicilia - società, mafia, incontri sociali, rapporti tra donne e uomini, religione e superstizioni.
Bello scrittore.  Voglio leggerne più.

England and Other Stories - Graham Swift

Some good stories in the collection, but overall not as good as Waterland and Wish You Were Here.  Not as complex, but I suppose that is a limit of space with short stories.

Tales of Belkin - Alexander Pushkin

A collection of short novellas - early writing.  Wonderfully crafted.  Even though the world he portrays (rural Russian estates, military officers) is very foreign, the stories hold your attention.  An interesting look into the values and social conventions of another time and another place.

The Destiny of Nathalie X - William Boyd

Collection of short stories.  Many read like the works of a younger Boyd.   Some include his excellent biting sarcasm directed at a variety of targets:  Hollywood, foreign language students in France.  Some are just unusual, interesting short stories.

Girls at War - Chinua Achebe

A collection of short stories set in Biafra, Nigeria.  Some are centred on the Nigeria Biafra War, some simply portray the lives of people in that society.  The stories seem very light, but they raise issues around power, corruption, ignorance, superstition, and how they hold things back.  Politicians and the ruling elites come off particularly badly in many of the stories.  The narration, though, is light and very matter-of-fact, which in a way gives you a sense of how hard these things will be to change.
The sexist nature of society there is abundantly apparent. 

The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury

I was curious about his other work after reading Farenheit 451.  Bradbury seems to be quite good at the craft of writing.
The premise of this books, with stories embedded in animated tatoos on a man who lives as a social outcast, is brilliant.  At the beginning of the book, Bradbury exploits it well but it deteriorates into a loose framework for binding together a collection of disparate short stories - many of which are quite short.
Some of the short stories are interestingly bizarre in themselves.  Many of them blend a bizarre mix of science fiction and 1950s American T.V. culture à la "Father Knows Best" or "Leave it to Beaver".
Entertaining reading but not gripping enough to wade through in one go.

Men Without Women - Haruki Murakami

A collection of short stories, each one in its own way, about men without women.  Some very original approaches to the them.  One of his easier, more enjoyable books to read.  Perhaps the short story form makes him cut through some of the thick accumulation of detail that you find in his novels.

Worth a reread at some point.

La Prima Indagine di Montalbano - Andrea Camilleri

Libro e scrittore interessante - tutto scritto in dialetto siciliano.  Prende un po' di tempo ad abituarsi ama finalmente diventa più chiaro e si comprende.  Il libro comprende tre storie, due brevi e una più lunga.  Montalbano e poliziotto intelligente e furbo.  Ama molto anche mangiare, e il libro parla molto di vari piatti che mangia, sopratutto di pesce e di frutta di mare.  E un libro e carattere simpatici.

The Strange Library - Haruki Murakami

A longish short story about some strange recesses and hidden horrors in a library.  Another strange Murakami story - sometimes it almost feels as if he just writes whatever comes into his head.

The Elephant Vanishes - Haruki Murakami

A collection of short stories, all of them weird in a Murakami way.  Mixed bag - some I found interesting, some not so much.

Mistero in Blu - Carlo Lucarelli

Un libro di misteri del crimine.  Sfortunatamente sono ciascuno fatto dopo una stretta formula, e finalmente diventano noiosi.  Non ho finito il libro...

The Emerald Circus - Jane Yolen

A collection of short stories.  The stories are all unusual takes on riffs on fairy tales, folk legends and local folklore of England.  Some of the stories she works with are well-known, others more local.  She provides an appendix briefly discussing the stories she works with.
Some of her takes on the old stories and characters are quite surprising.

The First Person - Ali Smith

A collection of short stories.  She plays with the person of the narrative voice.  Some of the stories not so engaging, but the last one is excellent.