Clara’s Verdict
Jeffrey Archer is a master of the short story in a very specific way: he understands structure with the precision of an engineer. Plot turns in his stories are rarely surprising in retrospect — you can see the mechanism once it has operated — but the pleasure lies in watching it work, and in the economy with which he sets it in motion. The Short, the Long and the Tall collects twenty previously published stories, read by a cast including Richard Armitage, Robert Bathurst, and Imogen Church. It is, as Archer’s collections reliably are, an uneven but predominantly satisfying entertainment. Rated 4.1 stars from 334 reviews, it has found its audience.
At 13 hours and 24 minutes, the anthology format suits the audiobook medium well — each story provides a natural breathing point, making this ideal for commuting or any listening context where full concentration isn’t always guaranteed.
About the Audiobook
The twenty stories span Archer’s characteristic range: light comedy, darker irony, historical drama, and the parable form he returns to throughout his career. Highlights include the story of a young Neapolitan detective who travels to an Italian hillside to solve a murder and falls in love; the pretentious schoolboy who discovers his father’s wealth has inconvenient origins; the woman who challenges the Ivy League’s male hierarchy in the 1930s; and a short meditation on the futility of war that is as good as anything Archer has written in any form.
The anthology format means quality varies — this is the nature of collected short fiction, and Archer is candid in the knowledge that not every story hits at the same level. A minority of reviewers found some stories « a little bland » by Archer’s standards, which is fair: set against his best short fiction, some of these feel like accomplished exercises rather than revelations. The majority, however, are exactly what the short story does best: a compact world, efficiently drawn, with a reversal that earns its place.
The audio production uses a full cast, which adds considerable texture — different voices for different stories gives each its own register and prevents the anthology from blurring into uniformity.
The Narration
The cast — Robert Bathurst, Richard Armitage, Imogen Church, Ben Onwukwe, and Anton Lesser — is excellent by any standard. Armitage in particular has a gift for Archer’s particular kind of irony: the story whose surface is one thing and whose meaning is another. Church handles the historical female perspective with the intelligence it requires, and Lesser, whose voice is perhaps the most recognisably literary of the group, anchors the more reflective pieces with appropriate gravitas. The production values are high; this is not an anthology that cuts corners on cast quality.
What Readers Say
Rated 4.1 stars from 334 reviews — a large sample that reflects the breadth of Archer’s readership. One reviewer called it « a book every household should own » and praised it for picking up and putting down easily — apt for a short story collection. Another gave four stars but noted the Kindle formatting made the illustrations unreadable, a complaint specific to the ebook edition rather than the audiobook. The critical four-star review noting « some stories a little bland » and font concerns is a useful counterpoint to the enthusiasts. The consensus: a strong, well-produced Archer collection that delivers his characteristic pleasures reliably, if not uniformly at his highest level.
Who Should Listen?
Archer’s existing readership will find this a satisfying collection that covers his range across two decades of short fiction. For those new to his short stories, this is a good introduction: the anthology format gives you his breadth, and the high-quality cast presentation makes every story land at its best. Ideal for commuters who want complete, self-contained stories rather than the sustained commitment of a novel. If you enjoy O. Henry, Roald Dahl’s adult stories, or Somerset Maugham’s shorter work, Archer’s craft will find a receptive audience.
Listen on Audible UK: Get The Short, The Long and The Tall on Audible UK. Also available on Kobo, Scribd, and Storytel.
