Gates of Eden (Ethan Coen short stories)

This article is about the short stories. For the Bob Dylan song, see Bringing It All Back Home (album) or Gates Of Eden (song).

Gates of Eden is a collection of short stories written by Ethan Coen, first published in November 1998. The title comes from one of the stories in the book with reference to the biblical Garden of Eden. The stories within the book range from traditional fiction (both of third and first person) to stories formatted more like a script.

There is an abridged version on audiobook (cassette tape) which includes 11 of the 14 stories read by famous actors, many of whom have starred in Coen Brothers films.

The Stories

While some of the stories are similar in format or theme, the stories as a whole are of varying length, do not follow a central theme, and are generally not related.

• "Destiny"
• "The Old Country"
• "Cosa Minapolidan"
• "Hector Berlioz, Private Investigator"
• "Have You Ever Been to Electric Ladyland"
• "A Morty Story"
• "A Fever in the Blood"
• "The Boys"
• "Johnnie Ga-Botz"
• "I Killed Phil Shapiro"
• "It Is an Ancient Mariner"
• "Gates of Eden"
• "The Old Boys"
• "Red Wing"

Audiobook

Here is the listing of stories in the order they appear on the audiobook:

• "It Is an Ancient Mariner", read by John Goodman
• "Cosa Minapolidan", read by John Turturro
• "Have You Ever Been to Electric Ladyland", read by Steve Buscemi
• "Destiny", read by Matt Dillon
• "The Old Country", read by Liev Schreiber
• "Gates of Eden", read by William H. Macy
• "I Killed Phil Shapiro", read by Ben Stiller
• "A Fever in the Blood", read by Steve Buscemi
• "A Morty Story", read by Liev Schreiber
• "The Boys", read by John Turturro
• "Red Wing", read by Bain Boehlke