On this edition of SELECTED SHORTS, you’ll hear three tales with a little something unexpected. And Edwidge Danticat secretly follows her mother.  The first story, “The Scharz-Metterklume Method,” is an outrageous romp by Saki in which a mischievous aristocrat masquerades as a governess — with hilarious results. The reader is the great American actress Marian Seldes.

In our next story the Argentine writer and novelist Liliana Hecker has fun with the concept – proposed by 18th Century philosopher George Berkeley – that the world is an imaginary construct. “Berkeley or Marina of the Universe” starts mildly, with two sisters waiting for their mother, and escalates into a debate about our very existence. The reader is Hope Davis.

The  heroine of the next story, Charles Johnson’s “Cultural Relativity,” thinks she’s met Mr. Right, but there’s one little problem. The reader is Regina King.

Our final piece is Haitian-born Edwidge Danticat’s affectionate tribute to Haitian women working in New York City — including her own mother. “New York Day Women” is performed by Laurine Towler.

(This program first aired during our 2010 season.)