Joshua Ferris' "The Valetudinarian" (short story, non-genre, humor, free): All the lonely old man needed was shock therapy!

Arty Groys, a lonely & depressed widower, loves to babble about his health problems to everyone. But then comes an unusual birthday gift from his friend, & lonely life begins to turn into an adventure...

Fact sheet.

First published: The New Yorker, 2 August 2009.
Rating: A.
Download full text from publisher's site.
Added to my "best of the year 2009" list.