Flash Fiction: 72 Very Short Stories

We've gotten used to the way stories are written - with a beginning, a middle and an end, usually with detailed plot and characterization. The point of these tales is to create something different - a description of a moment of realization, an entire life described through a series of lists, strange tales with twists, showing the estrangement of a couple through bits and pieces of their conversation (and all with so few words!!) They seem like something between stories and poetry.

I was introduced to the genre of short shorts in graduate school and have used them in my classes and enjoyed them at home ever since. The Sudden Fiction anthologies are very good, but this is by far my favorite. My students are sometimes frustrated by the postmodern nature of the short short--they want answers. But after a while, they too are caught up in the excitement that these stories create. Stories such as "I Get Smart," "Snow" and "The One Sitting There" make this purchase more than worth the money.

I've had a copy of this book for years. It's dog-eared, and it's traveled with me when I've gone on trips. The book contains many stories, of varying styles and topics, from many different authors. Because of the brevity of the stories, they take on an odd character, somewhere between stories and poetry, though they are all in prose form. Some, like the beautiful first story "Brilliant Silence," describes the events of many years within two small pages. Others, such as "Gold Coast," captures a small but significant moment in people's lives. There are even some that tell about someone's life through a list. Many of the stories are unusual, and because they are so short, they can be used to fill small moments (such as when waiting for a bus,) or you can take thw whole book, choosing stories to read on a lazy afternoon. I've found myself picking up the book over and over again, and when I've lent it to friends, they've always found at least a few stories that they've enjoyed.For anyone, especially those who are buy but are searching for stories that are touching, funny, realistic, whimsical . . . well, whatever the taste, really, I strongly recommend this book. Also, because of the varied styles, I might even recommend this to student who are studying writing or literature.Happy Reading. :)

Bought this book at City Lights in 1992. Finished it that night on a flight to Las Vegas. I liked 90% of the stories. Re-read them yesterday with the same result.Each is about a page and a half. If you don't a story, you haven't lost much of an investment of time, concentration, or movement of lips as you read silently. Fiction with all of the fat trimmed away!

Every practicing artist knows that limitations can be inspiring, and the 75 artists gathered here offer an inspirational look at what can be done in the smallest of spaces. From Spencer Holst's perfect "Brilliant Silence", which opens the collection, through such masterworks as Allan Gurganus's funny-yet-wrenching "A Public Denial" & Bernard Cooper's enigmatic "The Hurricane Ride", to ending with Larry Fondation's eerie "Deportation at Breakfast", there isn't a runt in the litter. Frequently provocative, at times hilarious, and always satisfying, you simply won't get more bang for your book dollar than this anthology. Would-be practitioners of fiction take note: here's all the textbook you'll need. It's got it all: instruction AND delight